BLAZING A TRAIL IN IDAHO
- Brian McCallen
- Aug 19, 2016
- 9 min read
When Lewis and Clark led their “Corps of Discovery” out of St. Louis in 1804 to find “the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent,” as President Thomas Jefferson had directed, they began with more than 40 men, a keelboat, two pirogues, a dog and the faith that somehow they would return. The story of their journey through the uncharted West, including present-day Idaho, is one of courage and challenge, loss and triumph. More than two centuries later, much of the topography first glimpsed by the explorers remains the same: Wild rivers, towering mountains, deep canyons, billowing hills.
When my daughter Jordana and I escaped the suffocating humidity of Connecticut to explore Idaho, we began with two sets of clubs, a state highway map, a spotless rental car, a double CD set of “The Very Best of the Eagles,” and the hope that the state’s golf courses would measure up to the untamed wilderness we would see during our windshield tour through the state.
In their quest for a Northwest Passage, Lewis and Clark made contact with Native peoples, identified hundreds of plants and animals, and mapped countless landmarks as they wrote the first story of the American West. Golf-wise, we were pioneers blazing a trail created by the state to inspire players to haul their sticks to an unheralded region of the northern Rockies.
For most travelers, Colorado defines the Rocky Mountain summer experience. Parts of Wyoming and Montana are also on the trend meter. But Idaho, which only joined the Union as the 43rd state in 1890, was under the radar as a golf destination until the state’s travel council, modeling Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, linked up six courses in 2003 to attract visiting players. The trail’s marketing arm has since been disbanded, but the golf courses — greatly expanded and now stretching to all three corners of the state — are a worthy match for Idaho’s majestic scenery.
Like Lewis and Clark, golfers today can blaze their own trail in quest of some of the most beautiful courses in the American West. Just be sure to budget enough time to explore Idaho’s vast central realm, which has more dedicated wilderness than any other state in the lower 48.
WHERE TO PLAY, WHERE TO STAY
SOUTH & EAST SPURS
BANBURY GOLF CLUB, Eagle Located on the outskirts of Boise, BanBury is a classic parkland spread routed around the south channel of the Boise River. Lakes, ponds and wetlands come into play early and often. Expect to see cranes and the occasional osprey near these water features. The greens on this beautifully conditioned layout, designed by John Harbottle III, are gunslinger fast. BanBury is the only course in Idaho to hold a USGA event. (The club hosted the 2005 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.) The Hilton Garden Inn Boise/Eagle is a good base. www.banbury-golf.com
FALCON CREST (36 holes), Kuna This take-on-all-comers facility offers a diverse array of venues. The Championship Course has broad rolling fairways, big slick greens and stirring views across the Boise Valley to the foothills of the Rockies. At 3,914 yards from the tips, the nine-hole Freedom Course, marked by thick rough, deep bunkers and numerous water hazards, presents a stern test. Far more comforting is the nine-hole Robin Hood Course, an executive “fun for everyone” layout with an enticing blend of par 3s and 4s. Falcon Crest’s practice facility is one of the state’s best. www.falconcrestgolf.com
SUN VALLEY RESORT (27 holes), Sun Valley Situated 2½- hours east of Boise, this legendary ski resort, built by railroad baron Averell Harriman in 1936, occupies a broad expanse of high desert ringed by mountains. Trail Creek, a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. redesign of an older layout, moves up, down and across a narrow valley threaded by a tree-lined creek that flanks or crosses seven holes on the front nine. The back nine, which swings past the nation’s first chair lift, builds in interest, the finishing holes carved into a ridge high above the creek. You’ll gain extra distance at 5,800 feet above sea level, but it’s only useful if you’re straight. “FFFffffftt!” is the sound a ball makes when it disappears into one of the many spiny conifers in the rough. The resort’s nine-hole White Clouds course is a lovely alpine links overlooking the Wood River Valley. Don’t miss the 18-hole Sawtooth Putting Course. Book a room at the classic Sun Valley Lodge or Tyrolean-themed Sun Valley Inn. Condos, cottages and townhomes are also available. www.sunvalley.com
ELKHORN, Sun Valley This semi-private club, accessible to Sun Valley Resort guests, is one of the final collaborations between Robert Trent Jones Sr., and Jr. With its huge undulating greens and more than 100 well-placed bunkers, Elkhorn presents a very thorough test from the tips at 7,214 yards. The rugged, hilly front nine, attributed to Jones Sr., gives way to a flatter back nine by Jones Jr., which brings a meandering creek into play at eight holes. Tactics and straight hitting are required to score. The layout, extensively renovated 12 years ago, was acquired by Sun Valley Company in 2011. The club’s large, shady patio is a fine place to recount the round. www.sunvalley.com
