Most of the length of Idaho, and an afternoon on a lake.
9:00 AM – 2:20 PM(On the road)· 5h 20m
Coeur d'Alene, ID → McCall, IDCommuting & Travel
South on US-95 — the only road that runs the length of Idaho — through the Palouse wheat country, down to the Snake at Lewiston, up the White Bird grade, and along the Salmon River into the mountains. Leave early and take the stops; this is the drive, not the gap between two of them.
from 2:00 PM· unscheduled
Afternoon on Payette LakeFree / Rest Days
You'll be into McCall by mid-afternoon, which is the whole point of stopping here. Nothing is scheduled: the lake has a public beach three blocks off the main street, the water is cold, and the day ends better in it than in a car.
Worth pulling over for
On the way, if the timing suits.
Hells Gate & the Lewis-Clark confluence, Lewiston
Where the Clearwater meets the Snake at 730 feet — Idaho's only seaport, 465 river miles from the Pacific, and the jumping-off point for jetboats into Hells Canyon.
Open in MapsThe White Bird grade
Pull off at the summit for the view down onto the old 1921 switchback road and the battlefield where the Nez Perce War began.
Open in MapsRiggins
Four hundred people wedged between the canyon walls where the Little Salmon meets the Salmon — the whitewater capital of Idaho, and the right place to stop for lunch.
Open in Maps