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Sun Valley, Idaho

The name "Sun Valley" was thought up by a New York PR man who thought the name appropriate for a place that receives 250 days of sunshine a year. This marked the first time a PR agency was guilty of understatement. To find your sunshine and adventure and for the most up to date travel and vacation planning information on Sun Valley Idaho, the Sun Valley Idaho CVB website is the source for information on lodging, restaurants, attractions and events. The website contains information on area weather, maps and other helpful travel aids for what ever you need for an exciting experience.

Not every Sun Valley winter activity requires a lift ticket. The surrounding area supplies visitors with an endless variety of spectacular scenery and sporting diversions. Spend a day mushing a pack of huskies, turn a few circles at the famed Sun Valley ice rink, cuddle up in a cozy yurt or hop a horse-drawn sleigh for a hearty dinner at the legendary Trail Creek Cabin. Snowmobiles provide an easy means to explore the incredible backcountry, while the devoted will still be fishing the local rivers in mid December. With so much to occupy your time, a return trip to Sun Valley will definitely be in order.

Sun Valley features unique festivals you won't find anywhere else. The Annual Hemingway Festival celebrates the life of world-renowned writer Ernest Hemingway. The Trailing of the Sheep Festival in October celebrates the century-old traditional moving of sheep from the summer pastures to winter grazing grounds. Wagon Days, the Valley's largest event, celebrates the mining heritage of Ketchum.  The event takes place over Labor Day Weekend and is filled with activities including a shoot-out on Main Street, an old fashioned fiddlers contest, kiddie carnival, and center-piece to the event: the Big Hitch Parade.  The parade is the largest non-motorized parade in the Pacific Northwest and features museum quality wagons, buggies, and stagecoaches from around the countries.  The Big Hitch is the grand finale to the parade.  It is a massive historic Ore Wagon once used to haul ore for refinement to Ketchum.

Sun Valley, Idaho

 
Sun Valley Idaho

Sun Valley, Idaho TIP

Visit the Sun Valley Idaho CVB website at www.visitsunvalley.com and request your free full color Sun Valley Idaho travel planner now.

2007 Sun Valley Hemingway Festival

 It's time for the annual Hemingway Festival in Sun Valley, Idaho - and the Sun Valley / Ketchum Convention & Visitors Bureau is featuring some great specials and hot deals on hotels, resorts, and other accommodations in Sun Valley. You'll also find information on Sun Valley restaurants, attractions, activities, arts & culture, shopping, transportation, and a free Sun Valley travel & vacation planner.

Ernest Hemingway's first trip to the Sun Valley area was in 1939. He was one of the many celebrities invited to the new Sun Valley Resort in hopes that fame and publicity would lure tourists. Ernest was given suite #206 of the Sun Valley Lodge, which he nicknamed "Glamour House," a room to which he would return many times. In this suite he worked on For Whom the Bells Tolls. He made many trips to Idaho before establishing residence in the Wood River Valley with his fourth wife Mary Welsh Hemingway in 1959.

In his Ketchum home Ernest Hemingway worked on A Moveable Feast and The Garden of Eden while standing at a desk with a view of the Boulder Mountains. After writing in the mornings Hemingway enjoyed duck hunting, often with actor Gary Cooper, on Silver Creek, 25 miles south of Ketchum. In the evenings Hemingway could be found socializing with friends at one of his favorite French restaurants, the Christiania, where he often requested a small table on the southwest side of the dining room. He also spent time at other businesses still in operation today such as The Casino, a local tavern; and at star-studded parties that once took place at Trail Creek Cabin, now owned by Sun Valley Resort.