We’re starting out on Highway 55 – this highway runs North/South through Idaho up to just past McCall, where it then ends at Highway 95, which you can take all the way up to Canada. While we won’t go that far today, we will travel about 101 miles, which takes about 2 hours. We are heading up to McCall to go paddleboarding, and we recorded this in October, so you’ll notice that fall has set in. 

We will pass Dry Creek Ranch, which is the last subdivision on the edge of the Boise foothills before you begin heading up into the hills. Then there is one more master planned subdivision called Avimor, I have a video about that, I will link it below, that is in the foothills, and then it opens up into public and private land. The Avimor subdivision will eventually be very large and cover some of these hills that are on the south side of Horseshoe bend in the future. These hills are usually green in the spring and through early summer, and since it’s fall, it’s turning yellow and then brown for the winter. 

Horseshoe Bend, Idaho

Horseshoe Bend is our first little town on the way to McCall. It’s only about 20 minutes from all the amenities in Eagle, Idaho and about 45 minutes from downtown Boise, so people do commute from Horseshoe Bend into Boise for work, but it is quite a small town, the snow over the hill coming into town can be worrisome, and there aren’t a lot of housing options here, so it hasn’t seen the growth the Boise area has. But they do keep the roads clear in the winter, and it’s so regularly traveled that it’s not a big deal to drive from Boise to Horseshoe Bend or up to McCall in the winter. Just drive safely when there’s snow. 

Horseshoe Bend has a population of about 1,053 in 2023. It can make nice place to build a home if you want to be away from the city, but not too far away. As of November 2023, there are 34 building lots for sale, ranging from a standard small lot for $78,000 up to 160 acres for just over $2.2 million. But for about 1- 10 acres, lots are anywhere from $150,000-$600,000 depending on views and water access. 

There are currently 12 houses for sale in Horseshoe Bend ranging from $115,000 for a trailer up to $1.3 million for a 4300-sf house on 25 acres. 

The Main Payette River runs through Horseshoe Bend, and then we will be following the Payette River for a bit as we drive up to McCall. There’s still enough flat land in the valley here for some farming, but pretty soon we will be in more rugged areas. 

Trees in Idaho

So, I get asked all the time about trees in the Boise area, lots of people think Idaho and think forests. And Idaho does have large amounts of forests, and we will get into a few on our drive that you can see, but those iconic evergreen forests don’t begin until we get a bit further north. So hopefully this video shows more a bit of the landscape as we head north from Boise and how long it takes to get to the forest landscape. It’s not too long. 

On the west side of Highway 55 is the main Payette, and this is where there is great kayaking and rafting tours in the summer. Idaho actually has the most whitewater in the lower 48, but much of it is pretty advanced. But in the summer, you’ll see loads of kayakers and rafters on this section of the Payette, between here and Banks. 

Gardena, Idaho

The next little town we drive though is Gardena. It’s an unincorporated town in Boise County, and online resources say population is just over 1,700, but that is definitely wrong.  The elevation now is just over 2,600 feet, which is about the same as Boise, but they do get a bit more snow here than in Boise. There are currently no houses for sale in Gardena, and only 1 was listed and sold in 2022, which was an 1100 sf home on 2 acres for $470,000. There is also no land listed for sale here, but most Gardena listings get lumped in with Horseshoe Bend. 

Between Gardena and Banks, the canyon gets a little narrower, so there aren’t really any homes here, just beautiful scenery along the river. 

Banks, Idaho

Coming into Banks, this is where highway 17 comes over from highway 21 and the South Fork of the Payette joins the Main. If you head East here on 17, that’ll take you to the towns of Garden Valley and Crouch, which are nice valleys and very livable, and a very popular place for weekend cabins. Banks intersection is a busy intersection in the summer, and they will be working on a massive project to put a signal here. Banks is a fun place to come to the river and have a fire and play on the little beach. According to online sources, Banks has a population of 7. But there must be more people than that because there are 3 houses for sale right now in Banks, ranging from $429,000 to $549,000 for cabin type homes on up to 6 acres. There is currently 1 building lot for sale in Banks that is almost 6 acres and is $174,000. 

