Book Reviews and Travel Tips
Idaho Moon Guide Review & Travel Tips
First, I checked my local library. Second, I found that if you live in the Midwest there isn't a lot of information about Idaho. Any book you do find is combined with other states that include Montana and Wyoming. These guides spend a very short time in Idaho.
So, I broke down and bought a Moon Travel Guide written by Teresa Bruffey Kaufman.
The guide starts off with recommended road trips. I glanced over that section briefly because I prefer to design my own itinerary.
Once you get past the special sections, the book is divided into seven parts: Boise, Southwest Idaho, Magic Valley, Southeast Idaho, Sun Valley and the Sawtooths, North-Central Idaho, and the Panhandle. Since this was my second trip to Idaho, I concentrated on Magic Valley and Sun Valley. Pages for each area have a color code assigned to them making it somewhat easier to find the section you are looking for. This became my bible while I was in Idaho. I discovered places like Little City of Rocks and the Soda Springs Geyser, spots I wouldn't have gone to without this guide.
One criticism I do have is that the book didn't always give me a realistic idea on distance and the type of road I would be driving on. Overall, though, it was an excellent resource.
Originally, I had much grander plans. I was going to drive from Boise to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and cross into Creston, British Columbia. I even took my passport. Hah, it turns out that while Idaho is not a big state, it's a long one. The drive was 567 miles and would have taken me almost 10 hours. I only had 6 days. In addition, I left from Saint Louis. Only connecting flights were available to Boise. It took two-thirds of my day to get there and about the same on the return. That left me with about 4 1/2 days to actually wander
around Idaho.
Wherever you plan to stay in Idaho, plan in advance. There are few options once you leave Boise, and you could end up spending the night in your car.
If you are looking for chain hotels, you won't find many mentioned in the Moon guide. For accommodations, I'd request information from visitidaho.org, at least two months before
you plan on going. Most of the hotels are older properties and some do not have elevators.
Car rentals are onsite at the Boise airport. Hertz, Budget, National, and Enterprise are located there. I chose Enterprise because I am part of their loyalty program. Unfortunately,
I ended up with a Nissan Sentra when I should have rented a Jeep or something similar
for the road conditions I encountered.