I'd like to bring my wife and two kids into the Idaho backcountry but with all four of us, and with the young age of the kiddies, camping isn't in the cards...

Anyone have any suggestions as to where I can fly-into and have a lodge or resort I can stay?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cory

You will probably get a lot of postings for this question.

First one to come to mind is Sulphur Creek. Easy in and out. Lodge with dinning room. Pond for kids to of all ages to fish in. Horses. Nice in the evenings. Cabins can be either hot or cold. When it is hot the tin roofs make the cabin hot. Take a small fan. If it is cold, the gap between the roof and the ends of the cabins make it difficult to heat anything but the bathroom. Some may be better than others.
It is usually busy and noisy on the weekends.

The flying B is another. Never stayed there but it is popular with most of the amenities.

Both of these are a reasonable distance from fuel in either McCall or Cascade.

Enjoy - but be safe first.

Chris C

Mackay bar would be my first choice.

All of the above, plus:

West Fork Lodge. Not in the boonies, but perfect for the kids, nice eats, and popular.

Atlanta...same way, hot springs,very rustic digs. Bring food. Some walking though.

You might look into Running Cr Ranch as well. I haven't flown into there in over 20 years (different owner), but I hear they may put folks up in the summer.

The Smiley Cr Lodge sure looks a-ok, but I've only camped there.

Cavanaugh's is nice too.

Mackay bar is by far one of the best.. good fishing and nice comfortable cabins... I haven't stayed there but I had them show me the cabins once... good meals and fishing is pretty good too.. they have boats for touring the river. don't know about horses If you don't want a cabin they have a teepee you can stay in at least they used to... Smiley is on a main road so you'll be sharing accomodations with the road travelers... Sulphur is my favorite for a couple of stops every trip up there... Cabins are clean and the fishing is fantastic in the creek or the pond... pond has 16-20 inch trout that put up a nice fight... Horses for all levels of riding...spent the whole day there fishing last trip up... got there for breakfast and fished the creek most of the morning with fish in almost every pool.. ate lunch at the lodge and marginal weather had me there fishing the pond till dinner... they offered me a cabin for the night if I got stuck so I had dinner and weather cleared about 9 PM... (it stays light up there till after 9 30 ) flew back to JC after dinner for scotch and a fire after a great Idaho day...good luck...

I have stayed at Smiley Creek overnight several times including camping. With the family I would recommend lodge room #2 for the family as we stayed there last June on our way to JC. Lodge #2 has a bathroom with shower, One double bed and two single beds. I think the rate was $80 per night. Twice I've stayed in cabin #5..two double beds. The shower and toilets are in a separate common building. I found this to be quite satisfactory....and I know you've been to Smiley!

Wilgabeast departing Smiley Creek

There's a "Hilton" at the Owyhee State Res. Airport. Even has a very large swimming pool steps away from the front porch.

Greene Valley Ranch next to the Atlanta strip, but with it's own strip is going to open to private aircraft this spring. It would be worth checking out. There is a blurb on it in the March Idaho Aviation Fly-Line newsletter. The Silver Spur in Dixie Town would also be a great stay. Of course all of the others mentioned above are good, too. If you call about the Flying B, you might also ask about the Root Ranch. When they have caretakers, it would be a nice quite place to spend a few days.

We generally spend more time at Mackay Bar and Sulphur Creek but all of them are good places to stay and have their unique characteristics.

Across the street from the airport. 20 min flight to JC.

$90▼Best Western Plus Mccall Lodge & Suitesmore info‎
211 South 3rd Street
McCall, ID 83638
(208) 634-2230
http://www.bestwesternmccall.com‎


100% smoke free
Complimentary hot breakfast
Free wireless high speed internet in-room and public areas
Cable or satellite TV with HBO
Microwaves and refrigerators
Fitness room
Indoor heated pool, hot tub and sauna
Business center
Meeting room
Catering referrals
Pet friendly

Cheers

Well, just south of Smiley is Friedman Municipal Airport (KSUN) in Hailey, ID - and between there is Ketchum - home of Sun Valley ski resort. Many options for "glamping" - ie glamorous camping at the local spas and hotels. And you can day trip till your hearts content.

