Four Awesome Road Trips from Idaho

Idaho is a state filled with scenic drives and awesome road trips. It also conveniently shares borders with six states and Canada. This makes Idaho the perfect starting point for those seeking adventure in the form of a road trip. And because Idaho is filled with plenty of natural beauty, a trip starting from anywhere in the state is sure to be an enjoyable one filled with scenic views and new experiences.

If you’re not sure where you want to start your trip or even end up, we’ve compiled four ideas to get your imagination going.

1. Twin Falls to Las Vegas, Nevada

Twin Falls is a city known primarily as the home to Snake River Canyon Rim Trails and the launch point for Evil Knievel’s daring attempts to jump across the quarter-mile-wide canyon. On one of the Shoshone Falls trails, the Centennial Trail, you can see the ramp Knievel used for the jump, a fun jumping-off point for an adventurous road trip. As you hit Route 93 towards Las Vegas, you can start to truly drink in the beautiful Idaho scenery.

The amount of time you spend on the road will depend on your chosen route, with some options just over seven hours and others nine. Of course, with it being a road trip, you’ll likely take a few planned (and unplanned) stops, so you could turn it into an overnight drive and set up camp at one of the many campgrounds on the route.

Once you arrive in Vegas, you’ll find a wealth of fun and exciting things to do. You can switch it up from the nature focus of the drive and dive into activities like fine dining, shopping, or trying your luck at one of the famous casinos on the Strip or an online casino where you’ll instantly receive spins.

With a trip from Twin Falls to Las Vegas, you get the best of two very different worlds — one of nature and another of glamour and elegance — with a fun, fulfilling experience bridging the two.

2. Boise to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

The trip from Boise to Yellowstone National Park is a popular road trip. While the drive will only take you six hours, there are so many things to see along the way you’ll undoubtedly want to budget a lot more time for the journey.
Boise is the capital of Idaho and markets itself as being “urban and wild” and “part rugged and part refined.” Living up to its promise, Boise delivers plenty of hikes and outdoor sporting opportunities like rafting or paddle boarding alongside a vibrant food scene and historic sites.

Once you start driving, you’ll find enticing attractions, including the ones highlighted in Twin Falls and others like Bruneau Dunes State Park Observatory and Massacre Rocks State Park.

Once you reach Yellowstone, there’ll be even more natural beauty just beyond your windshield. Some of its most famous sites include the Grand Prismatic Spring, a hot spring with naturally vivid and bright colors, and Lower Yellowstone River Falls, a waterfall within the park’s Grand Canyon. You could even continue that road trip feeling by taking the scenic drive through Grand Loop Road or Lamar Valley.

This trip’s focus on the landscape of Idaho and Wyoming makes it ideal for outdoor enthusiasts.

3. Idaho Falls to Moab, Utah

Idaho Falls is another of Idaho’s most populated cities. By starting your journey in this city, you can look at the Museum of Idaho and walk the trails around a low shield volcano at Hell’s Half Acre lava field. By visiting both, you’ll learn about the region’s natural and cultural history and then explore the physical remnants of its history.

The seven-hour route from Idaho Falls to Moab, like the other trips mentioned on this list, is filled with attractions you’ll find yourself wanting to stop at to explore. These attractions include the Ogden Nature Center, SeaQuest Utah, the Museum of Natural Curiosity, and the Butterfly Biosphere.

Once you arrive in Moab, you’ll once again be greeted with many more attractions to dive into and explore. Moab is home to breathtaking red rock formations that look like they’re from another planet. The rocks reveal the Earth’s history from long before we walked it with their striations and fossils.
If you love nature and the science behind it, the journey from Idaho Falls to Moab is one that you’ll find engaging and informative.

4. Nampa to Banff, Canada

This road trip will take you over state borders and the Canada-U.S. border, so double-check that you have your passport before hitting the road. Starting from Nampa, an Idaho city with a small-town feel, you’ll then move through Oregon and Washington toward the Canadian border.

The path through Idaho, Oregon, and Washington has interesting stopping points like Warhawk Air Museum, Steptoe Butte State Park, and Silverwood Theme Park. Once you cross the border, you’ll find natural wonders like hot springs along the route and plenty of places to hike and walk to stretch your legs after 15 hours of driving.

To help break up the driving, you can easily find restful accommodations along the way, like chain hotel brands with reliably comfortable rooms and beds. However, if you want a place to stay with a little more excitement, then an option like Silver Mountain Resort, with its indoor water park, or setting up camp at one of the national parks you encounter is the way to go.

This cross-border trip is ideal for people seeking a healthy mix of adventures, nature, museums, and city life.

Where Will Idaho Take You?

Idaho has no shortage of exciting opportunities for those looking for their next grand adventure, leaving just one question, where will the Idaho roads take you?