Things to do in Idaho, United States: The Best Water & Amusement Parks

June 2, 2021 Enriqueta Cusson

A mixture of forested mountains, alpine peaks, wildflower meadows, deep river canyons, and high plains deserts, Idaho is a paradise for golf, skiing, fly fishing, and river rafting. Boise, the capital, is the state's largest city and airline hub. North of Boise are golf, lake, and ski resorts from McCall in the south to Sandpoint and Coeur D'Alene in the north. East of Boise are the ski slopes of Ketchum and Sun Valley. East of Sun Valley are Craters of the Moon National Monument, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and the small town of Island Park just across the border from Yellowstone National Park. Boise's Basque Museum and Cultural Center reflects having the largest Basque population in the U.S. Reflecting Idaho's diverse heritage, near the Idaho Historical Museum in Boise's Julia Davis Park is the Idaho Black History Museum's chronicle of the slave York who served the Lewis & Clark Expedition. After a family visit to the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey and an outdoor performance at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the next stop after Boise is likely to be Payette Lake in McCall or Sun Valley and Ketchum. About 100 miles north of Boise, past Cascade Lake, McCall takes you to the shores of Payette Lake. Go golfing, fishing, hiking, biking, waterskiing, sailing, boating, or whitewater river rafting. Ski or snowshoe Brundage Mountain or Tamarack Resorts, as well as Ponderosa State Park in winter. Ice skate year-round at Manchester Ice & Event Centre. About 450 miles north of Boise, there are resort lakes near skiing and golf at Coeur d'Alene, Hayden Lake, and Sandpoint. Golf, tennis, mountain biking, hiking, fishing, rafting, and hunting are popular in Sun Valley and Ketchum. Sockeye salmon may no longer do much spawning in Redfish Lake, but the boating and mountain scenery in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area make the short trip north to Stanley worthwhile. When the snows come the whole family will head for the slopes of Soldier Mountain, Bald Mountain, Dollar Mountain, or the Sun Valley Resort. A tiny forested town of about 250 people, Island Park has a large reservoir with fishing and boating, as well as Henry's Fork of the Snake River for fly fishing. It's only 15 miles from Yellowstone as well.
Restaurants in Idaho

1. Boise Whitewater Park

3400 West Pleasanton Avenue, Boise, ID 83702 http://www.boisewhitewaterpark.com/welcome
Excellent
100%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 3 reviews

Boise Whitewater Park

2. Wahooz Family Fun Zone

1385 S Blue Marlin Ln, Meridian, ID 83642-8165 +1 208-898-0900 [email protected] http://www.wahoozfunzone.com
Excellent
61%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
3%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 141 reviews

Wahooz Family Fun Zone

Wahooz Family Fun Zone is open year round, and features exciting attractions for all ages, including two go-cart tracks, two miniature golf courses, bumper boats, batting cages, laser tag, Kiddie Cove soft play area, over 100 arcade games & prize redemption center, and the new 24-lane Pinz Bowling Center. Wahooz is located five miles west of Boise, at I-84, exit 44, Meridian, right next door to Roaring Springs Waterpark. Twice the Fun combo tickets available in summer.

Reviewed By dtreck

A lot to do outside (when weather permits) and a lot to do inside. 2 different tracks for go-carts, bumper boats, putt putt golf and a batting cage. Inside, arcades games, bowling, bumper cars and several different physical fun like rock climbing.

3. Hamilton-Lowe Aquatics Center

830 N Mountain View Rd, Moscow, ID 83843-9234 +1 208-883-7665 http://www.moscow.id.us/parks_and_rec/aquatics/index.aspx
Excellent
62%
Good
32%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 37 reviews

Hamilton-Lowe Aquatics Center

4. Roaring Springs Waterpark

400 W Overland Rd, Meridian, ID 83642-8105 +1 208-884-8842 [email protected] http://www.roaringsprings.com/
Excellent
53%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
5%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 215 reviews

Roaring Springs Waterpark

Roaring Springs is the Northwest’s largest waterpark and features attractions for every member of the family, including a wave pool, float river, two family raft ride, bowl slide, racing slide, tube slides, kiddie play area, and coming in 2013 a new 6-story speed slide! Roaring Springs also has four restaurants and a gift shop (no outside food or drinks). Roaring Springs is located five miles west of Boise, at I-84, exit 44, Meridian. Roaring Springs is connected to Wahooz Family Fun Zone, featuring go-karts, mini golf, bumper boats, laser tag, 100+ game arcade, and the new 24-lane Pinz Bowling Center. Twice the Fun combo tickets to Roaring Springs & Wahooz are available in summer.

Reviewed By kellilynn81

The Waterpark was extremely clean. The lifeguards are on top of it!! Social distancing was in full effect and I often saw staff cleaning. The rides were sooooo fun! On one ride, our family did flip over in the water. Although we were not aware that this was abnormal, the staff immediately checked on us and even had a supervisor check on us. We were fine. We can’t wait to come back. We did get a cabana, and although we enjoyed having a space to ourselves, there were plenty of available tables in the shade we could have chosen.

5. Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark

610 Bunker Ave Silver Mountain Resort, Kellogg, ID 83837-2200 +1 800-204-6428 http://www.silvermt.com/Silver-Rapids-Indoor-Waterpark
Excellent
60%
Good
21%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
2%
Terrible
7%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 113 reviews

Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark

Reviewed By E6291HOjulieg

We had a great time at Silver Rapids. There are plenty of activities for every age in our family. The little slides are fun and adults can squeeze in them...the BIG slides are super fun and, with supervision, even the littles can go with you on them. The surf pool was faster than expected and offered a good challenge. The staff, which were all younger adults/teens, seemed to be very attentive to their job and were constantly on the move watching out for help needed at their stations. Food was pretty expensive, but an awesome day for the whole family.

6. Olympic Swimming Complex

195 N. Center St, Lava Hot Springs, ID 83246 +1 208-776-5221 [email protected] http://www.lavahotsprings.com
Excellent
69%
Good
23%
Satisfactory
4%
Poor
0%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 126 reviews

Olympic Swimming Complex

Heated, Olympic sized 50 meter swimming pool with ten, seven and five meter diving platforms as well as three and one meter spring boards. Curly slides for the ride of your life or the new speed slides shoot you down at over 35 miles per hour. Lots of grass space for picnicking or you can purchase food at the on-site grill. Outdoor pool is open the summer months only. The Indoor Aquatic Center is open all year with a poolside climbing wall, divingboard and basketball hoops. Heated floors throughout the dressing rooms provide warmth and comfort for all swimmers. Indoor kiddie play area with all the fun a zero depth splash and play area can provide. Year round fun coupled with access to the World Famous Hot Pools make this a must see and do destination.

Reviewed By gyAustin

We stopped here driving through Idaho for a quick stretch for the kids. They loved it and we ended up staying over 3 hours. There are a variety of indoor and outdoor activities in the pool. Prices were good as well!

7. Natatorium Pool & Hydrotube

18 N. Warm Springs Ave, Boise, ID 83712 +1 208-608-7675
Excellent
42%
Good
50%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
8%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 12 reviews

Natatorium Pool & Hydrotube

8. Kelly's Whitewater Park

Enter at Mile Marker 114.44, Cascade, ID http://www.kellyswhitewaterpark.com
Excellent
70%
Good
22%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
0%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 37 reviews

Kelly's Whitewater Park

Reviewed By Q7099RFdang - Hood River, United States

Great place to take a hike along the river, paddle, or ride a bike. Look out for the Osprey and watch them fish. Play some volleyball on one of the beautiful courts that has sand that was imported from Tahiti! The visitor center is beautiful and has all kinds of interesting history about the area and kayaking. Beautiful bronze sculptures honoring Kelly the parks namesake and a US Army soldier in real life-size. During the summer the park is filled with happy kayakers and stand up paddlers. There is even a really fun little wave that you can SURF on with a regular surfboard. Thanks to the town of Cascade Idaho and Picard's family for working together to make this dream a reality.

9. Lava Hot Springs Indoor Aquatic Center & Portneuf Kiddie Cove

195 N. Center, Lava Hot Springs, ID 83246 +1 208-776-5221 http://www.lavahotsprings.com
Excellent
64%
Good
36%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 14 reviews

Lava Hot Springs Indoor Aquatic Center & Portneuf Kiddie Cove

Reviewed By Onehotjogger

This is a fun activity for all ages. They have a great kiddie pool area, a fun indoor pool with a diving board and climbing wall in the pool, a nice big swim area for little kids and others and of course they have a couple outdoor diving boards and three platforms to dive or jump from as well. If you aren't into doing those activities they have a couple twisty slides and then two big slides that look fast and fun but not for everyone. The bigger slides did take quite a bit of wait time as well. The pool was very crowded on the Saturday in June that we went but we still had a great time. It does seem a little expensive but maybe I'm just cheap-ha! There were two incidents with people jumping off the platforms the day we were there. The lifeguards and staff handled it well. They quickly clear the pool and get them out carefully. It is sad and a bit nerve racking to watch as you don't know what happened and you don't know if the person ends up being o.k. or not. I think they are use to people jumping off the platforms and getting injured or something. They have food you can buy there but we didn't buy any. People brought their own shades to stay all day and it seemed you could also bring in your own food but check on that. It's a great place to go play for lots of hours.

10. Silverwood Theme Park

27843 N Highway 95, Athol, ID 83801-8624 +1 208-683-3400 [email protected] http://www.silverwoodthemepark.com/
Excellent
50%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
4%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 1,316 reviews

Silverwood Theme Park

Located in beautiful North Idaho, Silverwood Theme Park has over 65 rides, slides, shows and attractions, including four roller coasters, Boulder Beach Water Park, a steam engine train, live entertainment, restaurants, and more...

Reviewed By S8116SFpeterl - Spanaway, United States

Family of 10, 4 adults, toddler and kids 6-13, stayed at the best western, good trip fun for the kids, rides geared for the roller coaster, excitement and kids, waterpark was fun, there is weight limits, those who are bigger can ride the bumper boats and rafts to get wet, but those b/w 225-300lb may be luckier, food is reasonable and get the refillable souvenir cup

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