The deepest river gorge in the North American Continent is Idaho's Hells Canyon - 7,900 feet deep. Yes, it's deeper than the Grand Canyon.
The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the largest wilderness area in the 48 contiguous states - 2.3 million acres of rugged, unspoiled back country.
63% of Idaho is public land managed by the federal government.
Five of history's pioneer trails, including the Oregon Trail and the California Trail, cross Southern Idaho. Wagon ruts are still visible all along the rugged terrain.
Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner was born in Wallace, Idaho and changed her name to Lana Turner, becoming a famous movie star!
Between 1863 (when Abraham Lincoln signed the bill making Idaho a Territory) and statehood (27 years later), the Idaho Territory had 16 governors, four who never set foot in Idaho.
Appropriately named the "Gem State," Idaho produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world.
The Silver Valley in northern Idaho has produced more than $4 billion in precious metals since 1884, making the area one of the top 10 mining districts in the world.
Ernest Hemingway arrived in Sun Valley in 1939 to work on his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Idaho offered wide open spaces for Hemingway to indulge in his passions for hunting, skiing, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Hemingway is buried in Ketchum, Idaho where he died on July 2, 1961.
Did you know that Idaho has a seaport? The Port of Lewiston allows the exportation of millions of bushels of grain down the Snake and Columbia Rivers for overseas shipment.
After the great Wallace fire of 1910, the Pulaski, a mattock-axe tool used in firefighting, was invented in Idaho.
Idaho's Salmon River, known as the "River of No Return" because of its difficult passage, is the nation's longest free-flowing river that heads and flows within a single state.
One of the largest diamonds ever found in the United States, nearly 20 carats, was discovered near McCall, Idaho.
In Boise, Residents may not fish from a giraffe's back.
In 1953, the engineering prototype of the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus, was built and tested in the Idaho desert on the Snake River Plain near Arco.
In Idaho, riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is considered a crime.
A treasure is said to be hidden in Beaver Canyon near Spencer that has never been located. Theburied cache is said to be that of the Montana sheriff turned outlaw, Henry Plummer's.
The Statehouse in Boise and dozens of other buildings in the city are geothermally heated from underground hot springs. In fact, Idaho is well sprinkled with public and private hot springs.
The longest main street in America, 33 miles in length, can be found in Island Park, Idaho.
