Day 1: Spokane residents coming to Sun Valley have a gorgeous drive rich in history ahead of them.

Interstate 90 is rife with attractions from the floating golf green on Coeur d’Alene Lake to the Route of the Hiawatha bicycle route, which crosses train trestles and ducks into tunnels near Idaho’s eastern border.

The Old Cataldo Indian Mission just east of Coeur d’Alene at exit 39 highlights the missionary work of the black-robed Jesuits among the Coeur d’Alene Indians with its Greek Revival-style church.

Tour a bordello, ride a San Francisco-style streetcar to an underground mine and visit the chateau-style Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum in Wallace.

After a brief jaunt through Montana, stop in Salmon at the Sacajawea Interpretive Center where you can walk through a primitive Indian village, see how Sacajawea’s people trapped fish and learn how the Indians tanned their hides.

The Land of the Yankee Fork Interpretive Center sits two miles south of Challis at the junction of US 93 and Idaho 75. You’ll get a feel for the rough life Idaho miners endured with the gold panning and other interpretive displays.

Take the short interpretive walk outside to see the Challis Bison Jump. And pick up a free audiocassette tape that will describe attractions along the way to Sun Valley.

Day 2: Overnight in Stanley, Idaho

The ghost towns of Bonanza and Custer are eight miles north of Sunbeam Dam on the Yankee Fork Road. Learn about the ghosts of the hardy immigrants who frequented these hills at the Boot Hill cemetery in Bonanza, peruse the teakwood opium pipes in the Custer schoolhouse museum and treat yourself to ice cream at the general merchandise store. On your way out, check out the 1,110-ton Yankee Fork Dredge, which recovered millions of dollars of gold as it chewed its way through river gravel during the 1940s.
Feel a little dusty? Sunbeam Hot Springs hugs the highway a mile west of Sunbeam Resort. Look for the historic bathhouse and interpretive signs.

Day 3:
No visit to Sun Valley would be complete without a stop at Redfish Lake, a beautiful glacial lake topped by the jagged Sawtooth Mountains four miles south of Stanley. Rent a paddleboat, take a horse ride, then continue your journey south where you can get an overview of the Sawtooth range atop 8,700-foot Galena Summit.

Don’t tarry: Ahead is even more fun...chairlift rides up the iconic Bald Mountain...mountain-top golfing on Sun Valley’s new White Clouds course...a tour of Ernest Hemingway’s haunts and Ezra Pound’s infant home...dazzling ice shows featuring the world’s best skaters...reggae and symphony bands performing under star-splashed skies...mountain biking and hiking on hundreds of trails...wildflower cruising on Dollar Mountain...open-air art festivals and farmer’s markets....