8 Best Small Towns In Idaho For A Crowd-Free Summer

Idaho has more land than people, and summer here stays quieter than the crowds out west. The towns below offer empty trailheads, clear lakes, and space to spread out. Stanley sits under the Sawtooth peaks while McCall hugs a deep mountain lake. Some draw anglers and others draw history buffs but none feel overrun in July. Head to these eight towns for an uncrowded Idaho summer.

Stanley sits in the Sawtooth Valley, ringed by jagged peaks and wired straight into the outdoors. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area sprawls across 756,000 acres with more than 700 miles of trails into the mountains, forests, and alpine lakes. The tough five-mile Iron Creek Trail climbs to Sawtooth Lake, one of the area's best. Just north, Redfish Lake is the hub of summer, reached by a 4.6-mile trail and good for camping, kayaking, and swimming. Refuel with pastries at the Stanley Baking Company, then dig into pioneer and mining history at the seasonal Stanley Museum.

Click here to read the original article.