Overview
Idaho contains 5 county high point summits that require a 5000+ ascent to reach the summit. Included in this is Valley County's Big Baldy, a 30-35
mile hike with a 9700 foot total elevation gain. While Idaho does not
contain an "Apex" county high point (those deemed technically the most
difficult in the lower 48), it does have 6 county summits that require Class 3
climbing, and 22 summits that require Class 2 hiking. Often, careful route
finding during the car approach is the key to success and multi-day county
ascents. Idaho contains some of the roughest, most confusing, and criss-crossed
roads. The use of GPS is commonly used in the pursuit of trailheads or
parking areas- often a indiscriminant portion of a Jeep road.
Many of Idaho's county high point require more than just stamina- some are on
a fairly homogenous ridge, where you must determine where the true high point
is. Some will require hours of rough dirt roads, for a hike of 1-2 miles. At
least 1 peak has approach access restrictions: Lewis County. More commonly,
there will be a typical mountain hike and scramble with a summit that has
amazing views. The nature of the rock on most peaks is fractured- scree, basalt
rocks, or high desert vegetation is common. Some of the most recommended county
high points would be: Borah Peak, Hyndman Peak, Snowyside Peak, Bell Mountain,
Diamond Peak, Scotchman Peak, and Mount Baird
Ranked by Elevation Gain
New Page 1
| Rank |
County |
Peak Name |
Class |
Miniminum Ascent Required |
Feet |
Meters |
Range Name |
| 1 |
Valley |
Big Baldy |
2 |
9700 |
9705 |
2958 |
Salmon River Mountains |
| 2 |
Idaho |
(Bare Peak Northwest) |
3 |
6100 |
9439 |
2877 |
Bitterroot Range |
| 3 |
Teton |
Garns
Mountain |
1 |
5502 |
9016 |
2748 |
Teton Range-Yellowstone Area |
| 4 |
Custer |
Borah
Peak |
3 |
5335 |
12,662 |
3859 |
Lost River-Lemhi Ranges |
| 5 |
Blaine |
Hyndman
Peak |
3 |
5219 |
12,009 |
3660 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 6 |
Madison |
Red Butte |
2 |
4700 |
8108 |
2471 |
Teton Range-Yellowstone Area |
| 7 |
Adams |
(Monument Peak South) |
3 |
4600 |
8957 |
2723 |
Western Idaho Ranges |
| 8 |
Elmore |
Snowyside
Peak |
2 |
4577 |
10,651 |
3246 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 9 |
Bonneville |
Mount
Baird |
2 |
4240 |
10,025 |
3056 |
Teton Range-Yellowstone Area |
| 10 |
Oneida |
Oxford Peak |
2 |
4229 |
9282 |
2829 |
Southeast Idaho Ranges |
| 11 |
Fremont |
Point north of Targhee Peak |
3 |
4200 |
10,400 |
3170 |
Teton Range-Yellowstone Area |
| 12 |
Lemhi |
Bell
Mountain |
3 |
4162 |
11,612 |
3539 |
Lost River-Lemhi Ranges |
| 13 |
Butte |
Diamond
Peak |
2 |
4031 |
12,197 |
3718 |
Lost River-Lemhi Ranges |
| 14 |
Boise |
Mount
Cramer |
3 |
3906 |
10,716 |
3266 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 15 |
Boundary |
Point 7709 |
2 |
3861 |
7709 |
2350 |
Selkirk Mountains |
| 16 |
Bonner |
Scotchman
Peak |
1 |
3700 |
7009 |
2136 |
Northwest Montana Ranges |
| 17 |
Clark |
Webber Peak-East Peak |
2 |
3598 |
11,200 |
3414 |
Bitterroot Range |
| 18 |
Clearwater |
Rhodes
Peak |
2 |
3200 |
7930 |
2417 |
Bitterroot Range |
| 19 |
Washington |
Cuddy Mountain |
1 |
3158 |
7867 |
2398 |
Western Idaho Ranges |
| 20 |
Bear Lake |
Meade Peak |
2 |
3100 |
9957 |
3035 |
Southeast Idaho Ranges |
| 21 |
Caribou |
Meade Peak |
2 |
3100 |
9957 |
3035 |
Southeast Idaho Ranges |
| 22 |
Power |
Deep
Creek Peak |
2 |
2873 |
8748 |
2666 |
Southeast Idaho Ranges |
| 23 |
Camas |
Camas County High Point |
2 |
2630 |
10,360 |
3158 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Area |
| 24 |
Bannock |
Bonneville Peak |
1 |
2600 |
9271 |
2826 |
Southeast Idaho Ranges |
| 25 |
Cassia |
Cache
Peak |
2 |
2395 |
10,339 |
3151 |
North Great Basin Ranges |
| 26 |
Gem |
Gem County High Point |
2 |
1952 |
7971 |
2430 |
Western Idaho Ranges |
| 27 |
Shoshone |
Illinois
Peak |
1 |
1500 |
7690 |
2344 |
Bitterroot Range |
| 28 |
Bingham |
Blackfoot BM
|
2 |
1400 |
7550 |
2301 |
Southeast Idaho Ranges |
| 29 |
Franklin |
Franklin County High Point |
2 |
1055 |
9484 |
2891 |
Wasatch Range |
| 30 |
Kootenai |
Latour Peak |
1 |
900 |
6408 |
1953 |
Bitterroot Range |
| 31 |
Owyhee |
Hayden Peak |
1 |
827 |
8403 |
2561 |
North Great Basin Ranges |
| 32 |
Jefferson |
Kelly Mountain-NW Summit |
2 |
770 |
6664 |
2031 |
Teton Range-Yellowstone Area |
| 33 |
Benewah |
Latour Peak-South Summit |
1 |
600 |
6160 |
1878 |
Bitterroot Range |
| 34 |
Lincoln |
Lincoln County High Point |
2 |
430 |
5950 |
1814 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 35 |
Payette |
Payette County High Point |
1 |
400 |
4763 |
1452 |
Western Idaho Ranges |
| 36 |
Canyon |
Pickles Butte |
1 |
394 |
3084 |
940 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 37 |
Twin Falls |
Twin Falls County High Point |
2 |
300 |
7840 |
2390 |
North Great Basin Ranges |
| 38 |
Latah |
Bald Mountain |
1 |
250 |
5320 |
1622 |
North Columbia Plateau |
| 39 |
Jerome |
Jerome County High Point |
1 |
230 |
4750 |
1448 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 40 |
Minidoka |
Bear Den Butte |
1 |
210 |
5104 |
1556 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 41 |
Gooding |
Mount Davis-Southwest Slope |
1 |
200 |
6360 |
1939 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 42 |
Nez Perce |
Craig Mountain |
2 |
200 |
5360 |
1634 |
Western Idaho Ranges |
| 43 |
Ada |
Boise Ridge-South Summit |
1 |
100 |
6000 |
1829 |
Sawtooth-Ketchum-Boise Area |
| 44 |
Lewis |
Lewis County High Point |
2 |
100 |
4795 |
1462 |
Western Idaho Ranges |
References
IdahoSummits.com -
Dan Robbins great site provided information on the Idaho County High Points as
he's completed all of them.
Idaho County Trip Reports (cohp.org):
Excellent site for trip reports, approaches, elevation, distances- multiple
contributors
SP User Dean
has some great information and pages on some of the Idaho County High Points Images
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