McCall, ID

Monday – Thursday, June 27 – 30, 2016

Since we did not have a reservation until the July 4th weekend and were ready to leave Boise, I checked the map and saw there was a town about part way that looked promising.  I found a State Park that had space for large RV’s up to 40 feet as well as had space available.  What a surprise to find a State Park that could take an RV our size.  It was the last pull through site with 50 amp service.

I pulled information regarding McCall and had a few laughs about the size of the town and some of the information being provided for people who might be considering moving there.  Things like no home mail service so you would need a post office box, due to high tourist traffic, most turns in the city are better made to the right, there are critters who live in the mountains around town, don’t leave out your lawn furniture as some critters especially raccoons like to leave deposits on them, bears have figured out how to open the bear proof garbage cans and last but not least measure distance to the nearest larger town by hours, not miles.   

Our trip north (100 miles) was along a mostly two lane highway with many slow vehicle pull offs and some passing lanes that ran along the Payette River almost all the way to McCall with the river on the left part of the way and on the right later.  The river was definitely moving at a rapid pace and there were very few spots where there were no rapids.

Not only did the road narrow but it is quite windy though a beautiful drive through the mountains.  Ron had his hands full keeping us on the road while I took pictures and held my breath.

Arriving in McCall, we were very surprised by the size of the city.  Information lists the year round population at around 2,400 though this area is a tourist area both summer and winter.  The city sits along the Payette Lake which is about 8 miles long, 5,330 acres of clear glacial water with a maximum depth of 392 feet and at an elevation of 5,000 feet.  It even has its own Loch Ness monster, named Sharlie which has been part of the fantasy and lore of McCall since the 1920’s.  We didn’t see him, however.    Ron’s first comment about the town while we walked around was that it reminded him of Manasquan, NJ where I was raised.  Manasquan was a town of 2,000 located on the river and the ocean in the “Shore” area of New Jersey with lots of trees but no pine trees much. 

As we walked around town we saw the many docks with sailboats and the local sandy beach area with beautiful green grass set among trees where people were enjoying the shade while taking in the breath taking views across the lake with many boats cruising across the smooth shimmering water.  A drive around the lake showed us many, many small and large homes along the lake some with piles of wood stacked up for the winter ahead. 

Saw this deer eating in the field on our drive and the little squirrel was next to our campsite.  Ron had a little squirrel that came right up to his leg one day but unfortunately did not have a camera to take a picture.

We are staying at the Ponderosa State Park which is one of the nicest State Parks that we have seen.  This Park has a section with two loops of about 50 sites for RV’s up to 40 feet and Groups.  Some of the sites are back ins and some are pull thrus with all having either 30 or 50 amp service as well as water and sewer.  A nice shower and restroom building is in this area.  Some of the sites allow for more than one RV and or an RV with tents set up on the sandy areas next each asphalt road section.  Many of the sites have canopies set up as well.  Most of the sites were full. I later found out that this section was added about 4-5 years ago.  Nice addition.  

Further into the park are three loops for tenting and small trailers which include water and electricity and a dump station near by with outhouses throughout.    

The Park also includes a large Visitor Center set next to the Lake, and an Activity Center in another location, sandy beaches and numerous hiking trails.  We did take a drive to the far end of the Park which became a very narrow and one way rocky, rough road.  Not a road we will take again.   Ron took this pictures of the sunset one evening.

Part of what we did do these four days was just relax outdoors on our chaise lounges, read, eat meals at the picnic table and do nothing part of the time.  (This is something we did not do last summer not only because we thought we had to see everything wherever we were, but also because our weather was rainy most of the time we were gone.)  I brought out my sewing machine and pieced the bed runner ‘m making for our bed for the winter and enjoyed several walks around the two loops of our area as well.  The nice thing about this Park also is that it is close to town but far enough away that it is quiet with no heavy road traffic or trains.   Most State and National Parks are usually miles from town.

This is definitely a Park and city we would not only recommend but would love to visit again for a longer time.

On to White Bird and Grangeville for the Fourth of July and after to see family.