Things to do in Pocatello
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Pocatello
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Among the best months: green trails, the farmers market opens in May, Lava's outdoor complex opens, golf in full swing.
Peak summer and the fullest event calendar, with July 4 fireworks and the August Shoshone-Bannock Festival. Hike early and hydrate.
The locals favourite window: fall colour, Bengals football and Homecoming, the market to late October, crisp empty trails.
The quiet hinge: market closed, museums and the Stephens Center carry the city, Pebble Creek opens around late December.
Ski season proper at Pebble Creek with night skiing, plus Mink Creek Nordic trails and Lava soaks in the snow.
A shoulder month of thawing trails and returning green, quieter and cheaper before the May market season starts.
What's on
- Portneuf Valley Farmers Market First Saturday in May to last Saturday in October
Nearly 100 vendors at the Old Town Pavilion, Saturdays 9am to 1pm, plus Wednesday evenings in season.
- Independence Day Celebration 4 July
Family activities and fireworks at the Bannock County Events Complex.
- Shoshone-Bannock Indian Festival Second weekend of August
A major powwow at Fort Hall drawing dancers from across North America, with spectators welcomed as guests.
- Idaho State Homecoming Late September, some years early October
Homecoming Bengals football at the ICCU Dome, the autumn peak for hotels and town energy.
- First Friday Art Walk First Friday monthly, liveliest in summer
Old Town galleries, shops and restaurants host artists and music from 5pm to 8pm.
Best things to do in Pocatello
Museum of Clean
The world's only museum of cleaning itself, gleeful and hands on, and the one Pocatello sight you cannot see anywhere else.
Old Town Pocatello
The surviving brick railroad era core of the Gate City, best on an Art Walk, market or Revive at 5 evening.
Zoo Idaho
A small zoo of native Yellowstone ecosystem animals, many rescued, in a pretty park under the basalt cliffs.
Idaho Museum of Natural History
Idaho's state natural history museum on the ISU campus, strongest on Ice Age Idaho and its giant fossils.
Fort Hall Replica
A full size reconstruction of the 1834 Oregon Trail trading post, giving a road trip west real historical grounding.
Bannock County Historical Museum
The county museum beside the fort, covering pioneers, the railroad that created Pocatello, and everyday local history.
L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center
ISU's landmark arts complex for symphony, theatre and touring acts, and the best cultural evening in Pocatello.
ICCU Dome
Home of Bengals football and basketball in an intimate early domed stadium, the loudest communal event in the city.
Where to stay in Pocatello
Old Town
character, walking and city life
Walk to dinner, the brewpub, galleries, the market and the Museum of Clean, in the historic centre.
Yellowstone Avenue / Vista Drive corridor
newer chain hotels and families
The strongest mid range hotels cluster here by I-15, with pools, breakfasts and easy starts north or south.
ISU / South 5th Avenue university area
campus visits, games and south end sights
Walking distance from ISU and the Stephens Center, a short drive from Ross Park and south end trailheads.
Think twice about
- Interstate interchange motel clusters on I-15 / I-86 and far north Yellowstone Avenue, Chubbuck
Nothing walkable, truck stops and highway noise, and the oldest budget motels draw the city's worst lodging reviews. Dead and isolating, not dangerous.
- Yellowstone Avenue strip as a sole base experience
Entirely car based chain sprawl. Staying only here means missing Old Town, the museums and the trails that make Pocatello worth stopping for.
Best restaurants in Pocatello
Sandpiper Restaurant
The city's special occasion steak and seafood room, famous for its Hawaiian crunch halibut and Piper penne.
Jakers Bar & Grill
Polished steakhouse cooking on the hotel corridor, with well cooked steaks, seafood and lobster bisque.
Palate Neighborhood Bistro
A small neighbourhood bistro doing the city's most personal cooking, from shrimp and grits to beignets.
Buddy's Italian Restaurant
The red sauce Italian institution built around its famous garlicky Buddy's Salad, in big hometown portions.
Himalayan Flavor
Indian and Nepalese cooking with a unanimous local following, and the best vegetarian eating in Pocatello.
Portneuf Valley Brewing
The Old Town craft brewpub with house beers, pub food and live music in The Loft, the centre of evening life.