TETON SPRINGS RESORT & CLUB (27 HOLES), Victor Located within view of the stunning Teton Range near the Wyoming state line, this resort community is well worth the detour east from Sun Valley. The 18-hole Headwaters Course, built with input from Byron Nelson, is a links-style layout that sprawls across the floor of the Teton Valley. Ranging from 7,373 to 5,416 yards, Headwaters brings water into play at 14 holes. The Nelson Par 3 course is a pleasant nine-holer. The resort offers suites, lodge rooms and luxury log cabins. The south entrance to Yellowstone National Park is 76 miles from the resort. Grand Teton National Park is under an hour’s drive from Victor. www.tetonsprings.com
CENTRAL & NORTH SPURS
JUG MOUNTAIN RANCH, McCall Laid out by Don Knott, a former Robert Trent Jones, Jr., design associate, this throwback layout is an unembellished, lay-of-the-land track where the ball can be played along the ground. Man-made features were kept to a minimum. The reasons were two-fold: the land was good; and no tomfoolery could compete with the views across the East Valley’s rolling hills. The owner’s mandate to the designer was blunt: “Build us a golf course that doesn’t screw up the ranch.” Knott, who whittled the landscape in small bits to make way for golf holes, kept bunkers to a minimum. Weekday green fee of $55 is a steal — walkers welcome. The turf-roofed, “low impact” clubhouse is a perfect fit for a club that makes a virtue of modesty. Hotel McCall offers stay and play packages. www.jugmountainranch.com
WHITETAIL CLUB, McCall This semi-private club, featuring a well-groomed Andy North-Roger Packard design, is accessible to guests of the 77-suite Shore Lodge, a AAA Four Diamond property that fronts a private beach on Payette Lake, a bluer-than-blue glacial lake. The golf course, a straightforward parkland layout, is very fair and very well groomed. Trout-filled ponds, towering old-growth Ponderosa pines and large granite boulders flank the gently rolling fairways. Recent tweaks to several holes have significantly enhanced the golf experience. The clubhouse sports a beautiful open-air bar and grill. www.whitetailclub.com
CIRCLING RAVEN, Worley Near Lewiston, where Lewis and Clark stopped to buy food, is the 108-square-mile homeland of the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe and their casino resort. At its center is Circling Raven, a magnificent high-prairie track built by Gene Bates in 2003. A grand-scale design spread across 620 acres, the 7,189-yard layout, seamlessly melded to the rolling terrain, weaves around Ponderosa pines, native Palouse grasses and cat-tailed wetlands. The Audubon-certified course reflects the tribe’s ambitious spirit: Big, bold holes sweep across boulevard-wide fairways framed by forested ridges and giant inkblot bunkers. The four par 3s, each averaging well over 200 yards from the tips, are outstanding. As for wildlife, elk, deer and moose are common. Black bear visit on occasion. And ravens actually circle the fairways. Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel offers stay and play packages. www.cdacasino.com
COEUR D’ALENE RESORT, Coeur d’Alene Set on the shores of a lake National Geographic has called “one of the five most beautiful in the world,” Coeur d’Alene Resort used a gimmick — a floating island green — to attract notice when its golf course was built in 1991. The island green has overshadowed a recent makeover. Previously, the layout was a dainty 6,309 yards. The current spread, at 6,803 yards (par 71), is a worthy test that calls for thoughtful play. Getting there is half the fun. Players hop aboard one of two handcrafted mahogany water taxis that speed across the lake to a practice facility where players hit floating balls to floating targets. The sporty front nine has a pair of tantalizing par 3s, notably the revamped fifth, which calls for a dropkick shot to a Y-shaped green defended by basalt rock outcrops and a massive bunker. The back nine is brawnier, notably the 482-yard par-4 18th, which has been voted to “Idaho’s Mean 18” list. As for the infamous par-3 14th, the floating target is generous, but it calls for an unerring shot that settles quickly. A computerized cable system moves the bentgrass pontoon to anywhere from 95 to 203 yards from the tee. Course conditions are flawless. The resort offers beautifully appointed lakeview rooms and suites. www.cdaresort.com
THE IDAHO CLUB, Sandpoint Trailblazers who venture north up Idaho’s panhandle will discover a newly semi-private club that offers a glorious golf experience. Nestled among bear-shouldered mountains along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest and deepest lake, the Idaho Club, formerly Hidden Lakes, was completely redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 2008. Carved from the dense forests of the Pack River delta, the layout brings water into play at nearly every hole. Compensating factors: splendid views of the Selkirk Mountains and a good chance of spotting a moose in the bog. The club is a short drive from Sandpoint, recently rated one of the ‘Top Ten small towns in the Western U.S.” by Sunset Magazine. www.idahoclub.com
