Join Idaho Conservation League, the Environmental Resource Center, Idaho Trails Association, Idaho Rivers United, Wood River Trails Coalition, Sawtooth Society, Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association, and the U.S. Forest Service for the fourth annual SNRA End-of-Season Cleanup! The 2023 SNRA End-of-Season Cleanup effort runs from Friday, September 15th, to Saturday, September 30th. Volunteers are self-guided – you choose the date that best suits your schedule and the locations you’d like to help out with! You’ll be provided with instructions, trash bags, latex gloves, snacks, and other resources to facilitate the work. To register, click HERE! We encourage you to grab friends, family, or coworkers and help give back to this iconic slice of Idaho!
Summer Kick Off Block Party
The Trailhead Bicycles & First Lite are throwing a Block Party to kick off the summer! Join us on the street from 12-4 pm for a live DJ, bike-themed contests, food trucks, beer, kids’ activities, corn hole, raffle prizes, and more! Everyone is encouraged to bike. Family-friendly pre-party bike ride from Hulen Meadows on the Wood River Trail to the shop, 10:30 am-12 pm. For more info, including “pick-up” times on the bike path, visit: www.thetrailheadbicycles.com/eventswww.thetrailheadbicycles.com/events.
WRTC Volunteer Work Party
Where: Adams Gulch, Sunnyside Trail. Wood River Trails Coalition (map) When: Thursday, June 15th 5:15 PM – 7:30 PM Difficulty: Easy – 1/2 mile hike from trailhead to the start of the project What to bring/wear: Closed toe/ankle supporting shoes and pants will be required. We recommend bringing your own eye protection/sunglasses, work gloves and sunscreen. A small pack is nice to have for water, layers and a snack. No dogs please. What we will provide: Tools, required PPE available for use: hard hats, eye protection, gloves etc. Bike helmets are not an appropriate substitute. RSVP: Yes please! HERE
4th of July Week in Sun Valley – 2023
Why You Should Come Why should you come to Sun Valley for the 4th of July? Well, let us set the scene for you. It’s a warm, dry 78*. The sun won’t set until until well after 9pm and the twilight glow will linger until 10pm. Scents of sage and lupine waft delightfully through the air. The Valley is vibrant with visitors and locals alike enjoying abundant outdoor recreational opportunities. Restaurants are maximizing patio seating and fresh regional ingredients are highlighting the special menus. And, there are some of the best arts and cultural events, shows, and exhibits happening. Still looking for more to draw you in? Keep reading to dive deeper into what the 2023 4th of July week in Sun Valley is all about Activities With the first week of July, pretty much every mountain activity you could think of is ready for action. The golf greens are pristine, the mountain bike trails are tacky, the fishing water may be a bit high but is becoming manageable, the hiking trails are flush with wild flowers, and white water north of town is in prime condition. Don’t forget about the more mellow activities out there such as the fine …
Visit Sun Valley, Sustainably!
Traveling sustainably is an important aspect of modern-day travel, and being mindful of our environmental impact while traveling has never been more critical. Fortunately, there are simple things we can all do to help preserve the environment and make our travels more sustainable. From using reusable items to picking up litter, shopping locally, and reducing our carbon footprint, these small actions can go a long way in helping protect the places we love to visit. In this blog post, we’ll cover some easy ways to travel sustainably while enjoying all that the Ketchum area has to offer. Bring reusables! Did you know that Americans use over 100 billion plastic bags each year? If 25% of families used 10 fewer bags per month, we would save 2.5 billion bags per year! Grab that reusable bag and water bottle and hit the town! This is a simple way to do your part when out and about and stopping in shops and groceries. Plus, our local tap water is out of this world. Pick it up! It can be a damper to roll up to a campsite, trailhead, lookout, or even a park and see pieces of trash around. Be sure to pick …
Bike to School/Work Day
Come on out to the Wood River Trail for Bike to School & Work Day on Wednesday, May 17th!
BCRD Ski Free Day!
For four days this season, BCRD welcomes the community to enjoy free Nordic skiing and snowshoeing on all BCRD winter trails. The 32-kilometer multi-use Wood River Trail, which runs from Ketchum to Bellevue, is always free. The Wood River Trail is groomed every other day and is open to skiers, walkers, dogs, and fat-bikes. The Ski Free Days for the 2023/24 season are: Saturday, December 9 Sunday, January 7 Saturday, February 24 Wednesday, March 27
Complete Guide to Cross-Country Skiing Sun Valley
Each winter, at the first hint of snow, local Nordic skiers pull out their gear and anxiously await the inaugural groom of the season. From the first pass of the snowcat in early winter until the trails disappear in spring’s warmth, stoke runs high. These long-time skiers know what many others are about to find out—that cross-country skiing is a great way to explore the mountains, clear the mind, and, especially this year, socially distance. While the pandemic may be partially responsible for this year’s meteoric rise in the sport’s popularity, cross-country skiing’s roots run deep in Sun Valley. Over 200 kilometers of Nordic ski trails wind through the Sun Valley area from Hailey in the south to Galena Lodge, tucked in the Boulder Mountains north of Ketchum. Our world-class trails are not only a destination for skiers from around the globe but are also the United States’ only designated cross-country skiing Olympic and Paralympic training site. Exploring Sun Valley’s Nordic scene for the first time can get a little overwhelming, but we’re here to help. In this guide, we give you the 411 on everything from where to ski to who can help you get the right gear. See …
Zoom Town Guide to Sun Valley – Winter Edition
Covid certainly changed things for all of us, but notably for the town of Sun Valley, aka a “Zoom Town,” it brought lots of remote workers looking to enjoy all the splendors of the area that were previously limited to short vacations. With so many new folks in town, we at Visit Sun Valley wanted to create a helpful zoom town guide for how to do things the “local” way. It’s a delicate balance that keeps Sun Valley a great place to live. Sun Valley Culture When coming from a big city or even just a town bigger than ours, it’s easy to forget that what was once common practice in your life is frowned upon here. Our small town prides itself on a slower pace of living, where errands might take longer because you ran into old friends in the grocery store, where you might pull over to help someone with a flat tire on the side of the road, where a car honk doesn’t mean you’re angry, but means you saw someone you knew walking on the sidewalk. It’s easy to get frustrated with this slower pace—especially if you actually have somewhere to be—but remember that this is …
24hrs with a Local: BCRD’s Mark Davidson, June
In this monthly series, we check in with one of our adventurous locals to find out how they would spend a perfect 24 hours in Sun Valley. The days are getting longer, the temperatures are warming up, and if summer hasn’t officially arrived, it will soon. June is a special month in Sun Valley—warm enough to break out the summer clothing, but early enough in the season to have the trails and rivers all to yourself. For our 24hrs Sun Valley – June edition, we reached out to Mark Davidson, Executive Director of the Blaine County Recreation District. Known locally as the BCRD, the Blaine County Recreation District’s mission is to enhance Blaine County’s quality of life by creating healthy, active recreational opportunities for all. They do this through a mix of programming, including youth sports leagues, adult fitness classes, and HUB after-school care, and facilities such as the outdoor Aquatic Center, FitWorks fitness center, Galena Lodge, and a network of summer and winter trails. Though perhaps best known for their extensive groomed Nordic trail network, it’s a different trail system that has captured the attention of trail lovers this spring—BCRD’s new Quigley Trails Park in Hailey. Quigley Trails Park …