Every spring, the Sun Valley, Idaho area transforms from a skiing and snowboarding Mecca into a lush, wildflower-filled valley with miles of hiking and biking trails in the surrounding five mountain ranges. From mellow loops skirting lakes and rivers, to 12,000-foot rocky mountain peaks, there are plenty of hiking trails to please all levels of hikers throughout Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley and beyond.
Cool Off in Sun Valley, Idaho: Your Guide to Local Ice Cream
written and photographed by Hayden Seder For a small town, Sun Valley has a wide variety of ice cream options, from year-round shops to seasonal stands to locally made flavors available for purchase. With the summer heat in full swing, it’s time to learn about the best spot for grabbing a scoop, cone, or shake to satisfy your ice cream cravings. The Sweet Spot Located next to Ramen Cowboy (and under the same ownership) is The Sweet Spot, a Japanese-inspired ice cream shop serving taiyaki ice cream and a variety of imported candies, treats, novel beverages, and savory snacks. Taiyaki ice cream is a popular Japanese style of ice cream that uses a crispy, mochi fish-shaped cone to hold the ice cream rather than a traditional waffle cone. These delightful-looking cones are made on a griddle behind the counter, so you can see your fish-shaped cone coming to life as you wait. The shop offers classic flavors as well as more adventurous Japanese ones, like ube, and non-dairy options are available as well. From the ice cream cone–shaped lights to the cone itself to the shop’s outdoor courtyard, practically every moment of eating ice cream at this shop is memory …
Why Sun Valley is the Original Mountain Town
Written by Hayden Seder The West is full of unique mountain towns, with storied histories, small-town charm, and retaining the kind of values that drew people to them in the first place. But few can compare to Sun Valley, which many argue is the “original” mountain town, and has been able to maintain so much of the original allure that made it such. A truly unique confluence of community, culture, and wilderness, Sun Valley is still the perfect mountain town that it was throughout its storied history, from its start as a mining town to becoming the country’s first ski resort. Photo courtesy of The Community Library Center for Regional History Mining History Though the Sun Valley area has been populated for thousands of years, from when Indigenous members of the Shoshone, Bannock, and Lemhi tribes migrated to the area, the Sun Valley we know today began to take shape with the discovery of gold in the West in the 1870s. European settlers and prospectors began to settle in the area, searching for gold (and ultimately forcing out the tribes that had settled in the area). By the early 1880s, the discovery of silver, lead, and other minerals had led …
What We’re Made of: Liberty Theater
Written by Hayden Seder Standing proudly on Hailey’s Main Street is the iconic Liberty Theater, a landmark in the area since it was built in 1938. In its almost 100 years of history, it has had many owners, seen a variety of performances come through, and been an entertainment mainstay to the residents of the Wood River Valley. History The original Liberty Theater was built in the early 1900s across the street from the present-day theater, which was built on the site of an old outdoor skating rink in 1938. It sold to new owners in the ’70s, and again, in 1994, to new locals Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. It was Willis who convinced his friend Denise Simone of the then two-year-old theater company Company of Fools (CoF), then located in Richmond, Virginia, to relocate to Hailey, Idaho, and use the theater as her company’s new home. Despite having never been to the area, Simone and her CoF cofounders were convinced, and promptly relocated to their new town and the theater they would call home for the next few decades. The company debuted with a performance of Nikolai Gogol’s Diary of a Madman, which performed to thirty people …
Sun Valley, Idaho: Your Next Mountain Biking Bucket List Destination
Bucket list — it’s a term often used to describe mountain biking in Sun Valley. What makes this place deserving of such a lofty moniker? First, there’s literally hundreds of miles of prime Idaho singletrack, and because the valley flies under the radar of mainstream mountain bike enthusiasts, there’s not a ton of folks competing for real estate. Heard of the movie Private Idaho? It’s pretty common to feel like you’ve got the place pretty much to yourself. With so many options, where do you start? Well, it’s helpful to size up what kind of riding you’re looking for. Are you the meadow-skipping sort who’s in it for stunning scenery more than white-knuckle descending, or are you rip ready for a rugged, sub-alpine adventure that will leave your legs and arms feeling like a raw tartare you might find on a French menu? Never fear, because we’ve got it all here and can steer you in the right direction.
Fly Fishing in Sun Valley, ID – The Ultimate Guide
The Sun Valley area offers an incredible diversity of fly fishing opportunities for everyone from the casual novice to the ambitious expert. Time to buy a stack of postcards for Mom, because you’ll have plenty of fish stories to tell after wading our local waters.
