Visiting McCall Idaho

[Avid Hunter]

Hey guys,

Arizona guy making my way out to McCall, Idaho on Saturday for a week. We are staying on Payette Lake. Any guys on here familiar with the area? Any must see/do things I should planning? We plan on doing quite a bit of hiking and hanging out by the lake of course. Any trails you guys would recommend? Going with the wife and friends so as much as I would like to overnight somewhere, probably only able to do day trips.

Any recommendations for fishing? Being that we will be on Payette I will be fishing that due to convenience. Any other areas you guys would recommend or know of? We are supposed to go salmon fishing at least one day (not entirely sure where) but from im reading me might have missed any real opportunity for this in July.

Any help or info is greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Never been there. But a coworker...a 27yr old XGames sno cross rider...was just there for the 4th. Said it was full of topless 20s girls and Coors Light cans....

Sounds more like Havasu to me

 

[Wasatchbuck]

I have only been through McCall twice but liked it enough to book a cabin for a week at the end of July. As far as Mountain Towns go its definitely one of the better ones I have been to. I will also be staying on payette lake. You should check out Idaho fish and game website. It has a fish planner that you can look up all the surrounding lakes and see what species are available in each. There is little payette lake and cascade lake nearby plus a multitude of mountain lakes just to the east. Dont know the name of the forest service road offhand but there is one on the east side of McCall that winds way up into the mountains and I was told is a pretty nice drive.

 

[weatherbow21]

Never been there. But a coworker...a 27yr old XGames sno cross rider...was just there for the 4th. Said it was full of topless 20s girls and Coors Light cans....

Sounds more like Havasu to me

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[Mtnboy]

Cascade Lake just down the road has some good fishing for Small Mouth, Perch, Crappie, Trout etc. There are some GIANT perch in there if you can find the right spots.

You could also take a drive for the day and head to Warm Lake, it's decent fishing as well, it's about 24 miles off the pavement, but it's a good gravel road.

If you make it to Riggins (salmon fishing maybe?), the Salmon River Inn has good pizza and some cool mounts hanging inside.

McCall is also semi close to Yellow Pine, which is right on the edge of the Frank Church Wilderness, lots of hiking there, but might be more than your looking for just for a day hike.

No matter what you do, I'm sure you'll enjoy your week. It will be a lot mellower than it was on 4th of July, that is one of the worst weekends to be there if you ask me, drunk college kids being idiots everywhere.

We eat at McCall Brewing company a lot when we are up there. Shore Lodge and The Mill are great as well. Pancake house has awesome breakfast, plan for a wait if you go on a weekend day. Avoid Growlers, the food is horrible.

 

[tri2hunt]

You should definitely look into an afternoon of whitewater rafting. Lots of fun and great scenery around there.

 

[boom]

my answer is goofy..

but there is a big grocery store there. i cant remember the name of the place. i kid you not, this store has an awesome hunting/outdoor dept..blew me away. it was fun to check it out. i got totally soaked elk hunting there and i went there and bought a fistfull of great merino wool socks to replace the ones i tried to dry too close to the fire.

it is a neat town.

what did perplex me..i came out of the woods with a load of garbage all bagged up. i couldnt find a place to dump it. i ended up taking it with me to Nevada, where i found some big roadside dumpsters.. i should have checked one of the big campsites.

 

[martin_shooter]

Never been there. But a coworker...a 27yr old XGames sno cross rider...was just there for the 4th. Said it was full of topless 20s girls and Coors Light cans....

Sounds more like Havasu to me

Its actually very true. Basically any weekend will have a bachelorette party that is only a beer or two away from a night time skinny dip.

Dont know the name of the forest service road offhand but there is one on the east side of McCall that winds way up into the mountains and I was told is a pretty nice drive.

Lick Creek Road. Some amazing trail heads within 15 miles of town.

You could also take a drive for the day and head to Warm Lake, it's decent fishing as well, it's about 24 miles off the pavement, but it's a good gravel road.

If you make it to Riggins (salmon fishing maybe?), the Salmon River Inn has good pizza and some cool mounts hanging inside.

McCall is also semi close to Yellow Pine, which is right on the edge of the Frank Church Wilderness, lots of hiking there, but might be more than your looking for just for a day hike.

Warm Lake is less than a mile from pavement. Salmon Fishing in Riggins has been closed for over 3 weeks. Yellow Pine is less than an hour from McCall, but without driving real far on some real crappy roads right outside McCall has better hiking.

my answer is goofy..

but there is a big grocery store there. i cant remember the name of the place. i kid you not, this store has an awesome hunting/outdoor dept..blew me away. it was fun to check it out. i got totally soaked elk hunting there and i went there and bought a fistfull of great merino wool socks to replace the ones i tried to dry too close to the fire.

it is a neat town.

what did perplex me..i came out of the woods with a load of garbage all bagged up. i couldnt find a place to dump it. i ended up taking it with me to Nevada, where i found some big roadside dumpsters.. i should have checked one of the big campsites.

Ridleys is the name of the store. It might be cool to a visitor but when it is your ONLY outdoor store within hours... it sucks. You didnt see anywhere to dump garbage because the transfer stations are well hidden. This is a tourist town that draws in alot of affluent people from all over the west. Having garbage even in cans on the side of the road is looked down upon.


Ive lived in McCall for 3 years. Feel free to PM me for any questions you have. I will be leaving in the morning for 10 or so days though.

 

[Mtnboy]

Only been to Warm Lake once, I forgot that most that road off the highway is pavement!

 

[Avid Hunter]

Thank you for all of the advice! I am really looking forward to getting up there!

 

[2hand]

Rafting for a 1/2 day...very worth it. Like martin_shooter said lick creek rd...

Have fun!