SIGHTSEEING
According to the state travel guide, “You could scour every canyon, meadow and mountainside in the lower 48 and you may never find a more jaw-droppingly stunning view than on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway.” This 115-mile-long backcountry drive, accessible from Sun Valley, cleaves a path through a near-limitless region of alpine wilderness dominated by rows of jagged peaks in the Sawtooth Range, several reaching 10,000 feet and higher. These peaks really do resemble a saw on its back, as the old-timers described it. www.visitidaho.org
ADVENTURES
FISHING Sun Valley claims some of the best fly-fishing streams in the West. There’s the crystal-clear waters of Silver Creek, the freestone challenges of Big Wood River and gurgling Trail Creek on the resort’s premises. Ketchum, Sun Valley’s sister town, was Ernest Hemingway’s preferred retreat in his final years. His memorial is located above the banks of Trail Creek, one of his favorite streams. For wild cutthroat trout, head north to the catch-and-release section of the St. Joe River, the highest navigable river in the world. Panhandle Outfitters teaches beginners the basic 10-to-2 o’clock motion used to cast a tiny dry fly with a long, willowy rod. www.panhandle-outfitters.com MOUNTAIN MAGIC At Sun Valley, chairlifts carry hikers and bikers to the top of 9,150-foot Bald Mountain, the resort’s ski peak. Rock-strewn trails lined with wildflowers serve up 100-mile views of furrowed peaks in the Sawtooth and Smoky Mountains, their north-facing slopes still pasted with snow in summer. Paragliding is popular on the mountain (lessons available). Sun Valley Stables offer trail rides that climb the flanks of Dollar Mountain. www.sunvalley.com
HELLS CANYON A jet boat tour is the most thrilling way to experience Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest river gorge. At the bottom of the canyon is the Snake River, a 1,000-mile-long artery that forms Idaho’s western boundary with Oregon. Most excursions head south from Pittsburgh Landing and roar through surging whitewater rapids, the cathedrals of rock towering nearly 8,000 feet above the roiling river. Bald eagles soar overhead. Bighorn sheep butt heads near the shore. The six-hour tour includes lunch, beverages and a stop for a swim in a calm section of the river. www.killgoreadventures.com.
EXTRA-SPECIAL
Wild huckleberries, the state fruit, are a popular delicacy in Idaho. Akin to a tart blueberry, they’re sold at roadside stands and farmer’s markets throughout the state. Huckleberries are used in pies, jams, daiquiris, lemonade, popcorn, gummy bears, taffy and hard candy. The berries, sweetest in late summer, are also dried and chocolate-covered.
RESTAURANTS
Bella Aquila This family-owned eatery in Eagle near BanBury Golf Club offers Italian cuisine in a romantic setting with a riverfront patio. The shared appetizer pizza — six varieties — is a must, as are the pasta entrees and veal dishes (caprese, piccata, marsala, and saltimbocca preparations are featured). Excellent wine list. www.bellaaquilarestaurant.com
Sun Valley Club The wraparound terrace of Sun Valley Resort’s golf clubhouse, a short pitch from the Sawtooth Putting Course, is angled to the looming peaks of Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain. This casual restaurant, focused on “local ingredients and big flavors,” offers discounted menu items and daily drink specials as part of its après-golf program. www.sunvalley.com
Pioneer Saloon Located in Ketchum, an old mining town with raised wooden sidewalks, the Pioneer is a landmark eatery popular with locals and visitors alike. Any animal in the American West that can be shot or reeled in has been stuffed and mounted on the saloon’s wooden walls. The steaks and slabs of prime rib are thick and juicy. The Idaho baked potato (an extra $2.95 with dinner) is a serious spud the size of a football. Save room for the Marionberry Cobbler, served warm with vanilla ice cream. www.pioneersaloon.com
The Narrows at Shore Lodge Situated in McCall, The Narrows, a 2016 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner, features Pacific-Northwest fare and a beautiful lakeside setting. The artisan cheeses — notably the Point Reyes blue cheese from Oregon — are special, as is the smoked trout bruschetta appetizer. The Lodge’s more casual Narrows Grill offers small plates and great burgers. www.shorelodge.com
Beverly’s Occupying the seventh floor of the Coeur d’Alene Resort and featuring an exquisite view of the eponymous lake, this refined dining room has copper ceilings, granite floors, a display kitchen and floor-to-ceiling displays of its exceptional wine collection, one of the best in the Pacific Northwest. The seafood tower — Alaskan king crab, Pacific oysters, etc. — is spectacular, as are the chef’s specialties (including Snake River Farm pork belly) and signature soufflés (chocolate or huckleberry). http://www.beverlyscda.com