Hiking in Sun Valley, Idaho: A Summer Guide
Every spring, the Sun Valley, Idaho area transforms from a skiing and snowboarding Mecca into a lush, wildflower-filled valley with miles of hiking and biking trails in the surrounding five mountain ranges. From mellow loops skirting lakes and rivers, to 12,000-foot rocky mountain peaks, there are plenty of hiking trails to please all levels of hikers throughout Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley and beyond.
What We’re Made of: Merlin’s Magic Lantern
Ketchum’s only movie theater, Merlin’s Magic Lantern, has been a presence in this town for fifty years, seeing countless movies appear on its screens and just as many patrons, both local and out-of-towners, come through its doors. New owner Bob Peterson has taken over the historic theater, breathing new life into the business born of former owner Rick Kessler’s passion for movies. The History It’s hard to believe there was a time in Ketchum’s history when the Magic Lantern wasn’t in operation, but until owner Rick Kessler moved here in 1972 and opened the theater three years later, in 1975, that was indeed the case. The theater, named for the 17th-century image projector, originally opened in the Odd Fellows Hall, on Washington Avenue, until the size of the growing community demanded a bigger space, and Kessler moved into the theater’s current space across the street, on Second Street. Just 25 years old when he opened the Magic Lantern, Kessler envisioned providing something he saw as essential to a community: not just a space to see movies, but a place to meet friends, a place for kids to go on a summer afternoon, a place for tourists to go in the …
How to Skin Up Baldy & Dollar
If you’re someone who likes to earn their turns (or just doesn’t want to pay to ski or ride), skinning up Baldy or Dollar is the move, garnering you plenty of runs for the cost of free-ninety-nine. But as both mountains are operated by the Sun Valley Resort, there are a couple rules to follow to ensure a safe and fun skin, as well as a few guidelines on what gear you’ll need. The Rules All of Sun Valley’s rules and guidelines for skiing Baldy and Dollar can be found on their website (or app) under “After-Hours Access.” This page is full of all sorts of information, including the mountain report, which will tell you the temperature (at both base and top); runs that are open and/or groomed; how much it has snowed this season, in the last week, in the last 24 hours, and overnight; how fast winds are blowing; and a small blurb giving any pertinent announcements/updates, weather forecast, webcams for various spots on both mountains. You can also sign up for email and/or text alerts for uphill access, which will let you know about closures, conditions, and more that might affect skinning. Baldy: The rules for each …
What We’re Made Of: 4 Roots
Located on Sun Valley Road is a small business that packs a big punch: 4 Roots, a breakfast andlunch café that serves up food for any and all dietary restrictions, from gluten-free to paleo andvegan and everything in between. What started for owners Beth Sluder and Chris Steen as ahealth journey through diet for their daughter with an autoimmune disease became an endeavorinto providing healthy, sustainable dining options for patrons—an embodiment of the café’sslogan “We have your health in mind.” How it Started Twin Falls locals, Beth and Chris began eating at 4 Roots in Twin after their now seventeen-year-old daughter began getting sick starting at the age of two. After learning that their daughter’snutrition may affect her symptoms, they became obsessed with cleaning up her diet, which ledthem to the café they would eventually buy years later. At the time, 4 Roots was a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant, with a small menu, lawn furniture for seating, and a kitchen set up for basichome cooking. But the family of three loved eating there, to the point that the owner eventuallyoffered to sell them 4 Roots in 2017.Thought it wasn’t what either Beth or Chris were involved with at the time the …
24 Hours with a Local: Monarch’s Blair Brown
January is a time of resolutions and new beginnings, when the promise of a new year drives us all to do better—especially for our minds and bodies. Blair Brown is no stranger to incorporating wellness for mind, body, and soul into her daily life. In 2023, Blair founded Monarch in Ketchum, a full-body wellness center with a variety of practitioners, devices, and treatments (like cold plunge, infrared sauna, lymphatic massage, etc.). After moving to Ketchum from Alaska when she was 11, Blair grew up skiing and playing in the mountains, instilling in her a lifelong love of both nature and this town. Before moving back to the Valley part time in 2016 (and full time in 2019), she lived in New York, working in the wellness space, with a particular focus on artisan cannabis and CBD apothecary products (her company Verté Essentials was featured in Forbes), even writing two books on CBD and hemp-derived wellness. The birth of her son, Rhodes, in 2019 spurred her move back to Ketchum full time, where she channeled her expertise in the intersection of wellness, beauty, and sustainability into creating Monarch. She and her five-year-old Rhodes live in Elkhorn with their dog Biggie and …