Hot spring · 34 min southeast
Lava Hot Springs
A small canyon town built around public hot mineral pools (about 102 to 112°F), with tubing on the Portneuf River in summer.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round (hot pools)
- Admission
Day Trippin' › Idaho › From Pocatello
Day trips from Pocatello
From Pocatello, Lava Hot Springs and Massacre Rocks are about half an hour away, the Soda Springs geyser under an hour, Bear Lake's turquoise water under two hours, and Craters of the Moon and City of Rocks are in reach for a long day. The best day trips from Pocatello, by drive time.
37 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
10 day trips from Pocatello
- Massacre Rocks State Park 31 min southwest
- Lava Hot Springs 34 min southeast
- Soda Springs Geyser 56 min east
- Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve 1 hr 30 min northwest
- Perrine Bridge 1 hr 33 min west
- Harriman State Park 1 hr 50 min northeast
- Bear Lake State Park 1 hr 54 min southeast
- Castle Rocks State Park 2 hr 3 min southwest
- City of Rocks National Reserve 2 hr 6 min southwest
- Bruneau Dunes State Park 2 hr 42 min west
Within an hour from Pocatello 6 spots
State park · 31 min southwest
Massacre Rocks State Park
Lava bluffs above the Snake River with trails, Oregon Trail exhibits, and Register Rock, a boulder covered with emigrant signatures, two miles away.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Idaho State Parks entrance fee (per vehicle) or Idaho State Parks Passport
Landmark · 56 min east
Soda Springs Geyser
A captive geyser downtown that the city sets off on a timer, sending carbonated water high into the air every hour on the hour.
- 30 min · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Park · 41 min northeast
Idaho Falls River Walk
A 5-mile paved loop on both banks of the Snake River beside the wide, terraced falls the city is named for.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Museum · 1 hr northwest
Experimental Breeder Reactor I
In 1951 this reactor became the first in the world to make usable electricity; walk through the control room and see the reactor hardware in the open desert.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Summer only, about Memorial Day to Labor Day
- Free
Historic site · 58 min southeast
Bear River Massacre Site
Where US troops killed hundreds of Shoshone in 1863, a National Historic Landmark the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone is restoring as Wuda Ogwa.
- 30 min to 1 hr · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
1 to 2 hours from Pocatello 16 spots
National monument · 1 hr 30 min northwest
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
A huge, strange lava field with a 7-mile loop road past cinder cones, spatter cones and lava tubes you can walk into with a flashlight.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Best May to October (Loop Road not fully open about November to April)
- NPS entrance fee (per vehicle) or America the Beautiful pass (waived when the Loop Road isn't fully open)
State park · 1 hr 50 min northeast
Harriman State Park
A wildlife refuge on the Henrys Fork with moose, elk and trumpeter swans, a historic ranch, trails, famous fly fishing and groomed ski trails in winter.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Idaho State Parks entrance fee (per vehicle) or Idaho State Parks Passport; winter trail pass for skiing
Beach · 1 hr 54 min southeast
Bear Lake State Park
Bear Lake's turquoise water and broad sandy beaches are made for swimming and paddling.
- Half day · Easy
- Best June to September
- North Beach parking day pass (the Idaho State Parks Passport isn't accepted there); other units: Idaho State Parks entrance fee
Landmark · 1 hr 33 min west
Perrine Bridge
A 1,500-foot steel bridge almost 500 feet above the Snake River, one of the few places in the US where BASE jumpers leap legally, with canyon overlooks by the visitor center.
- 1 hr · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Waterfall · 1 hr 35 min west
Shoshone Falls
The Snake River drops 212 feet over a rim wider than Niagara, seen from viewing decks a short walk from the car, with Dierkes Lake for swimming and fishing in the same park.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Best April to June (flow is lowest in late summer and fall)
- City of Twin Falls vehicle fee from March 1 through fall; free in winter (check)
Wildlife · 1 hr 19 min north
Camas National Wildlife Refuge
Ponds and marshes in the sagebrush draw sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, waterfowl, moose and pronghorn, on a 3.5- or 7-mile auto tour.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round (best April to May and September to October)
- Free
Town · 1 hr 58 min northeast
Driggs
A laid-back mountain town on the quiet west side of the Tetons, with a classic drive-in, the Teton Valley museum and Grand Targhee up the road.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Historic site · 1 hr 36 min west
Minidoka National Historic Site
A sobering walk through the WWII camp where more than 13,000 Japanese Americans were held, with restored barracks, a guard tower and trailside exhibits.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Grounds year-round; visitor center May to late September
- Free
2 to 3 hours from Pocatello 14 spots
National park · 2 hr 6 min southwest
City of Rocks National Reserve
Granite spires and domes up to 60 stories tall, world-class climbing, and names California Trail emigrants wrote on the rocks in wagon grease.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Best May to October (open year-round)
- Free
State park · 2 hr 42 min west
Bruneau Dunes State Park
North America's tallest single dune, about 470 feet, over small lakes, with sandboarding by day and a public observatory on weekend nights.
- Half day · Moderate
- Best March to May and September to October
- Idaho State Parks entrance fee (per vehicle) or Idaho State Parks Passport
State park · 2 hr 3 min southwest
Castle Rocks State Park
A quieter neighbor to City of Rocks, with granite towers, a historic ranch, and trails for hiking, climbing and riding.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy to moderate
- Best May to October (open year-round)
- Idaho State Parks entrance fee (per vehicle) or Idaho State Parks Passport
State park · 2 hr 27 min northwest
Land of the Yankee Fork State Park
An interpretive center telling Idaho's gold-mining story, near the Bayhorse ghost town and the soaking pools at Challis Hot Springs.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round (Bayhorse about summer to late October)
- Idaho State Parks entrance fee (per vehicle) or Idaho State Parks Passport; admission for the hot pools
Town · 2 hr 42 min northwest
Ketchum
Sun Valley's walkable home base, with galleries, cafes, bike paths, the Hemingway Memorial and a free town bus.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Wildlife · 2 hr 51 min west
Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh
Each spring this high prairie wetland near Fairfield turns blue with camas lilies and fills with waterbirds.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Best late May to early June
- Free (check)
National monument · 2 hr 7 min west
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
A visitor center shows fossils of the Hagerman horse and other Ice Age animals; nine miles away, overlooks and a 3-mile trail follow the Snake River bluffs and Oregon Trail ruts.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy to moderate
- Year-round (visitor center open fewer days off-season; check)
- Free
Lake · 2 hr 9 min northeast
Henrys Lake State Park
A high mountain lake near the Montana line known for big trout, with wide views of the Centennial Mountains and a short trail.
- 1-3 hrs · Easy
- Best June to September (open in winter for ice fishing)
- Idaho State Parks entrance fee (per vehicle) or Idaho State Parks Passport
Get a day trip idea every Friday
Three ideas for the weekend, one each for Washington, Oregon and Arizona, with a link to plan the day. Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 83201 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.