Butter Burrs Restaurant
The classic Pocatello breakfast room, big American plates and old school service with decades of local loyalty.
Elmer's Restaurant - Pocatello
The other beloved breakfast diner, praised for potato pancakes, Reubens and fish and chips near the university.
Outdoor things to do in Pocatello
City Creek Trail System
About 50 miles of hiking, biking and horse trails inside the city limits, on dirt within ten minutes of Old Town.
Gibson Jack Trail
A wilder creek canyon hike from sage and juniper up to pine ridges with views over Pocatello and toward Fort Hall.
Portneuf Greenway Trail
Flat paved walking and cycling along the Portneuf River through town, linking parks and the university area.
Cherry Springs Nature Area
A creek side picnic and trailhead area in the Caribou National Forest, the local summer escape south of the city.
Pebble Creek Ski Area
A steep, affordable locals ski hill with 2200 feet of vertical, night skiing, and no resort scene or lift lines.
Lava Hot Springs Foundation World Famous Hot Springs
Five outdoor pools of natural, odour free mineral water at 102 to 112 degrees, 35 miles from Pocatello.
Lava Hot Springs Olympic Swimming Complex
An Olympic size summer pool complex with diving platforms, slides and a kiddie cove, run by the same foundation.
Highland Golf Course
The hillier, harder of the two city municipal courses, with mountain views and greens that all break toward town.
Best hotels in Pocatello
Black Swan Inn Luxurious Theme Suites
Fifteen elaborately themed suites with Jacuzzis and murals, the only stay in Pocatello people travel for.
Hampton Inn & Suites Pocatello
The corridor benchmark chain hotel with pool, hot tub and included breakfast, and the city's top hotel ranking.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Pocatello
The highest rated mainstream hotel in town, with included breakfast and a pool on the I-15 corridor.
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Pocatello
A well kept Marriott option with free breakfast and laundry, valued by families and Pebble Creek ski trippers.
Best Western Pocatello Inn
The high volume workhorse near the university and south end sights, with the city's largest hotel review base.
Super 8 by Wyndham Pocatello
The safest budget recommendation in the city, a Super 8 with breakfast and a very large, consistent review base.
Is Pocatello expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $65 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $110 a person |
| Splurge | $185 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center: a few days ahead
- ICCU Dome: a few days ahead
- Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre: a few days ahead
- Pebble Creek Ski Area: a few days ahead
- Highland Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Riverside Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Black Swan Inn Luxurious Theme Suites: weeks ahead
- Sandpiper Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book a specific Black Swan themed suite weeks ahead for weekends and ISU event dates.
- Book hotels days to weeks ahead for Homecoming, graduation and big game weekends.
- Reserve Sandpiper for Friday and Saturday dinner days ahead.
- Arrange Pebble Creek rentals and lessons days ahead at peak, and time Lava for a weekday or evening.
Is Pocatello safe?
- Visible homelessness around Old Town, the river corridor and some greenway underpasses calls for ordinary awareness, not avoidance.
- Keep valuables out of sight in trailhead cars.
- Carry plenty of water for high desert trails and give moose, rattlesnakes and bears space.
- In winter, expect snow, ice and valley inversions on I-15 and the Pebble Creek and Lava roads. Emergency number 911.
Pocatello travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Judging Pocatello from a one night motel strip stop without Old Town, the Museum of Clean or a trail.
- Expecting a big zoo or a big museum from Zoo Idaho or the Idaho Museum of Natural History.
- Visiting Old Town on a quiet weekday afternoon instead of an Art Walk, market or Revive at 5 evening.
- Going to Lava Hot Springs at noon on a summer Saturday, its most crowded hour.
Getting around Pocatello: public transport and more
- You need a car: trailheads, Ross Park, Pebble Creek and Lava Hot Springs are all drives, and buses run weekday oriented schedules.
- Rent at Pocatello Regional Airport or in town; many visitors fly into Salt Lake City or Idaho Falls and drive.
- Walking works in Old Town and on the ISU campus, and cycling works on the Portneuf Greenway.
- Rideshare is thin late at night, so designate a driver for a drinking evening.
Who Pocatello suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Pocatello your trip
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