GOOD HOTELS: IDAHO ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANCH
The Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch is set on 900 acres in the Sawtooth Valley, along the Salmon River and is only open about four months a year. It doesn’t have a television in any of its cabins, which you don’t need anyway. It doesn’t have room service, which you can also live without. It doesn’t have a famous chef. But it’s one of the great hotels in America.
The Ranch itself is a 1929 building up on a hill, with a wide porch and views across the mountain range (when weather allows). Are most rocking chairs on porches? I don’t know, but this porch has a lot of them and they are very inviting. There’s an enormous fireplace in the main room, and then in the dining room as well. There’s something reassuring about a stone fireplace that’s the size of a large table.
Then there are cabins divided into two bedrooms, and each has its own fireplace. A cabin is perfect for a family or two couples—they share a porch. Classic hickory furniture, good details (heavy hooks, which I think are one of the most useful thing in a hotel room). Everything is well-made, but nothing is fancy for no reason. It’s not blindly luxurious. It’s just perfectly measured.
But the ranch itself is only part of the appeal. You’re in Idaho and you want to get outside. The Salmon River is right there and you can float it and fish for native cutthroat trout (connect with Silver Creek Outfitters and ask for Verlon Herndon, our man on the Salmon). The area (like much of Idaho) has extensive public land and well-marked hiking trails, including some that are quite challenging (like serious hot sauce, medium means medium). There’s horseback riding, mountain biking, a stocked pond for those who want to practice their casting. And at the end of the day there’s a hot spring waiting for you.
Getting there is a bit of an art. You can fly to Boise and drive about three hours, the last two are quite scenic. You can connect through Salt Lake City and fly into the little Sun Valley Airport, a little over an hour away. But once you’re in the area you’ll realize just how much there is to do. Ketchum is an hour south, reached over an incredibly scenic mountain pass. The legendary Silver Creek is another half hour south of that, if you want to test your angling skills in the most severe way possible. The sweet town Stanley is about ten minutes north. This is the where rafting trips begin for the Salmon River and there are a number of outfitters there. As soon as you arrive you’ll be very glad that Idaho is part of your life, and wondered why it took so long.
Fly Fishing the Salmon River. All photos: DC
Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch. Cabins are $360/person per day. All included.
The lay of the land in 1929. Photo: Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch