We Found Idaho's Best Mountain Town - McCall, Hot Springs and Biking
We have spent a lot of time in Idaho at this point. Enough time to feel confident making a call we have been building toward for a while: McCall is the best mountain town we have found in the state. And for us, that is not a throwaway line. Here is everything that happened during our time in McCall.
We started our first morning downtown McCall in the cold, coffee in hand, before heading out to one of the area’s quieter detours - Roseberry, a preserved 1890s township that most people drive right past.
The history is worth knowing. Roseberry thrived until the railroad relocated about a mile and a half away in 1911, which effectively killed the town overnight. The buildings you see today were moved to Donnelly at various points and eventually brought back to form a historic display. It is less polished than a heritage park but more preserved than a ghost town.
After, we headed off to a nearby hot spring. The map showed it 0.2 miles from the trailhead. That sounded simple. It was not simple. What followed was a steep, loose scramble that dropped us at the edge of what appeared to be a freezing river, what Elissa described as “icicles.”
We eventually spotted steam downstream and made our way over to find the actual hot spring. Turns out, there was a bridge the entire time that somehow we had completely missed.
Dinner that night was at My Father’s Place in McCall - worth the stop - before we landed a site at Bear Basin that checked most of our boxes for a mountain-bike-adjacent camp.
Our hierarchy of campsites goes: legal first, then Starlink-clear, then secluded enough for the dogs. After those non-negotiables, we look for nice-to-haves - bike access, waterfront, views. And flat. Flat is required. We have leveling airbags and we have still learned this lesson multiple times.
The rest of our week in McCall consisted of enjoying the town. We took a hike to what we believed was Goose Creek Falls which turned out to be a hike to a cascade. (We read the trailhead sign on the way out and realized we had turned around before reaching the actual falls.) We explored McCall’s downtown and restaurant scene and a took a few bike rides at Bear Basin.
Then, we ventured south for a few other mountain bike destinations. Mountain biking at Jug Mountain was a hard climb, followed by much appreciated lift service at Tamarack Resort.
Our last camp was at Buttercup on Lake Cascade where we enjoyed a lakeside camp, a summer storm, and a few relaxing days.
McCall has the things we look for most: strong mountain biking, dispersed camping within reach of town, hot springs (even if we found them the hard way), real local history, and enough variety to keep a longer stay from feeling repetitive. After visiting a few, for us, it is the best mountain town Idaho has shown us so far.
Watch the full video to see everything from the icy hot spring scramble to the storm at Lake Cascade.