Visiting the Southwest Idaho Mountains
This summer I visited the mountains in Southwest Idaho where I enjoyed experiencing a few of the forests, lakes, rivers and flora. The area I stayed in and did the exploring was in the vicinity of McCall, Idaho. The reason for the trip was to attend a reunion of cousins which came from different parts of the country.
I was part of a group of five people who decided to drive from southern California to Idaho which we did over three days. It was a long drive but we finally made into Idaho. We crossed two of the major rivers in Idaho, the Snake and the Payette rivers. Coming from a much dryer part of California we found the rivers quite impressive.
We passed by farms which need water and irrigation.
As we get near the place we will be staying the hills start to have trees.
We arrived at just about suppertime and after eating and getting settled in we had a nice sunset to enjoy. The place we stayed at is Camp Stover which is a small private camp. We were able to stay there because a few of the cousins are associated with the camp. The camp was able to accommodate the more than 40 people that attended our reunion.
The next day on our way to do a hike in the Payette National Forest we saw cattle in one of the fields.
Our hike is in the Bear Basin which has an extensive network of connecting trails allowing users to go for as long or short as they want. We were soon hiking through forests and meadows.
We saw some bushes with bright orange berries.
There were also some interesting plants with yellow flowers.
And this one with a tall stalk.
Occasionally we would come across some scattered wildflowers.
There were a few native Indian Paintbrush plants with their showy red bracts.
We did a leisurely hike of one or two miles just enjoying being out in the mountains.
The following day we went to the town of McCall which is the largest town near where we stayed. On the way the road winded through the narrow valley.
Payette Lake is a glacier-carved lake at the north end of McCall. They are surrounded by the Payette National Forest.
Besides being very scenic Payette Lake offers many recreational opportunities which include fishing, swimming and various kinds of boats and other watercraft.
The next day we did some activities at the camp. There is a pretty little stream that flows through the camp.
There is also a small lake which had some very nice reflections.
According to the sign by the lake it is named Baker Lake in memory of WF “Bill” Baker but I was not able to find who this was because there were a number of people with variations of the name. To confuse things more there are two other much larger lakes in Idaho with the same name, one is in Blaine County and the other in Custer County. This is a panorama view of the lake at the camp which is in Payette County.
The last day before leaving we did a little longer hike on Goose Creek Trail. We sometimes had views through the trees.
The trail was mostly through the trees and in the morning when we did the hike it was fairly shady.
There was an interesting fallen tree which had a hollowed out circle inside.
We came to a bridge which crossed Goose Creek.
Looking upstream the water was cascading over and around the rocks.
Which continued to flow rapidly downstream.
The Goose Creek Falls was just a little further. However the terrain made it difficult to get a picture of all of the falls but I still managed to get a fairly good view of it.
There was a little chipmunk checking to see if anyone was giving out handouts.
Another view of the valley on the way back to our cars.
The reunion came to an end and everyone went their ways to return to their homes. This is a picture in Idaho along the way home.
I enjoyed spending time in the Idaho mountains catching up with my cousins as it has been a number of years since I had seen some of them. This reunion has been held periodically in different parts of the country for quite a few years. The last time it was held in Idaho was 2014 when I did a blog post on a hike we did to Boulder Lake . For more pictures on this 2025 reunion see the Southwest Idaho Mountains Gallery .
More Information
Southwestern Idaho Wikipedia article
