Swan Valley, Idaho - tourist Information, trip planning

Fall Creek Falls @ Daryl L. Hunter

Fly-fishing the South Fork of the Snake River below Fall Creek Falls in Swan Valley Idaho

Swan Valley, Irwin and Palisades are the communities that comprise the scenic valley that nestle along the banks of the South Fork of the Snake River below Palisades Dam, collectively known as Swan Valley, one of the premier tail water dry-fly fisheries in North America but trophy trout fishing isn’t the only game in town. With the Big Hole Range to the north, the Caribou Mountains to the south and the Palisades Range to the east provide splendid panoramas and year-round outdoor activities are a magnet for sportsmen and adventurers.

On the south side of Swan Valley is the twenty-mile long Palisades Reservoir which provides great fishing, water sports, ice fishing and stunning scenery as it is hemmed in by the peaks of the Snake River Range and The Caribou Mountain Range. Many marvel at the paucity of boats on such a beautiful lake. There is a popular hotspring up Bear Creek that is a popular 8-mile round trip hike.

The Caribou Mountains are laced with backcountry roads and so access is quite easy. The Fall Creek Drainage has become a magnet for mountain bikers and always was for off highway vehicle enthusiasts and has been their popular camping/riding destination because of its vast network of trails.

The Snake River Range has become, a possibly too popular, spot as a hiking and horseback trail riding as the scenery there is stunning. However, if you go deep enough into the Palisades Wilderness Study Area you will find solitude.

Full Moon over the South Fork of the Snake River, Swan Valley, Idaho

The northwestern end of the Big Hole Mountains are laced with a network of dirt roads but the south end by Swan Valley as all access by trail only. The Big Holes are an awesome getaway for the hiker, horseback rider, and the ATV rider.

Many ranches of the valley have been subdivided, but there are still several ranches around to keep Swan Valley’s cowboy heritage alive. I do venture to say that a culture of fly-fisherman has largely supplanted the cowboy though.

The surrounding mountains are home to elk, deer, mountain goats, black and grizzly bears. Swan Valley is on the south side of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and so shares many wild assets as Yellowstone itself. The mountains and valleys have tremendous hunting, and the many mountain streams are all full of wild cutthroat trout.

This valley of about 700 residents is an outdoorsman’s paradise but not much else. It has a few restaurants, bars, fly shops, motels and fishing lodges but then that is about all an outdoorsman needs.

Cover Idaho Magazine - Fall Creek Falls, Swan Valley Idaho

Daryl L. Hunter the publisher of this web site wrote this article about Swan Valley For Idaho Magazine

Podunk Perfect
A Tourist Town Escapee Finds Nirvana in Eastern Idaho
By Daryl L. Hunter

Carved by the South Fork of the Snake River between the Caribou Range to the west and the Snake River Range and Big Hole Range to the east, it is crowned by twenty-mile-long Palisades Reservoir to the south. It seemed to me a suitable place to land. I had driven through the valley often from my home in Jackson Hole, because Idaho Falls was where the affordable shopping was. I liked the valley because podunk places have always attracted me. Even so, Swan Valley’s abundant charm hadn’t jumped out at me, because everywhere in the Greater Yellowstone region is like this, and as much as you try to fish and hike every location, it just isn’t possible.

After I finally took a closer took, I made an offer on my future home, cast a fly upon the waters of the South Fork of the Snake, and in no time at all had a writhing, two-pound rainbow tail dancing across an eddy as the fish tried for the fast water a short distance away. Ah, ha! I had heard the South Fork was a better fishery than the Upper Snake, but had never bothered to try it. Now I was hooked..................Rest Of Story

5.5 Acres for sale
Swan Valley News
Greater Swan Valley Comprehensive Plan
	Community planning in America began during colonial times when it became necessary to provide public services such as streets, public buildings, and plans for cities and towns as the nation grew. Over time, legal standards were adopted for fair and equitable development and use of the land in public and private sectors of our society. By the early 1800ês, planning standards had been developed for large cities including the new national capital of Washington, D.C. The capital plan set general standards for development which are still used today. During the early 1900ês, concepts of planning and zoning for areas beyond the cities were established through the adoption of a body of land use laws at the national, state, and local levels of government.
Clarification of Rainbow Trout Stocking in the South Fork By Idaho Game and Fish
	With the focus in recent months on encouraging rainbow trout harvest in the South Fork of the Snake River there has been some confusion about IDFGês rainbow trout stocking practices that warrant clarification. True, until the early 1980ês IDFG was guilty of stocking rainbow trout into the South Fork and some of the tributaries. Although it was clearly a mistake in retrospect, it was done to meet a demand for harvest and provide a diverse fishery. Unfortunately, thirty years ago biologists did not recognize the threat rainbow trout pose to native cutthroat trout. Since the early 1980ês IDFG has not stocked rainbow trout in the South Fork, the tributaries, or in Palisades Reservoir. This would clearly be in conflict with our goal of managing the South Fork for native cutthroat trout. Some of the confusion is likely related to the stocking database on the IDFG website. The website lists that South Fork as having been stocked with rainbow trout as recently as 2000. These fish were all stocked in the Dry Bed, below the Great Feeder diversion. Because these fish did not have access to the South Fork and were sterile triploids incapable of interbreeding with cutthroat trout, they pose no threat to the South Fork cutthroat population. Regardless, this program has also been recently terminated because of poor return-to-creel. IDFG is sincerely committed to cutthroat trout conservation in the South Fork. The efforts depend on anglers playing an active role in suppressing rainbow trout. It is therefore vital that anglers know their efforts are not being undermined by counterproductive stocking practices by IDFG.
Ski Magazine's Inn of the Month: Swan Valley's South Fork Lodge
	The award-winning lodge sits on the banks of the South Fork of the Snake River, which anglers consider one of the world's premier trout rivers. In keeping with Rockefeller's wish for a refuge of denim elegance.
The Resort Town Curse By Daryl L. Hunter
	I have lived in many resort towns and I have noticed a trend. I am attracted to them when they are still little, quaint and undiscovered but it usually isn't long before word spreads about the next great place.

