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Largely unexplored until the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805, the area at the time was a vast wilderness occupied only by Nez Perce and Shoshoni Indian tribes plus a few British and American outposts.

A half century would pass before the first permanent U.S. settlement in Idaho was established in Franklin in 1860. That same year, gold was discovered in Orofino Creek, attracting thousands of prospectors to the state.

Today, prospecting of a different sort occurs with tremendous, recent expansion of high-tech industry as companies have moved to the Boise area, now a hotbed of technical innovation rivaled only by California's Silicon Valley.

Employee retention is helped along by Idaho's local attractions including plenty of outdoor activities for the sports-minded, with an abundance of fishing, hunting and camping facilities, along with world-class skiing at the famous Sun Valley resort located 2 1/2 hours from Boise.

Other major tourist attractions include Hells Canyon, Nez Percé National Historic Park, and Craters of the Moon National Monument which preserves Idaho's geological past in a bizarre landscape of volcanic rifts and lava spatters covering a 50,000 acre expanse.

More about Idaho travel & tourism around the Web:


Official Idaho Vacation and Travel Planning Guide - Places to go and things to do statewide with suggested tours & itineraries, online brochures, maps & pictures, regional guides, related links.

Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau - Major and nearby attractions, maps, pictures, hotel and dining guides, weather facts and practical tourist info, sports & recreation, cultural event calendar.

North Idaho Tourism - Encompassing the Selkirk, Cabinet, Coeur d'Alene, and Bitterroot Mountains, lakes and valleys including St. Joe and Idado Panhandle National Forests, with guides to outdoor recreation, an interactive map, pictures, event calendar.

Southeast Idaho Recreation - Featuring what to see and do in American Falls, Bancroft, Blackfoot, Chesterfield, Downey, Fort Hall, Franklin, Grace, Lava Hot Springs, Malad, Montpelier, Pocatello, Preston, and Soda Springs with plenty of info on outdoor activities with maps, pictures and virtual tours.

Idaho Attractions, Roadside America - The offbeat and bizarre found within Idado including guides to Atomic City, where to see Paul Bunyan statue(s) and, of course, information about the World Potato Exposition.

Idaho Summer Travel Calendar: