Island Park, Idaho | Island Park Area Chamber of Commerce

Island Park, Idaho

Island Park, located south of West Yellowstone near the border of Yellowstone National Park, is an Island of lakes, woods, rivers, meadows and mountains lightly sprinkled with ranches, summer homes and fishing lodges. Legendary fishing at the Henry’s Fork of the Snake is but one of the superb angling locales. Other fishing jewels include Henry’s Lake and the Island Park Reservoir.

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The longer you stop and linger in Island Park, the more difficult you may find it to leave, and the more that you will want to come back. Click and visit our Chamber Business Directory, to find exactly what you will need to make your first or your one-hundredth stay . . . . . exactly the way you want it.

Idaho is several Scenic Byways and many are located in the Island Park Area download a brochure here https://visitidaho.org/content/uploads/2018/02/Idaho-Scenic-Byways-Brochure.pdf

In the winters, locals and the increasing number of visitors, trade their fishing tackle for snowmobiles to explore the hundreds of miles of forest and mountain trails. Cascading over groomed trails and waist deep powder on a powerful snowmobile cannot be beat!

Aside from the fishing and snowmobiling, bird watching, hiking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, hunting and touring, Island Park’s scenic and historical sites are some of the other popular activities. Outfitters for nearly every activity abound, and there are also plenty of maps and guide books for the visitor who wants to experience Island Park on their own. Nearby Yellowstone Park and its trails and streams are also popular day trips from the area. Yellowstone’s proximity is part of the allure of Island Park. Since the late 1800’s, tourists commonly passed through Island Park on their way to Yellowstone.

Click here for the most recent trail grooming reports

Some of the same natural forces that once made Yellowstone National Park so scenic also made Island Park similarly beautiful. Island Park sits in the world’s largest caldera, 23 miles in diameter, created from a volcano that collapsed in prehistoric times. Now covered in a dense forest of pine and wildflowers and an abundance of wildlife.

Island Park offers a wide scope of activities. In the summer there is fishing, recreational boating, ATV, UTV trail riding, hiking, biking or just being amazed by the scenic beauty. The winter offers hundreds of miles of groomed snowmobile trails, cross country/Nordic skiing and ice fishing.

Island Park has become a destination for tourists and vacation home owners. It is no longer a stop on the way to Yellowstone Park, it offers many of the services provided in the city, yet an escape from the crowds.

The Henry’s Fork of the Snake River is world famous for fly fishing and is curtailed here to form the 7,000 acre Island Park Reservoir, popular to both anglers and boaters. The Henry’s Fork then winds through the meadows of one of Idaho’s most premiere state parks, Harriman State Park, also known as the Railroad Ranch.

Don’t forget to travel the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. Mesa Falls is 65′ high and can be viewed from an observation point high above the falls. Upper Mesa Falls is 112′ and has a network of viewing platforms, as well?as a visitors center.

Just before the Montana border, you will find Henrys Lake and Henrys Lake State Park. Located only 15 miles west of Yellowstone National Park, this high mountain lake is the kind of place fisherman dream about, boasting record trout. The state park is open in summer and fall for anglers to fish for cutthroat, brook and rainbow-cutthroat hybrid trout, referred cut-bow.