Why aren’t there more mountain towns to live in in Idaho?

You can see we are getting a bit more up into the trees and steeper mountains. We are about 30 minutes from where we left in Eagle now. So, people look at a map of Idaho and wonder why there aren’t more livable towns in the mountains like you see in places like Montana. And it’s because the terrain of the mountains of Idaho gets very steep and rugged, and we don’t have very many large, open valleys in the mountains like they do in Montana. Also, a huge amount of the forests and mountains of Idaho is public land, which is great for recreation, but of course then people can’t live there. 

We’re heading into the Boise National Forest here, which is public land, and there are several small campgrounds along 55 here for a weekend getaway. And off of highway 55 are many different dirt roads that take you to all kinds of outdoor recreation areas as well. We like to head out one of the dirt roads in the winter to go cut down our Christmas tree with a permit. 

Smith’s Ferry, Idaho

So, the valley opens up a bit here as we head into Smith’s Ferry. This is a great area for outdoor recreation staging, especially for snowmobiling. The Cougar Mountain Lodge has a little restaurant and rustic lodging. They are super nice people – one year when we came up to cut down a Christmas tree, the dirt roads were slick with snow and ice, and our 4-wheel drive car just slipped right off into a ditch. My husband hiked out down to the lodge and they came and helped get the car out of the ditch – anyways, just chalk it up to another Idaho adventure. 

Smith’s Ferry is about halfway through our trip to McCall, about an hour from where we started in Eagle. Online sources say the population is about 122, which is probably right. It’s in Valley County, and there are currently about 8 houses for sale in the areas, mostly cabin type homes that range from $210,000 for a very rustic place on a half-acre to $1.25 million for 3000 sf on 5 acres. And currently there are a couple of lots for sale, a 3-and-a-half-acre lot for $365,000 and an 8-acre lot on the river for $940,000.

As you are probably learning, this area of Idaho is not the place for cheap land. 

So, heading over the historic Rainbow Bridge, built in 1933, we head through the trees again before opening up to the beautiful Round Valley. And as I said, this is fall, so everything is getting brown, but this area is so green in the spring and summer. There are a couple of nice reservoirs out this way for fishing, camping and boating, our favorite is Herrick Reservoir. We’re at about 4,800 feet elevation now, so they get much more snow in this area than in Boise. There is fantastic backpacking and other outdoor recreation in these mountains surrounding not only Round Valley, but all of this area of Idaho. 

Cascade, Idaho

Okay and now we made it to Cascade. Cascade is a popular recreation destination as it is on the south side of Lake Cascade, which is great for camping, fishing, and wake boarding. This area between Cascade and the next town of Donnelly is probably the most popular area for people from the Boise area to have cabins, but plenty of people live here year-round too if you want to live in a small mountain town. You do have to deal with tourist seasons though. According to online sources, Cascade has a population of 1,028, but that would fluctuate quite a bit due to all of the vacation cabins here. 

You can certainly build your dream mountain home or cabin in this area. Currently there are about 84 lots for sale, ranging from $35,000 for a third acre lot up on the mountain side to $10.8 million for 1,800 acres. Yes please, I’ll take that. There are also about 22 homes for sale right now ranging from $179,000 for a trailer home on a quarter acre lot to $825,000 for 3000 sf on 5 ½ acres. Of course, a custom home on the lake would be much more than that. 

Cascade has a grocery store, some local restaurants and shops, even a little movie theater. There is the large hotel NOBO for lodging as well. 

Forest Fires in Idaho

Here’s smoke from a fire from someone burning yard waste, but as far as fires in these areas go, yes, these forests do get fires. Because the fires are usually in the rugged terrain areas, they rarely threaten structures, but it is common to have times of smoke in the valleys here in the summer if there are some forest fires. 

