Explore Parks in Idaho

Described by California Trail emigrants as “a city of tall spires,” “steeple rocks,” and “the silent city,” this awe-inspiring landscape continues to captivate. Today, it beckons rock climbers, hikers, campers, hunters, and adventurers with its dramatic scenery, fascinating geology, and echoes of the Old West. The Silent City is ready for you to explore.

Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. We invite you to explore this "weird and scenic landscape" where yesterday's volcanic events are likely to continue tomorrow.

During the Pliocene, this place looked quite different. Lush wetlands, forests, and grasslands provided excellent habitat for a variety of animals. From fascinating, now-extinct creatures like the saber-toothed cat, mastodon, and ground sloth, to more familiar animals like horses, beavers, and birds, the scientific study of Pliocene fossils is the key to Hagerman.

At the end of the last Ice Age, 18,000 to 15,000 years ago, an ice dam in northern Idaho created Glacial Lake Missoula stretching 3,000 square miles around Missoula, Montana. The dam burst and released flood waters across Washington, down the Columbia River into Oregon before reaching the Pacific Ocean. The Ice Age Floods forever changed the lives and landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail winds nearly 4,900 miles through the homelands of more than 60 Tribal nations. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Pacific Ocean. Follow the trail to find the people, places, and stories that make up the complex legacy of the expedition.

During World War II, over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated without due process of law. Although little remains of the barbed-wire fences and tar-papered barracks, the Minidoka concentration camp once held over 13,000 Japanese Americans in the Idaho desert. Minidoka preserves their legacy and teaches the importance of civil liberties.