Planning a trip to Idaho

Hello,
I'm starting to plan a 1-2 week trip to Idaho this Summer (2010, between Mid June - Mid August). I've never been to ID.
Looking to climb, hike, backpack. I lead up to 5.9 trad (cragging) and would like to do some longish backcountry multipitch routes in the 5.6-5.7 range. A day of sport climbing would be great too.

Dreaming of finding a backcountry area (10 miles or so) where we could backpack, that has a lake (fishing), hotsprings, a cirque, and bouldering/climbing, where we could stay for 3-4 days, in solitude :-).

Any areas or sites not to miss?

Any suggestion on routes, good guidebooks, any other info are very much appreciated.

Thank you for any and all inputs.

Area not to miss. City of Rocks

The City is great, but not exactly secluded. The Elephant's Perch may be more up your alley. I'd do both.

Grand Teton. It's just over the Wyoming border. Also if you go to the city you should check out castle rock.

Alec wrote:The City is great, but not exactly secluded. The Elephant's Perch may be more up your alley. I'd do both.

Perch might not fit his grade criteria...

Finger of Fate area might.

I'll toss one out that might work... Bighorn Crags. Great fishing, not that many folks. Beta a tad hard to come by. Try Lopez.

Shangra La. Or also known as the Elephants Perch. Great fishing in all the lakes.

Erik Peet wrote: Also if you go to the city you should check out castle rock.

The city is great with endless climbing in that range but I agree that you should check out castle rock while you're in that area. Same type of climbing but more multi pitch stuff which is what I like best too.

You should hit Cirque of towers in the Wind River range. 8 miles in, moderate multi pitch, fishing. Bugs can be hellish that time of year depending on the amount of water around. Hot springs 2 1/2 hours drive N at a place called Granite creek. 4 hours or so from City of Rocks.

Reed Fee wrote:You should hit Cirque of towers in the Wind River range. 8 miles in, moderate multi pitch, fishing. Bugs can be hellish that time of year depending on the amount of water around. Hot springs 2 1/2 hours drive N at a place called Granite creek. 4 hours or so from City of Rocks.

The Cirque of the Towers is exactly what you're looking for. Some of the campsites can be a bit crowded, so if you're looking for solitude camp under Mt. Mitchell. The campsites are perfect there- sheltered in a nice pine grove, next to boulders, by the lake and the river for fishing. It is a bit further from the climbing on Pingora, Wolfs Head (don't miss the classic 5.6 there), etc, but the hike is worth it for the perfect camping. And even if you don't climb, the Cirque is the coolest place you'll ever go- the fishing's good, the view spectacular, plenty of dayhikes around. The weather's weird though, we got snowed out all day last august, then the next day it was perfectly sunny and 75 degrees.

Then, it's a 4 or 5 hour drive to the City of Rocks.

Erik mentioned the Tetons. They're super crowded.

You should absolutely consider the Winds. Cirque of the towers fits nicely, with long and short routes in your grade range (and plenty to choose from). It is the most crowded place in the Winds, but it's got plenty of solitude compared to lots of places I've been. The campsites under Mitchell are nice, and it's really not much further to Pingora/Wolf's Head. We're talking about an extra 15 minutes of walking in the morning, honestly.

You should also consider other places in the Winds....Deep Lake would be one with less people I suspect.

The Tetons are one of my favorite places, but the options for backcountry camping, fishing and climbing from a secluded campsite are noticeably more limited. Most Tetons climbs are done in a day frequently, and many of the popular areas (Garnet Canyon in particular) are quite crowded with both groups camping and day-hiking/climbing. The Winds would be a much better choice in this regard (good fishing too). Hopefully they're not too far over the border for you to consider.