Idaho Fun Facts and Trivia

Idaho Fun Facts & Trivia

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Cataldo Mission, Idaho

Cataldo Mission, courtesy Idaho State Parks and Recreation

The Cataldo Mission of the Sacred Heart is the oldest building in the state, established in the 1840s by Jesuit Priests.

It's safe to make love while parked in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Police officers aren't allowed to walk up and knock on the window. Any suspicious officer who thinks that sex is taking place must drive up from behind, honk his horn three times and wait proximately two minutes before getting out of his car to investigate.

American Falls is unique from most communities because the entire town was moved in the mid-1920s when the original American Falls Dam was constructed.

Anti-delinquency statutes in Idaho prohibit juveniles from deliberately stepping on ants.

Elk River is the home of the Idaho Champion Western Red Cedar Tree, the largest tree in the state. Estimated to be over 3000 years old this giant is more than 18 feet in diameter and stands 177 feet tall.

Perched at 9,500 feet on Trinity Mountain is the highest fire lookout in the Boise National Forest.

In Idaho law forbids a citizen to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.

In Wallace, Idaho there is an old bordello that continued to operate until 1988. Today, it still operates as the Oasis Bordello Museum.

The Lewis and Clark Highway (United State Highway 12) is the shortest route from the midwest to the Pacific Coast and the longest highway within a national forest in the nation.

Brueneau Dunes State Park, Idaho

Bruneau Dunes State Park contains North America's tallest single structured sand dune. It stands 470 feet high.

Bruneau Canyon Overlook offers a view into a 1,200 foot-deep, 800-foot-wide river canyon.
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The Kamiah Valley is rich in the heritage and legends of the Nez Perce. It was here, among the ancestors of the present day Nez Perce, the Appaloosa horse was first bred, primarily for use as a war animal.

Rigby is known as the birthplace of television since it is Philo T. Farnsworth's hometown. Farnsworth pioneered television technology.

Under Idaho law only two forms of city government are allowed: a mayor/councilor or a council/manager form.

Butch Cassidy , a.k.a - George Leroy Parker, robbed the bank in Montpelier, Idaho, on August 13, 1896. He got away with $7,165, allegedly to hire a lawyer for his partner Matt Warner, who was awaiting trial for murder in Ogden, Utah.

Seven Devils Peaks, Idaho

Seven Devils Peaks, courtesy Idaho Summits

Seven Devils' Peaks, one of the highest mountain ranges in Idaho, Includes Heaven's Gate Lookout, where sightseers can look into four states.

You may not fish on a camel's back in Idaho.

In Pocatello, a law passed in 1912 provided that "The carrying of concealed weapons is forbidden, unless some are exhibited to public view."

Idaho grows about 27 billion potatoes annually.

Soda Springs boasts the largest man-made geyser in the world.

President Theodore Roosevelt established the Caribou National Forest in 1907. The area now covers more than 1 million acres in southeast Idaho.

Sun Valley is recognized as the home of America's first destination ski resort.

Idaho ghost towns include Silver City, Yankee Fork, Gold Dredge, and the Sierra Silver Mine.

Sawtooth Mountain/Sawtooth National Recreational Area was named for its jagged profile.

Idaho's first territorial prison was opened in 1872. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was converted into a public facility after the last prisoners were removed in 1974. Today the Old Idaho Prison is a fascinating Boise tourist attraction that offers one of the most informative prison tours in the West. The prison is open to visitors to walk through the courtyards, the cells, the gallows and the "coolers" where prisoners were sentenced to solitary confinement.

Updated October, 2005

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