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Idaho is my home state and I’m really excited to share some fun Idaho facts for kids. These interesting & fun facts about Idaho for kids will hopefully help teach the youth about this wonderful state. It’s always been my home and I will like live here for the rest of my life and wouldn’t have it any other way!
My kids really wanted to get involved with our website and one of the ways we decided for them to do so was to research areas or points of interest and share facts they learned about them. Today, my kids bring you the fun facts about Idaho for kids that they learned. I hope you enjoy!
Click here to see us huckleberry picking in Idaho!
Idaho Facts For Kids: Fast Facts
NICKNAME: The Gem State
POPULATION: 1,683,140
CAPITAL: Boise
BIGGEST CITY: Boise
STATEHOOD: 1890; 43rd state
ABBREVIATION: ID
STATE FLOWER: Syringa
STATE BIRD: Mountain Bluebird
Fun Idaho Facts For Kids
- Idaho Annual Spud Day has been held in Shelley since 1927.
- The oldest brick church in the state is located in Rathdrum, Idaho. Saint Stanislaus Church.
- Post Falls is nicknamed the River City. Located in the Northern Panhandle.
- America’s first destination ski resort is in Sun Valley Idaho.
- The Old Time Fiddlers Contest is held in Weiser Idaho.
- The oldest publication in Idaho is the “Idaho Enterprise” which published it’s first issue on June 6, 1879.
- The Caribou National Forest was established in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The area now covers more than 1 million acres in southeast Idaho.
- The Winter Carnival in McCall Idaho was started in 1924 by Olympic ski champion Cory Engen to help battle the boredom in winter time.
- The largest parade in the state of Idaho is held annually in Mountain Home for Air Force Appreciation Day.
- Some of the popular ghost towns in Idaho include, Silver City, Gold Dredge and Yankee Fork.
- Sawtooth Mountains were named after their jagged “saw tooth” type profile.
Sawtooth Mountains - For some blue-ribbon fly fishing visit the Anderson Dam area.
Anderson Dam - Idahos first territorial prison was opened in 1872. It’s now on the National Register of Historic Places and was concerted into a public facility in 1974 after the last prisoners were removed.
- You can look into 4 states at Heavens Gate Lookout. It’s located at Seven Devils’ Peaks, which is the highest mountain range in Idaho.
Hells Canyon From Heavens Gate Lookout. - Located in the Silver Valley, Cataldo Mission is the oldest standing building in the state of Idaho.
The Cataldo Mission - The largest two-year college in the nation is located in Rexburg Idaho, Ricks College.
- The highest fire lookout in Idaho is on top of Trinity Peak at 9,500 feet.
- A bizarre Idaho law forbids a citizen to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.
- Located in the Gem Valley the city of Grace is most famous for it’s certified seed potatoes.
- The Eastern Idaho State Fair is located in Blackfoot.
- The Dworshak Dam in Orofino is over 50 miles long.
Dworshack Dam view from the beautiful Clearwater River. - The Lewis & Clark Highway is the longest highway within a national forest in the nation.
- The economy of Idaho City originally developed around gold mining in the 1860’s.
- The tallest single structure sand dune is located in Bruneau Dunes State Park and stands 470 feet high.
- There is also a 1,200 foot deep and 800 foot wide river canyon in the Bruneau Canyon.
- The first mercantile store in Downey Idaho was built in 1894.
- Hell’s Canyon is the deepest gorge in America, even deeper than the Grand Canyon.
- The Niagra Falls of the west is Shoshone Falls. It spills over a 212 foot drop new Twin Falls Idaho.
Shoshone Falls - The worlds most dense population of nesting eagles, hawks and falcons is located at the Birds of Prey Wildlife area.
- Mackay Idaho calls itself the top of Idaho because it’s the nearest city to Mt. Borah the highest mountain in Idaho. Mackay sits at 5,897 feet.
- In contrast to Mackay, Lewiston Idaho is one of the lowest points in Idaho at only 738 feet. It’s also at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater River.
- The largets man made geyster in the world is located at Soda Springs.
- Idaho’s banana belt is located in Treasure Valley around Nampa.
- Idaho produces 1/3 of all potatoes grown in the United States. That’s around 27 billion potatoes each year.
- The largest potato chips and the largest styrofoam potato is located at the potato museum.
- Idaho is home to the Spud Drive-in Giant Potato, you can pose with a giant fake potato and go to the movies.
- Boise State University Broncos play on the only blue football field. It’s known as the smurf turf.
- Idaho has over 3,100 miles of rivers which is more than any other state in the nation.