Yellowstone News

Grizzly Bear at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park

Featuring sixteen photos by Daryl L. Hunter the publisher of the Greater Yellowstone Resource Guide

Daryl L. Hunter

Wyoming's Seven Greatest Natural Wonders

Wyoming's BEST photos of Wyoming's BEST places by Wyoming's BEST photographers. These three short phrases sum up this book about Wyoming's most scenic and natural places.

It all started with a newspaper column Bill Sniffin wrote in 2007 called Wyoming's 7 Greatest Natural Wonders, which include Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Thermopolis Hot Springs, Devils Tower National Monument, the vast Red Desert, historic South Pass and the high impact North Platte River system.

This book features an introduction by Governor Matt Mead and a chapter by U.S. Senator Mike Enzi.

Buy Book Here

Two of Grizzly 399s new cubs

Grizzly 399 produces triplets again?

Grizzly 399 produces triplets again, or so it seems. Absent is the red ear tag bling that positively identified her in the past. Nonetheless a 400-pound road tolerant grizzly sow has shown up in Grizzly 399’s territory with three new adorable cubs. With my caveat stated, we will assume this is 399. This prolific sow produced her first cub around 2001 and her first triplets in 2006, the second set of triplets in 2011 and now a third bunch of fur balls for spring of 2013. ............rest of story

Spring has sprung in Yellowstone

Spring has sprung it Yellowstone and now its time to go for a drive. Most of the gates are open and all soon will be. The weather is shaping up, and Yellowstone’s peak predator viewing is in full swing.Around the first of April Grizzlies without cubs started coming out of their dens followed shortly by sows with older cubs. We are still waiting for the bears with new cubs to emerge from their dens with new little balls of fur, but the wait won’t be long.

The Canon Pack wolves are moving back into the Hayden Valley after wintering elsewhere with less snow. The Lamar and Blacktail packs have been seen throughout the winter and continue to put on a nice show for the lucky who find them......................... Rest of story

The T. A. Moulton Barn the most photographed barn in the world is in need of restoration work.

The T.A. Moulton Barn

Foto foder for millions of us photographers it is time for us to give back. Due to age and weathering, it is deteriorating rapidly. The T. A. Moulton Barn Celebrating 100 years “An Icon of Jackson Hole” In 2013 the iconic T. A. Moulton barn celebrates it 100th birthday. Started out of necessity to shelter his horses against the harsh winters of Western Wyoming and Jackson Hole, Thomas Alma Moulton didn’t know he was building a future landmark to a nation and Mecca for photographers to come to.

For more information on the Moulton Barn Centennial Party on July 20th is coming along very well. I will be posting details of events here and on the website soon. We are excited about the possibility of Wyoming Gov Mead possibly attending. He is not confirmed yet, but the event is on his calendar.

Lets all dig into our pockets and save this Icon of Jackson Hole, Grand Teton Park and the American West so it doesn’t rot into the ground like the “Shane Cabin” did. ………………Visit the Moulton Barn website ~ learn - donate

Yellowstone's Wild Gray Wolves

A stranger was roaming around. Black-haired, big, and handsome, he'd wandered into town a few days earlier and was looking for some action. Right now he was hanging out near some young females – twins, by the looks of them – and hoping to get to know them a little better. But unfortunately for him, it wasn't to be. Just as he was getting comfortable, their mom and dad showed up.
Two gray wolves, a few hundred yards south, their thick winter fur silhouetted against the snow. They took off toward the interloper at a dead sprint, two blurs racing along the frozen creekbed. The new wolf, sizing up the scene, tucked his tail between his legs and ran away. rest of story

Haden Valley's alpha male of the Canyon wolf pack wolf 712m

John Kerr, 74, Goes From TV Executive To Yellowstone Park Ranger

Eight years ago, John Kerr had no idea what to do next when he retired from his job as a public television executive in Boston at age 65. For four decades, he had worked at WGBH, most recently appealing for funds on the air, turning him into a highly recognizable mendicant...................After flummoxing around for about a month, he put his belongings in storage, loaded up his camper truck and drove west to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where his family owned a small condominium. During his travels, he stopped by the Yellowstone National Foundation, which raises funds for Yellowstone National Park, and happened to hear that it was hiring people to educate visitors about wolves........................He immediately applied for a position -- and landed it...................... rest of story

Animosity is poisoning Yellowstone

When I envisioned life in Yellowstone, I saw wild animals struggling to survive in the cold, snowy winter landscape. I knew that watching nature under harsh conditions would not always be pretty but I prepared myself to meet the realities of nature head on. Wolves, of course, played the top role in my mind but I had only seen them in the wild a couple of times and so the learning slate was clean and I couldn’t wait to learn. Never did it occur to me that there would be a small group of humans who spent their winter in Lamar Valley watching wolves and claiming ownership of them. Negative encounters with people was the last thing on my mind................ rest of story

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