Idyllic Idaho and West Yellowstone

We added another new state in our RV journey, Idaho! We stayed in Island Park, which is about 15 miles from the west entrance of Yellowstone. It was pretty cool to be in 3 states in less than 25 minutes on the drive to Yellowstone: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. This section of the park is a popular entrance, and was very crowded. We got an early start to look for wildlife on Fire Canyon road, check out some waterfalls (Gibbon Falls & Fire Hole Falls) and hike the Two Ribbon and Harlequin Lake Trails. By the time we left the park, the entrance was backed up for miles. We ended up not getting to go back to the park again, as the weather was cold, rainy and very windy. We definitely didn’t mind spending time in Idaho, due to the beauty and nearby activities. It was a little unusual though that the temperature was below or at freezing for two nights in June and 86 degrees by the time we left. We loved Henry’s Lake State Park, which was just across the street from us. We both enjoyed hiking the Aspen loop and other trails in the park. I was thrilled to be able to have roads to run on in the state park, as it has been challenging finding places to run and bike in bear country. Sawtell Peak was a mountain that we could see from our RV Park (Valley View) and from the state park. We drove the windy and sometimes scary road to the top where FAA Air Traffic control satellites are located. The view was just amazing! We could see the Three Sisters mountains in the Grand Tetons from the top. We also saw bear and moose on our drive, which was pretty cool. The Targhee Creek Trail located in Caribou-Targhee National Forest, was just a couple miles down the road from us, and was a great hike. Harriman State Park was also nearby and had some niceat trails and a bird sanctuary. Finally the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway was a gorgeous drive and the view from the lower and upper falls was beautiful. We will definitely be back to spend more time in Idaho!

We are heading back though Montana for our next couple of stops before visiting Glacier National Park.