Stanley too, pretty much in town. Driggs is a fun 4th of July destination, they even have a grass strip for the purists. West Yellowstone is a good one if you're able ride their bikes into town or Henry's Lake-U53, http://wildroseranch.com/ is within a few miles, good fishing (not sure if you can get a ride). Bear Lake has a real beach and a shuttle from the airport. There's always Cavanagh Bay if you have deep pockets.

The Diamond D Ranch at Upper Loon is great, though I'm a bit partial. They don't open up 'til 1 June, but they have something for everyone (horseback rides, guided hikes, custom pack trips, kids games, as well as big game outfitting in the fall). Definitely e-mail first or buzz the ranch a couple times so they know to come pick you up, it's a couple miles upstream from U72. http://www.diamonddranch-idaho.com

I've been watching this thread hoping to see some info about Running Creek Ranch. Have been thinking about possibly taking the wife and kids there in early June for some bear hunting and horse back riding. I haven't contacted them yet though.

Thanks everyone!

My wife and I now are looking at several options that would be great! With the four people, we don't have much weight hauling capability beyond overnight bags.. So a cabin stay at a resort will be perfect.

Thanks again, I'll let you know how the trip goes!

Good thing you clarified! I was about to give you a bunch of crap about not camping with the fam! or you could just upsize like we had to!

Lots of good options. I've stayed at the little duplexes at Smiley Creek and it was great. Their food is great too. Adam hasn't forgotten that I said we would go up and camp in a tepee when we were there in September. Looking forward to that. Make sure to do a trip report. Lots of those suggested I'd like to try out eventually.

58Skylane wrote:There's a "Hilton" at the Owyhee State Res. Airport. Even has a very large swimming pool steps away from the front porch.

Smart ASS! Had me hook line and sinker!

172heavy wrote:

58Skylane wrote:There's a "Hilton" at the Owyhee State Res. Airport. Even has a very large swimming pool steps away from the front porch.

Smart ASS! Had me hook line and sinker!

Come on, you should know me by now

Wilgabeast, Did you ever take this trip? I'm planning my own trip now for the first week of May with almost identical criteria ( me, wife, 3 year old and an infant, small plane PA-22/20, no room for camping gear so gotta have lodging) I'm not sure if we should spend the night in a different place each night or just pick a centralized place and fly out to all the airstrips I want to see on day trips to avoid the check in / check out hassle. Right now for lodging I'm looking at Smiley Creek, a lodge in Stanley, Yellow Pine Inn if I can get someone to answer the phone or McCall, and beaver lodge in Atlanta. I'd be interested to hear your (or anyone else that's made a similar trip) recommendations.

I think Yellow Pine inn is out of business... was for sale last summer...

Atlanta - http://greenevalleyretreat.com

Idaho City - http://www.morescreekcabins.com

Elk City - http://elkcityhotelid.com/2010/04/elk-c ... rport-s90/

Elk River - http://www.elkriverlodge.net/home

Salmon River -
http://www.mackaybarranch.com
http://sheppranch.com

Middle Fork Salmon -
http://www.flyingbranch.com
http://middleforklodge.com

Snake River -
http://www.snakeriveradventures.com/kir ... _lodge.htm (fly into Big Bar or Pittsburg Landing)
https://www.facebook.com/TemperanceCreekLodge (airstrip on site)

Sawtooth City - http://smileycreeklodge.com

Sulphur Creek - http://sulphurcreekranch.com

Upper Loon - http://www.diamonddranch-idaho.com

Cavanaugh Bay - http://www.cavbay.com

Selway - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Selway-W ... 9182741434

Dixie - http://silverspurlodge.com

Root Ranch - http://www.flyingresortranches.com


Oregon - http://www.theminamlodge.com/accommodations.html