The nickname Gem of the Mountains is a clue to Idaho’s best known feature. But Idaho boasts much more than mountains. Indeed, some people say Idaho’s diversity and unique shape are the results of it having been created from the leftovers of surrounding states.
The Snake River rises in Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming. It races westward, slicing through lava fields and forming a great, crescent-shaped plain that covers much of southern Idaho. Soils covering most of the lava flows support grasslands and, where irrigated, crops.
North of the Snake River, some of the wildest country in the United States is found among the forested mountains that tumble from the long, narrow “Panhandle” southward into central Idaho. These are the northern Rocky Mountains which tumble eastward across the Montana border. Here, a backcountry traveler might encounter a mountain lion, wolf, grizzly bear, or rare mountain caribou.
Northern Idaho is know for its beautiful lakes. There are perhaps 2,000 lakes in this region, most of them small mountain lakes. Pend Oreille Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes lying wholly within the United States. Other notable lakes are Priest and Coeur d’Alene. Bear Lake straddles the Idaho-Utah border.
The Southern Mountains, which border Utah, offer a sharp contrast to northern Idaho. This is a region of mountains, valleys, and plateaus covered with grass or sagebrush. Much of this region is grazed by cattle and pronghorns.
The Palouse grasslands of western Idaho lend their name to the Appaloosa, Idaho’s state horse. It is a reminder of the horses that grazed alongside the Snake River millions of years ago.
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