McCall, Idaho & vicinity

[John Kasaian]

We're going to a wedding in McCall Idaho this summer. We'll probably over night in Reno on the way up and back.
Got any suggestions for photography around McCall?
Or between Reno and McCall?

[Drew Wiley]

Depends on your route. If you go due north from 80 on Hwy 95 into eastern Oregon, you go past the Santa Rosa Range and its old mining camps slightly off the Hwy in the northwest corner of NV. Be careful near the OR border. They're known to hand out traffic tickets for blinking an eye. Then there's an awful lot of interesting things in the eastern OR desert, depending on your schedule. A minor detour west onto OR 78 and Burns, then driving way up Steens Mtn and camping up there is quite rewarding and very different from any other place I can think of. The haul over into Idaho will keep your vehicle AC running, but also is quite interesting in its own way. Even more solitude than in rural Nevada. If you need a motel, the city of Burns, recently infamous for the outlaw high-jinx of the Bundy clan, is below the Steens Range on the highway. But as an old-time gunslinger accustomed to the saloons of Clovis, you'd feel right at home. Then back onto 95 OR headed east, you'll encounter the fascinating Owyhee Riv drainage prior to the Idaho border.

[scheinfluger_77]

John and Drew,

I think Leslie Gulch is on that route just inside Oregon before you get to Idaho. Lots of interesting rock formations. It’s been forever since I was there so don’t remember the specific route.

[Jim Galli]

John! You of all people know pictures are where you find them ;~'))

[John Kasaian]

John! You of all people know pictures are where you find them ;~'))

Well, I was kind of hoping someone might recommend a good place to stop for lunch as well :o

[seabee1999]

A couple years back I was up in that general area visiting my niece who lives in Boise. We took a trip to McCall on a day trip. I don’t know the area that well to recommend photo stops but a few things I do remember were that the drive up to McCall was very pretty along the river paralleling Rt 55. On the way up we stopped at Cougar Mountain Lodge and that was a good pit stop and trinkets. Finally, in McCall we had ice cream at Ice Cream Alley. The huckleberry flavor was quite good. This past November I did go up to Idaho City and hiked around in the snow for a bit. The landscape there is very nice and peaceful. Hope this is a help of some kind.

R/
Dave

[Drew Wiley]

Jackrabbits everywhere, John. Lunch.

[John Kasaian]

Jackrabbits everywhere, John. Lunch.

Memo to self: Bring garlic!

[Thad Gerheim]

John, McCall has a lot of what the Sierras have- tourists, a big lake, tourists, ghost towns http://www.secesh.net/Walk.htm , tourists, backroads, trees, rocks, and beautiful streams. There's a nice loop to take back over some nice mountain passes to the South Fork of the Salmon river towards the old mining town of Yellow Pine. The drive along The South Fork is nice and you can either loop around Johnson Creek or go over a high pass to Warm Lake and Cascade. Or if you don't mind wash boarded roads, there's a back road that comes out near Stanley. But you can't tell anyone about whats around Stanley, we don't want the word to get out!

[Drew Wiley]

Redfish Lake.

[Thad Gerheim]

Redfish Lake.
Isn't that in North Dakota?

[Drew Wiley]

I'm sure there are any number of them across the country. This would be the one with the panorama of the Sawtooth Range. But I'm sure the Lodge there charges more for jackrabbit stew than making your own with authentic pasture salt lick seasoning.

[John Kasaian]

Thanks!