Overview
Sun Valley is a mountain resort city at 6,000 ft (1,830 m), in central Idaho. It was founded in 1939.
9 sights · 19 things to do · 2 places to eat · 3 places to stay
Updated from Wikivoyage on 1 October 2026 · Something wrong or missing? Improve it on Wikivoyage
Best things about Sun Valley
The Hemingway Memorial
The Community Library
One of the only privately owned and operated libraries in the country. Free Internet.
World Class Ice Skating Performances
Saturday nights during the summer. Tickets can include a buffet dinner or just the show.
Sun Valley Serenade
The film is shown several times a day at the Sun Valley Opera House. Scenes were shot at Sun Valley in March 1941.
The world's first chairlifts
Installed on Proctor and Dollar Mountains in the fall of 1936. The chairlift design was adapted from banana loading equipment used on banana boats in the tropics. The single-seat chairlifts were developed at the Union Pa…
Ore Wagon Museum
The last remaining examples of the unique, massive ore wagons from the town's mining days. To see the wagons up close, get a key from city hall across the street.
Plan your trip
Best time to visit & weather
Most comfortable: Jun–Sep. Summer highs reach about 82°F; winter lows dip to about 7°F. Cold months (Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec) can bring snow and ice; check road conditions. Wettest: Dec and Jan. (climate data from nearby Craters of the Moon National Monument)
Blue bars: average daily high and low (°F). Purple columns: average monthly rain and melted snow (inches).
Getting there
- From you: to see whether to drive or fly, and how long it takes.
- SUN Friedman Memorial Airport, Hailey — 12 mi away. Directions
- TWF Joslin Field Magic Valley Regional Airport, Twin Falls — 83 mi away. Directions
- BOI Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field, Boise — 94 mi away (major hub). Directions
Sun Valley Stages offer charter service to Sun Valley from Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello, and Idaho Falls.
Full “Get in” guide ↓Budget & where to stay
No prices are listed for this place yet. See the Sleep guide ↓ for options.
Sample 3-day itinerary
Day 1
- Morning The Community Library, Ore Wagon Museum, Sun Valley Museum of History
- Lunch Pioneer Saloon
- Afternoon Sawtooth Botanical Garden, The world's first chairlifts
- Dinner Ketchum Grill
Day 2
- Morning World Class Ice Skating Performances, Sun Valley Serenade, The Hemingway Memorial
- Afternoon Skiing, River Rafting
Day 3
- Morning Blaine County Historical Museum, Fishing, Ice Skating
- Afternoon Sun Valley Writers Conference, Sun Valley Wellness Festival
Stops are grouped by area so each day needs little backtracking. Check opening hours before you go.
Food for you
Cuisine (tap to filter)
What to ask about, for your diet
Diet labels come from each listing's description and cuisine; “likely” means the cuisine usually has good choices, not a promise. Check with the restaurant. Open the food finder
Photos
Map
Every listing with a location. Tap a pin for its Google Maps link.
Understand
Sun Valley is located in Blaine County, which began its life over a century ago in much the same way other Idaho mountain communities did: as a hardscrabble mining area. By the year 20, mining was clearly in decline in southern Idaho. Many Idaho mountain mining settlements eventually became ghost towns, but the Blaine County communities managed to hang on, mostly due to the sheep industry.
In 1936, tourism entered Blaine County in a big way with the opening of the Sun Valley resort, which attracted the rich and famous from day one. A particularly famous early visitor was Ernest Hemingway, who spent his final days in the area and is buried in Ketchum. Today many well-known people maintain first or second homes in Blaine County.
Sun Valley complains around tourism, with no skiing in the winter and no outdoor activities in the nearby Sawtooth National Recreation Area in the summer dominating the itinerary. The area has a bad reputation as a highbrow and unapologetically liberal enclave in largely conservative Idaho. While vegan and organic lifestyles may be openly scoffed at only a few miles away, it's a big problem to all to indulge in them here.
Get in
By plane
Go Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN)
The nearest airport, is served by Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines. It is reachable from the gateway cities of Boise (ID), Seattle (WA), Los Angeles (CA), Oakland (CA) and Salt Lake City (UT). These cities are served by most major airlines and are met by Sun Valley’s two connecting carriers. Horizon Air now offers daily direct, non-stop flights between Sun Valley and Los Angeles, Oakland, and Seattle. Charter companies such as Air Charter Advisors offer access to a variety of charter planes across the country for flights to Sun Valley, ranging from economical single and twin-engine planes to luxury Gulfstreams and business jets.
By bus or shuttle
Sun Valley Stages offer charter service to Sun Valley from Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello, and Idaho Falls.
Sun Valley Express offers daily bus service to the resort from the Boise, Idaho airport.
Salt Lake Express offers service from Twin Falls and other destinations in Idaho and beyond.
By car
Sun Valley is located adjacent to the town of Ketchum on Idaho State Route 75, about two hours north of Twin Falls.
Get around
Place Walk and bike
Sun Valley is a walking village. Vehicles park next to the Sun Valley Lodge. Everything in Ketchum is accessible by walking as well. There is a walking/bike path between the two cities, about 1 mile. Bicycle rentals abound.
See
See Sun Valley Serenade (1941 film)
The film is shown several times a day at the Sun Valley Opera House. Scenes were shot at Sun Valley in March 1941.
