Starting your trip at Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey means everything around the Wood River Valley sits within an easy drive. The airport serves Sun Valley and Ketchum, where the first destination ski resort in America still sets the tone. Expect a mix of cowboy, outdoorsy, and quietly glamorous, with some of the best skiing in the country in winter and mountain biking, fly fishing, and hot springs the rest of the year.

Standout experiences around Sun Valley: - Ski Bald Mountain, with its long fall-line runs and almost no lift lines - Learn to ski or ride at Dollar Mountain, a gentle hill made for beginners - Skate the outdoor rink at the historic Sun Valley Lodge - Walk through Ketchum's galleries, bookstores, and small-batch restaurants - Visit the Ernest Hemingway Memorial along Trail Creek - Cast for trout on Silver Creek, a spring-fed stream prized by fly fishers - Bike or stroll the Wood River Trail, which links Bellevue, Hailey, and Ketchum - Soak in Frenchman's Bend hot springs along Warm Springs Road - Drive over Galena Summit to Stanley and Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains - Explore the lava fields at Craters of the Moon National Monument

Hailey is the valley's hometown and Sun Valley its famous neighbor, with a walkable main street and most of the area's year-round residents. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area opens up about 90 minutes north with alpine lakes and the jagged peaks around Stanley, and Craters of the Moon is roughly 70 minutes southeast. Each October, the Trailing of the Sheep Festival sends a flock of 1,500 sheep straight down Main Street in Ketchum.