Donnelly, Idaho

And we tend to think of Cascade as the same town as Donnelly, but they are actually 16 miles apart. So, we head up what they call Little Donner Summit to go between Cascade and Donnelly, which splits Round Valley, where Cascade is, from Long Valley, where Donnelly is. So, it opens up here to the far North Side of Lake Cascade, and over on the West side here, you can see Tamarack Resort. So, before we take a little side detour to see a bit of Tamarack, we are driving through Donnelly. Donnelly is growing quite a bit as the resort grows, and I would expect will keep growing as the resort grows. Online resources say that Donnelly has 272 residents, again, that would fluctuate quite a bit with vacation homes. It’s at about 4,800 feet elevation, and they do get quite a bit of snow here that sticks around most of the winter. These areas we’ve been driving through are quite a bit colder than Boise. Besides getting more snow, their temperatures in the summer and winter can be a good 20 degrees less than in Boise, sometimes more. So, it makes for a much more temperate summer climate, but a much harsher winter climate. Or better winter climate for more skiing. 

There are about 52 homes on the market in Donnelly area right now, ranging from $239,000 for a trailer on a half-acre to about $6.5 million for a 5000-sf custom cabin on an acre in Tamarack Resort area. You can also build in this area on land, there are currently about 90 lots for sale ranging from about $145,000 for a half-acre in the mountains to $9million for 623 acres. 

Tamarack Resort, Idaho

So, let’s take just a quick side trip to see a bit of Tamarack Resort. Here’s the main village area for lodging. And as I said, these custom homes here are all well over $1million, they are really trying to sell a whole resort experience here, and these cute cabins can be yours for just about $1.2 million, but you can also rent them for a vacation stay. So of course, we all kick ourselves because in 2010 and 2011 Tamarack was barely getting off the ground and you could buy a condo in the village for under $100,000, so we all should have bought condos then of course. But Tamarack is beautiful, and I’ll make a video all about it this winter. 

McCall, Idaho

So, heading to McCall – Donnelly to McCall is about 15 miles. There are beautiful areas around here, like Jug Mountain ranch, with so much recreation like mountain biking trails, horse riding, camping, backpacking, hunting, I mean any kind of Idaho outdoor recreation you can do in this area. 

McCall is turning into quite the tourist destination and due to the ski resorts like Tamarak as well as Brundage, and the Payette Lake, there isn’t really an off season here anymore. Online says the permanent population of McCall is just over 4,000, but of course, McCall is also a very popular place for second homes and vacation cabins. It’s the little Lake Tahoe of Idaho. If you want to build here, there are about 66 lots for sale right now and range from about $174,000 for ⅓ of an acre all the way up to $151 million for 60,000 acres of absolutely breathtaking wilderness land. Can you even imagine owning all that wilderness? Oh, that would be so amazing. That’s got to be one of the most expensive listings in the country right now. So, call me when you’re ready to buy that land, okay? And for homes, they range from about $515,000 for 1000 sf – there are a couple that are under $200,000, but they are old cabins with land leases that are expiring – up to $20 mil for a custom 13,000 sf estate on 3 acres. 

Even though we’ve made it to McCall, let’s drive North along the lake on Warren Wagon Road where we will put in our paddle boards in the meanders for the day. So, this is just about 2 hours’ drive from where we started today, so it’s a perfect day trip from the Boise area. If you have any questions about any of these towns, real estate questions we can help you with, please reach out at our website and we are happy to help. You can also follow us on Instagram for more daily information about the living in the Boise area, and of course there are a ton of helpful resources for you at our website. Thanks so much for watching, and we will see you on our next video!

LINK TO VIDEO ABOUT COMMUNITY OF AVIMOR, IDAHO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXAFXXhAkU0

Helpful Boise, Idaho links for you!!!!

LINK TO GET OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER: https://summerastonrealestate.com/newsletter/

LINK TO GET BOISE MAP TOUR VIDEO: https://youtu.be/K-xWSra013U

LINK TO GET BOISE RELOCATION GUIDE: https://summerastonrealestate.com/relocation-guide/

LINK FOR EAGLE IDAHO AREA COMMUNITY GUIDE: https://summerastonrealestate.com/eagle-area-comparison-guide/