It should come as no surprise that America's literary adventure man, Ernest Hemingway (around here, we call him"Papa"), was so intoxicated by this forest's raw beauty that he asked to be buried here. The Sawtooth National Forest encompasses 2.1 million acres of the most magnificent and wildest country available in the U.S. this side of Alaska.

The forest boasts some 1,100 lakes and more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams. Annual runs of salmon and steelhead tease anglers along the riverbanks. Native trout are abundant.

And it's not just the fish that run these pristine rivers, rafters and kayakers descend the whitewater turbulence with equal enthusiasm. In the Sawtooth Valley, the headwaters of the Salmon River converge to form what explorers Lewis and Clark aptly described as the "River of No Return".

Skiers all over the world know Sun Valley; Baldy is considered among the best ski mountains this country has to offer.