See The Hemingway Memorial (dedicated in 1966)
See The world's first chairlifts
Installed on Proctor and Dollar Mountains in the fall of 1936. The chairlift design was adapted from banana loading equipment used on banana boats in the tropics. The single-seat chairlifts were developed at the Union Pacific headquarters in Omaha in the summer of 1936. The chairlift went on to replace the primitive rope tow and other technologies used at ski areas at the time.
See Sawtooth Botanical Garden
Some ornamental gardens and a prayer wheel, or gardens with xeriscaping.
Do
Do Skiing
Magnificent skiing! Baldy's 13 chairlifts, including high-speed quads, have a capacity of over 23,000 skiers per hour. With an average of 3,500 skiers per day (fewer than 6,000 skiers per day during peak periods), Sun Valley has kept the lift lines to a minimum, a rarity among major resorts. Also Dollar Mountain for novices, a great place for children.
Do Fishing
Idaho in general is a mecca for fly-fishing. Nearby walk and wade options include the Big Wood, Big Lost, Little Wood, Copper Basin, Silver Creek and the headwaters of the Salmon. You will find a variety of fishing guides in the area who offer Walk and Wade trips.
Do Hiking
Do River Rafting
Idaho is the Whitewater State. A number of river rafting companies offer 1- to 5-day trips on the Salmon River of No Return just north of Sun Valley.
Do Mountain Biking
Sun Valley and Stanley are home to more miles of buffed singletrack than any destination in Idaho. The huge trail variety makes the Sun Valley/ Stanley area the perfect place for beginner to advanced riders to explore the surrounding Pioneer, Smokey and Sawtooth Mountains. With so many options pick up a local guide book or try a Mountain Bike Guide company to ensure you find the best trails in the area.
Events
Do Wagon Days
Wagon Days spans four days of Old West entertainment with street theater, dances, live music, food, antique shows, arts and craft fairs, and the highlight: the Big Hitch parade, the longest non-motorized parade in the Northwest. With more than a hundred museum-quality buggies, carriages, tacks, carts, buckboards, and wagons of every variety in existence today. Featuring giant ore wagons pulled by a sixteen-draft mule team.
Do Sun Valley Writers Conference (Late August)
An annual meeting of discerning readers and writers who come together to consider ideas set forth in fiction, nonfiction, journalism, poetry, and filmmaking. While covering a great breadth of subjects, the conference is always anchored by important literary figures and frequently includes policy makers who have authored respected books.
Do Sun Valley Music Festival
In August. Northern Rockies Folk Festival presents regional folk and western bands in Hailey city park.
Do Sun Valley Ketchum US Half Marathon
Experience one of the most scenic and traffic-free courses imaginable. The US Half Marathon, Sun Valley Ketchum runs primarily along the Sun Valley and Wood River paved path and trail system. Half Marathon (13.1 miles), 12K, 5K & Kids MaraFUN.
Do Camp Fideaux
Do Food & Wine Festival
Do Center for the Arts Wine Auction
Do Ketch’em Alive
Do Trailing of the Sheep
Buy
The Sun Valley area is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, either to visit or to live in. Out of sheer economic necessity, many people who work in the area commute daily from as far away as Twin Falls. If money is no object, pretty much anything can be had here. Otherwise you may want to do as many of the locals do: see the sights, then head for less expensive locales.
Eat
Eat Ketchum Grill
One of the areas best.
Eat Pioneer Saloon
Excellent prime rib.
Drink
- Grumpy's - Classic apres-ski bum bar
- Casino Bar
- Warfield Distillery & Brewery - rooftop bar
- TNT Taproom - brewery
Sleep
Stay Best Western Tyrolean Lodge
Austrian-style guest rooms that overlook Baldy Mountain. Amenities: smoke-free, continental breakfast, outdoor hot tub, exercise room, free Wi-Fi, game room, free shuttle to ski areas. Dogs up to 80 pounds allowed in limited number of pet rooms for additional $20/day.
Stay Sun Valley Lodge
Built in 1936, offers rooms featuring French country interiors and furnishings, marble appointed bathrooms and large-screen televisions, as well as the Lodge Dining Room, Gretchen's, the Duchin Lounge, Sun Valley Salon & Day Spa, massage center, sauna and heated swimming pool, workout facility, bowling alley, game room, room service, gift shop and ice skating that runs all year long. Pets are not allowed.
Go next
- North on Hwy 93, will take you over Galena Summit and into the beautiful town of Stanley. From there, Hwy 21 leads to Boise, or Hwy 93 continues on to Challis and Salmon, then into Montana.
- South on Hwy 93 leads to the Sun Valley airport and Hailey, Idaho, 11 miles from Sun Valley, then onwards to Twin Falls or Boise.
Nearby
Stanley
City / town · 3 listings · 47 mi away
Shoshone
City / town · 6 listings · 52 mi away
Custer Ghost Town
City / town · 1 listings · 52 mi away
Arco
City / town · 7 listings · 52 mi away
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Park · 10 listings · 55 mi away
Hagerman
City / town · 4 listings · 66 mi away
Twin Falls
City / town · 33 listings · 76 mi away
Mountain Home
City / town · 2 listings · 78 mi away
My experience
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