- Hell’s Canyon is super deep at 7,900 feet.
- The combined wilderness of Idaho spans over 4.7 million acres. That’s larger than the states smallest 3 states, Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut combined.
- A candy company in Idaho makes a marshmallow covered chocolate coconut treat called the “Idaho Spud”.
- Idaho is the 14th largest state in the US but is the 12th least populous.
- Idaho’s major industries include manufacturing, healthcare, tourism, agriculture, food and beverage.
- George M. Willing, a lobbyist in Congress, suggested we name the state Idaho. He claimed it was from a Shoshone word meaning “Gem of the Mountains”. It turned out Willing had made the word up, but his lie wasn’t discovered until the name Idaho was already being commonly used.
- Idaho was admitted to the union on a Thursday, July 3, 1890.
- The lowest point in Idaho is along the Snake River at 710 feet.
- The highest point in Idaho is Mt. Borah at 12,662 feet.
Mt. Borah. Idaho’s tallest mountain. - Idaho is home to 44 different counties.
- Some of it’s most famous locations include, Lake Coeur d’ Alene, Shoshone Falls, Bear River Massacre Historical Site, Craters of the moon National Monument and Sun Valley Resort.
Lake Coeur d’Alene - The Gem State nickname is warranted as you can find nearly 72 different types of precious stones in the state.
- Idaho is famous for it’s Potatoes however it’s also the Lentil Capital of the world. It also is known for having one of the largest hops famrs in the US.
- The only place in the US you can find a star garnet is in Idaho. There are only a couple places in the entire world they can be found, Idaho and India.
Star Garnett - Idaho has the only state seal that was designed by a woman. Emma Edwards Green designed it in 1891.
- Another bizarre Idaho state law: It is illegal for a person to fish while they are riding on the back of a camel.
Idaho Fun Facts Video
If you are like me, you like to watch videos too. Check out this video below that shows some of Idaho’s amazing beauty. You won’t regret it! You can see more of David’s great work over at the World Travel Guy website below!
https://theworldtravelguy.com/
Fun Facts About Idaho For Kids: Q & A
I hope you enjoyed the Idaho Facts for kids above. The interesting and fun facts about Idaho for kids are great but I also wanted to go over some of the most popular questions about Idaho State.
Where is Idaho State located?
Check out the photo below that shows where Idaho is in the US. It borders Canada, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. It’s located in the northwest part of the United States.
What is the state of Idaho known for?
It’s most famous for potatoes but is also a major producer of Lentils and has one of the largest hops farms in the US.
What is the climate like in Idaho?
Idaho has extremely unpredictable weather. It does have all 4 seasons, but I have honestly seen all 4 of them take place in one day before. The northern part has longer more harsh winters. Southern Idaho has much more lenient winters and summer/fall can last longer.
Is Idaho safe from natural disasters?
It’s not completely safe as there is flooding, wildfires and earthquakes. Although, Idaho seems pretty disaster free, it ranks 5th in the nation for the most earthquakes in any given year.
Are there volcanoes in Idaho?
Idaho is home to several young volcanoes included Craters of the Moon, Wapi, Kings Bowl, North and South Robbers, Cerro Grande, Hells Half Acre and Shoshone lava fields.
What is the national animal of Idaho?
Appaloosa horse. Idaho’s Nez Perce Native Americans bred the Appaloosa horse primarily as a war animal.
What is the state insect?
Monarch Butterfly.
What is the state bird?
Mountain Bluebird
How did Idaho get it’s name?
This is actually a really interesting story. An eccentric lobbyist named George M. Willing suggested “Idaho” which he said was a Native American term for “gem of the mountains”. It was later revealed that Willings had made the name up. it was already being commonly referred as Idaho so it was too late to switch.
Idaho Facts For Kids Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed these interesting and fun Idaho facts for kids. Idaho is a great state. I often hear people refer to Idaho as boring, which is true, unless you are in love with what it has to offer. I’m glad many consider it boring as it remains fairly unpopulated and will likely remain that way. This helps keep the forests and water clean!
Check out some of the adventures we have had in Idaho!
Camping in a fire lookout tower!
Kayaking the Priest Lake Thorofare.
I hope you were able to learn something with these fun and interesting facts about Idaho for kids. It’s always fun learning about your home state or sometimes about other neighboring or distant states.
If you don’t already live here maybe you will come and visit someday. Until then, thank you for checking these fun Idaho facts for kids.
If you thought this was helpful, please share on your favorite social media site, it helps us more than you know! You can also check out more about visiting Idaho at the site below!