5 Outdoor Activities for Groups in Idaho

 

While many may know Idaho for its agricultural prowess—one-third of the U.S. potato crop is grown there, after all—it’s also cherished for its natural beauty. Set against a backdrop of the stunning Rockies and Cascades, this sparsely populated state boasts some of the best outdoor activity options in the Pacific Northwest, providing ample opportunity for groups to bond in the great outdoors. 

Here’s how your groups can get back to nature in the Gem State.

Boise

With 235,000 residents calling the state capital home, Boise is a popular jumping-off point to get outside and experience Idaho’s prodigious natural beauty. Known as the “City of Trees,” even Boise proper has no shortage of outdoor adventures.

A popular activity for groups is white-water rafting. Cascade River and Kayak is one of the most prominent river rafting companies in the area, located approximately one hour from downtown Boise. Groups of up to 400 can experience up to two hours of rafting on the Payette River along with a variety of catering options to enjoy on the onsite riverside deck overlooking the water.

[Related: Meetings Today LIVE! West Visits Rapidly Growing Boise, Idaho]

Another option for groups is a tour of the Sunnyslope Wine Trail. Located just 30 minutes outside Boise, this collection of 19 wineries can be experienced through Snake River Wine Tours, an award-winning wine tour company that can transport up to 14 attendees in each of its five vans (up to 70 people total) to enjoy all Idaho’s wine country has to offer. Other activities on the Sunny Slope Wine Trail include the Lakeview produce stand, Peaceful Belly Farm and the TimberStone Golf Course. 

Another option for groups looking to explore the mountainous area of Boise is Bogus Basin, a nonprofit Mountain Recreation Area and ski resort located 16 miles north of Boise. In the summer, Bogus Basin offers activities such as mountain biking, scenic chairlift rides and hiking. In the winter, the mountain becomes an ideal spot for skiing, snowboarding and winter tubing down an 800-foot-long hill. Skiing and snowboarding lessons are also available as well as group rentals of some of the resort’s event venues. Plus, every dollar generated by Bogus Basin goes toward expanding and improving the mountain’s infrastructure. 

Boise also has an incredibly walkable downtown that lends itself to a variety of local food and walking tours. Indulge Boise is one company offering multiple food tours through some of Boise’s most iconic neighborhoods and eateries. These tours include the Downtown Boise Brunch & Arts tour, the Capital City Culinary and Cultural tour and the Tater Tour de Boise bicycle tour. The tours last anywhere between two and four hours, are available year-round and can accommodate over 100 attendees.

Another tour of the Boise area is WalkAbout Boise, a collaboration between Visit Boise, Visit Idaho and Preservation Idaho, an organization that works to protect the historic places of significance to Idaho natives. The WalkAbout Boise tour is a 90-minute guided walking tour of 150 years of Boise’s history and architecture. Ideal for visitors, the tour covers everything from downtown Boise’s evolution from the gold rush to the 21st century, buildings associated with Boise’s historic Basque culture and other ethnic communities, and the Idaho State Capitol and Boise City Hall. The organization offers public tours every Saturday, custom tours for groups or self-guided audio tours.

A Planner’s Boise Experience

Want to know what it’s really like to host an event in Boise? Sherry Huss is the head of community at Freeman, a leading trade show, exhibit and event company. Each year, Freeman hosts an invite-only leadership conference called “Camp Buck,” in honor of founder Buck Freeman, with the goal of bringing together Freeman leaders to learn, inspire and build relationships. 

In 2023, Huss and her team decided to host Camp Buck in Boise, utilizing several venues across the 10-block area of Boise’s downtown over multiple days to create a summer camp-themed event for 263 attendees. The group got to experience Boise’s art, music, food and history at venues such as the Egyptian Theatre, Jack’s Urban Meeting Place (JUMP) and The Warehouse Food Hall.

The event was a resounding success, Huss said, with post-event audience sentiment analysis determining that 90% of sessions had a positive sentiment rating. About 60% of attendees said that the alternative event venues contributed to a positive Camp Buck experience.

“It was amazing what you could get done,” Huss said. “We did 27 meetings in like eight hours. In big cities, you need sometimes a couple hours between meetings. I think folks liked maybe not being in a fishbowl like when you’re at a resort.”

The walkability and diversity of Boise’s downtown venues seemed to be a hit with Freeman’s attendees, but the people who make up Boise were what sold the event for a lot of the organizers and attendees. 

“The people were just genuinely nice,” Huss said. “The Boise people were just always right there saying, ‘What do you need?’ and you just don’t find that everywhere.”

[Related: Freeman Announces Janet Dell to Succeed Priest-Heck as CEO]

Boise Centre

For groups planning their next meeting or event in Boise, Boise Centre offers 86,000 square feet of meeting and event space across 31 venues. The largest of these venues is the Grand Ballroom, with 24,426 square feet of space that can be divided into three sections.

It also features a 17,000-square-foot Idaho Central Arena exhibit hall and arena floor, featuring 5,000 fixed suites and VIP suites all connected to the rest of Boise Centre via a concourse. Other amenities of Boise Centre include in-house catering, audiovisual and IT services, virtual event services and high-speed Wi-Fi throughout its venues.

[Related: Boise Is Booming With New Meetings and Events Lures]

Pocatello

Located in the southeastern part of Idaho and known as the “Gateway to the Northwest,” Pocatello and its neighbor city, Chubbuck, offer some amazing outdoor recreation options that groups can take advantage of.

One of the most popular activities in the area is disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, with six popular courses available in the Pocatello area. One of these courses is within Massacre Rocks State Park, located on the Snake River and providing miles of hiking trails and geological wonders.

Groups can also take advantage of 1,000 miles of recreational trails and pathways for hikers, bikers, horse riders and ATV riders. Groups can rent biking gear at the Oregon Trail Bikes of Pocatello, East Fork Bike or Barries Ski & Sport Rentals. During winter, locals can be found skiing, snowboarding and doing other winter activities at the Pebble Creek Ski Area or the East Fork Mink Creek Nordic Ski Center.

[Related: Boise, Pocatello and Sun Valley, Idaho, Are Polishing Their Meetings Cred]

Sun Valley

Known for its winter resorts and ski areas on nearby Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain, Sun Valley is a resort town that is ready to let groups experience Idaho’s great outdoors.

Sun Valley Resort offers onsite facilities and full event management services for groups of up to 1,000 and features activities such as skiing, snowboarding and ice-skating in the winter and horseback riding and fly-fishing in the summer.

Like Pocatello, Sun Valley also has an impressive amount of single-track trails—over 400 miles—in the immediate area that are perfect for hiking or biking.

Another unique outdoor activity, especially for thrill-seeking attendees, is paragliding with a professional United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA)-certified paragliding tandem instructor. 

With flights occurring seven days a week (weather permitting), this activity will have attendees soaring among the clouds and getting a jaw-dropping bird’s-eye view of the Sun Valley area.

Connect

Visit Boise

Visit Pocatello & Chubbuck

Visit Sun Valley

Read more about meetings and events in Idaho