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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
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 | 5334 | 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 |
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
mtybumpo - Aug 12, 2007 10:19 pm - Voted 10/10
Franklin CountyI attached the page I made for the Franklin County Highpoint to you Idaho County Highpoints page. Great page too!