McCall is a recreational paradise. Want us to prove it? Hold on…

Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. World class golf. Payette National Forest. The best whitewater kayaking and rafting in the lower 48. Fly fishing good enough for Ernest Hemingway. Pristine alpine playgrounds. Ponderosa State Park. Hiking. Horse packing. Mountain biking. Boating. Canoeing.

If it can be done outdoors in the summer, it happens here in McCall. Sunset Magazine recently observed, "The (McCall) region has rolled onto the scene as one of the West's best (and least crowded) pedal-pushing playgrounds." Really, you could substitute almost anything for “pedal-pushing” and be on safe ground.

Take golf, for instance. The Osprey Meadows course at Tamarack Resort was designed by firm of Robert Trent Jones II and was awarded “Best New Public Course $75.00 and Over” in 2006 by America’s premier golf publication, Golf Digest. Playing at 7,319 yards from the tips, Osprey Meadows takes full advantage of its natural advantages – Cascade Lake, surrounding majestic mountains, and open meadow to deliver a sublime golfing experience.   

Not to be outdone, Jug Mountain Ranch is another McCall-area course able to lay legitimate claim to being the “best” golf course. In 2008, it garnered the “Best New Public Course Under $75.00” by Golf Digest. Making full use of stunning mountain views, old growth forest, marshlands and rolling hills, a round here is so much more than a good walk spoiled.

The Whitetail Club has also been a happy recipient of national recognition of its quality. In 2009 Golfweek named it a “Top 100 Best Course in America” and Golf Digest considered it to be “Among America’s 100 Greatest Courses.” Making full use of local old growth ponderosas, Whitetail’s track will challenge and delight you.
 
The McCall Golf Club, a 27-hole municipally course established in 1934, offers a mountain golfing experience with a very traditional, natural feel. While walking its gently rolling fairways, you may be lucky enough to share space with local four-legged and winged wildlife. Don’t even try to blame them for balls hit into the woods, though! Rounding out the roster of local courses is Meadow Creek Public Golf Course. Playing at par 72 and 6,696 yards from the tips, the course is surrounded by majestic pine trees and plays through rolling meadowland, always in view of Granite and Brundage Mountains. Keep an eye out for the deer and fox that make their home here.

Few creatures signal a healthy environment quite as spectacularly as do trout. Qucksilver quick, achingly beautiful, they tend to inhabit the more desirable corners of our planet. Not surprisingly, they love our slice of Idaho. There are many ways to fish for trout, but easily the most pleasurable and graceful is with a fly. If you’ve not had the privilege of learning to cast a fly, Fly Fish McCall will be only too happy to introduce you to the art. After your private or group lesson, their guides can take you and your new skills into the backcountry to experience our pristine alpine lakes. Their excursions make use of llamas and pack goats – all you have to worry about is what fly to use, and yes, they can help there too.  At McCall Anglers, you’ll find everything you’ll need for a day or a month on the water – you can bet they’ll be able to tell you the difference between a royal wulff and an elk hair caddis, too. At the Wapiti Meadow Ranch located in the Salmon River Wilderness, you will find your every fly fishing need and desire catered for, and so much more. Spend your days catching trout, mountain biking, hiking, photographing wildlife or simply relaxing, and your evenings basking in luxury.

Those in the know will agree that mountain biking is almost too much fun to be legal. Nothing has been invented that can beat the simple bicycle for delivery of fun per calorie spent. At BikeMcCall, you’ll find a local advocacy group dedicated to making biking in the area even more fantastic. There are already over 500 miles of mountain bike trails in the Valley County area, and the road riding is equally interesting. Valley County Pathways works hard to develop bike trails in the McCall-Donnelly corridor, recognizing that creation of new, dedicated bike routes will only add value to property and quality of life to area residents.

Brundage Mountain is becoming increasingly well-known for its skiing in winter, but don’t overlook its mountain biking opportunities in summer. With over 20 miles of funky singletrack, riders can choose between the gentle or the extreme – it all comes down to your adrenalin requirements and what flavor you like your gravity. As with all things cool, mountain biking in McCall has a festival. The Brundage Mountain Bike Festival has been grooving for years, and it has become an event that can’t be missed. Come join the tribe every July!

The best thing about our corner of Idaho is that the only reason you need for getting out is that the out is so great. The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the second largest such area in the lower 48, encompassing 2.3 million acres and contains the Salmon River Canyon, deeper than Colorado’s Grand Canyon. Containing numerous mountain ranges, countless lakes and rivers, and littered with numerous prehistoric and historic human artifacts, the Wilderness is a natural and cultural treasure. The Payette National Forest also spreads over 2.3 million acres of some of west-central Idaho's most beautiful and diverse country. Where else can you travel from hot desert grasslands through cool conifer forests to snow-capped peaks? Or stand on the rim of North America’s deepest river gorge, Hell’s Canyon, and gaze down 8,000 feet on its architect, the Snake River, glittering far below? And literally on our doorstep we have the Ponderosa State Park, covering 1,000 acres of land jutting into Payette Lake. Offering camping, hiking and biking trails, swimming, fishing, guided naturalists’ walks and evening campfires, a cornucopia of wildlife – we should feel embarrassed at our good fortune, but instead we’ll extend an invitation to you to join us. The Park remains one of the best places in the lower 48 to walk amid old growth pines.

Payette Lake is ideal for those of us who don’t get enough skiing on the white stuff. Covering 5330 acres and 392 feet at its deepest, Payette was carved from the landscape by a glacier 10,000 years ago. Continually refreshed by clean glacial runoff, Payette Lake is a favored playground, especially for Sharlie, our very own Loch Ness monster. Mile High Marina is the Lake’s boating headquarters. Offering full marina services, the Mile High gang works hard to ensure everyone has a safe, happy time. Whether you cruise or ski, a day on Payette will be long remembered.

This being McCall, let’s visit one more source of adventure. If you were asked what water and gravity combined to create and you answered whitewater, you’d be right! Nobody does whitewater like Idaho, and we’re smack dab in the middle of it. Whether you want to ride a raft or paddle your kayak, we have the water and the people to help you make it an experience of a lifetime. At North Star River Expeditions, you’ll thrill to the rapids on the Snake River through Hell’s Canyon, or exult in the dreamlike scenery along the Salmon River. Cascade Raft and Kayak specializes in rafting trips on the Payette River; Bear Valley River Company also runs trips on the Payette, and will cater to every need, whether you’re a 5 year old beginner or a grizzled, seasoned veteran.