For those that simply crave an awe-inspiring view, you don't have to strap on a climbing harness -- there are over a dozen fire-lookouts that offer breathtaking panoramas throughout the 2.3-million acre forest.

The Payette is bordered by two of North America's deepest canyons -- Hells Canyon on the Snake River to the west and Salmon River Canyon to the north. A portion of the immense Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness lies within the forest. The wilderness is the largest in the lower 48 states and requires days of hiking to reach its most remote regions. Bush pilots regularly drop off backcountry explorers and supplies at desolate airstrips deep within the wilderness.

The forest is named for Payette LeGrande, a French trapper who worked for the Hudson Bay Company in the late 1600s. Payette died in Idaho after a rattlesnake crawled into his moccasin and bit him. The remains of Payette's body were discovered 200 years later, along with a journal that he kept wrapped in oilskin.