US 93 South from Missoula MT

Samantha - if you do take the Sawtooth route, your teens might enjoy a whitewater rafting trip on the Salmon River. Or you could just rent a raft and float along. Redfish Lake has great swimming beaches as well as rental equipment. Gorgeous scenery all along there.

As far as which area has the best scenery...that would sure be a personal preference. I am prejudiced toward the Sawtooths, but that might be because we have had a vacation home there for over 20 years. Or maybe that is why we have that cabin in the mountains.

If anyone is interested in seeing some of the scenery around the area that is called "America's Alps" you can check out sawtoothcamera.com and look at the guest photo albums.

We drove our Class C from Missoula to Arco back in 2012. One of our best drives ever! Absolutely beautiful!

Grandma35 wrote:
I will look at 12 to 95. Sounds very pretty & speed is not a problem. We have 6 days to get there.

One our first trip out west we took Lolo pass, beautiful.

I am going to piggyback on this query as I am taking Hwy 93 north from Craters of the Moon (which we are so excited about!! also, we are visiting the Ice Caves and Mammoth Cave in Shoshone, so you may want to add that to your road trip > Grandma35)to Whitefish, Mt in July.

Google says it is about a 10-hour journey roughly 514 miles. We are planning on breaking it up over two days. Is that giving enough time? I've been researching and it just doesn't seem like - other than the natural beauty - that there is anything for three teens to get all excited about. Is there anything we are missing that we should know about?

I don't think there's a road that exists in central Idaho that is fast. haha

I also don't think there's a road that exists in central Idaho that isn't pretty, either!! Really gorgeous country. Hard to go wrong, and if you're not in a hurry, you can really enjoy it.

I'm a lifelong Montanan, but I really enjoy our neighboring state, too. :)

Which is the most scenic or is it just a personal choice, Sun Valley or the Craters of the Moon? We want to see as much as we can. Of course all of us do , that's why we are doing this.

I don't think there is anything going over Lost Trail that would be a problem for you. There are trucks using that route with no problem.

If you go onto Hwy 75 at Challis, it will take you through the Sawtooth Mountains and Stanley. I don't think I would recommend Highway 21 from Stanley to Boise, but I would imagine large rigs do that, too. Staying on 75 will take you through Sun Valley.

If you stay on 93 at Challis instead of turning on 75, you will go through Craters of the Moon National Monument. (Turn right at Arco)

At any rate, after you get past Sun Valley or the Craters, there is a whole lot of high desert country. Not a lot to see, but it does have its own strange beauty.

I will look at 12 to 95. Sounds very pretty & speed is not a problem. We have 6 days to get there.

Scenic but not fast; it's not any better or worse than US95 through central Idaho--if anything a bit more direct!

Lost Trail Pass north of Salmon can get snowy in the winter, but is no problem at all in the summer.



If you do go the 95 route, US12 from Lolo, MT to Orofino, ID is twisty and windey, 45-55mph most of the way, but incredibly gorgeous along the wild and scenic Lochsa river.