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Idaho towns
Idaho Hunting Towns
94 Idaho towns measured to the public hunting land within 10 and 25 miles, with their hunting units, elk zones, controlled hunts and nearest IDFG offices.
Photo: David Wilson (CC BY 2.0)
Town pages, measured
Each Idaho town page starts at the Census point of the town and measures out to the boundary of every IDFG wildlife management area, Access Yes! property, national forest and ranger district, national recreation area, BLM district and field office, refuge listed in 50 CFR 32.31, Large Tracts area and the Craters of the Moon preserve on this site. The 94 towns are the 44 county seats, 5 other places of 25,000 or more people and 45 base towns chosen as the nearest place to a ranger district, a BLM field office, a large WMA, a refuge or the preserve; 6 of them are unincorporated Census places.
Every town has at least one listed public place within 10 miles (the median is 6), and the median town has about 43,299 GIS acres of public hunting land inside that ring. That acreage leaves out tribal land, national park units, closed state parks, endowment land, Access Yes! and Large Tracts ground, so read it as mapped public land open under Idaho seasons rather than every acre a hunter might reach.
IDFG sets big game seasons by numbered hunting unit and sells general elk tags by zone, so each page names the unit under the town and every unit within 10 miles, the elk zone and its A and B tag rows, the controlled hunts whose 2026 hunt areas reach those units, and 2025 harvest per unit. The towns fall in 51 different home units and 24 elk zones; 26 sit in the Pacific Time counties of north Idaho, and every shooting time on their pages is printed in PT, the rest in MT.
Big-city hunting bases
Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Coeur d'Alene and Twin Falls are the biggest places on the list; each page shows how far the nearest open public ground lies and which units surround the city.
Towns by IDFG region
IDFG works through seven regions; each town is filed under the region at its own point, so a split county can show towns in two regions.
Panhandle Region (14)
- Atholunit 2 in Kootenai
- Bonners Ferryunit 1 in Boundary
- Clark Forkunit 1 in Bonner
- Coeur d'Aleneunit 2 in Kootenai
- Conkling Parkunit 5 in Kootenai
- Hauserunit 2 in Kootenai
- Moyie Springsunit 1 in Boundary
- Mullanunit 4 in Shoshone
- Oldtownunit 1 in Bonner
- Post Fallsunit 2 in Kootenai
- Priest Riverunit 1 in Bonner
- Sandpointunit 1 in Bonner
- St. Mariesunit 5 in Benewah
- Wallaceunit 4 in Shoshone
Clearwater Region (12)
- Cottonwoodunit 11 in Idaho
- Elk Cityunit 15 in Idaho
- Grangevilleunit 14 in Idaho
- Kooskiaunit 16 in Idaho
- Lewistonunit 11 in Nez Perce
- Moscowunit 8 in Latah
- Nezperceunit 11A in Lewis
- Orofinounit 10A in Clearwater
- Potlatchunit 8A in Latah
- Rigginsunit 18 in Idaho
- White Birdunit 14 in Idaho
- Winchesterunit 11 in Lewis
Southwest Region (24)
- Boiseunit 38 in Ada
- Caldwellunit 38 in Canyon
- Cambridgeunit 31 in Washington
- Cascadeunit 24 in Valley
- Councilunit 22 in Adams
- Eagleunit 32 in Ada
- Emmettunit 32 in Gem
- Homedaleunit 40 in Owyhee
- Horseshoe Bendunit 32 in Boise
- Idaho Cityunit 39 in Boise
- Kunaunit 38 in Ada
- Lowmanunit 33 in Boise
- Marsingunit 40 in Owyhee
- McCallunit 24 in Valley
- Meridianunit 38 in Ada
- Mountain Homeunit 38 in Elmore
- Murphyunit 40 in Owyhee
- Nampaunit 38 in Canyon
- New Meadowsunit 23 in Adams
- New Plymouthunit 38 in Payette
- Parmaunit 38 in Canyon
- Payetteunit 32 in Payette
- Robie Creekunit 39 in Boise
- Weiserunit 31 in Washington
Magic Valley Region (14)
- Bruneauunit 46 in Owyhee
- Buhlunit 46 in Twin Falls
- Burleyunit 55 in Cassia
- Careyunit 52A in Blaine
- Fairfieldunit 44 in Camas
- Goodingunit 45 in Gooding
- Haileyunit 49 in Blaine
- Jeromeunit 53 in Jerome
- Ketchumunit 48 in Blaine
- Oakleyunit 55 in Cassia
- Rupertunit 53 in Minidoka
- Shoshoneunit 52 in Lincoln
- Sun Valleyunit 49 in Blaine
- Twin Fallsunit 53 in Twin Falls
Southeast Region (11)
- Aberdeenunit 68A in Bingham
- American Fallsunit 68 in Power
- Blackfootunit 68A in Bingham
- Georgetownunit 76 in Bear Lake
- Malad Cityunit 73 in Oneida
- McCammonunit 74 in Bannock
- Montpelierunit 75 in Bear Lake
- Parisunit 78 in Bear Lake
- Pocatellounit 70 in Bannock
- Prestonunit 73 in Franklin
- Soda Springsunit 76 in Caribou
Upper Snake Region (16)
- Arcounit 68 in Butte
- Ashtonunit 62A in Fremont
- Driggsunit 65 in Teton
- Duboisunit 60A in Clark
- Idaho Fallsunit 69 in Bonneville
- Ionaunit 69 in Bonneville
- Irwinunit 67 in Bonneville
- Island Parkunit 61 in Fremont
- Mackayunit 50 in Custer
- Mud Lakeunit 63 in Jefferson
- Parkerunit 60A in Fremont
- Rexburgunit 64 in Madison
- Rigbyunit 63A in Jefferson
- Ririeunit 63A in Jefferson
- Robertsunit 63A in Jefferson
- St. Anthonyunit 60A in Fremont
Salmon Region (3)
- Challisunit 36B in Custer
- Leadoreunit 29 in Lemhi
- Salmonunit 29 in Lemhi
Every town, by unit
Towns, points and populations from the Census 2024 Gazetteer and Vintage 2024 estimates; units and elk zones from the IDFG Game Management Units layer and the IDFG elk zones layer; public land rings and GIS acres from places.json and lands.json. “Closest open land” skips records with an access caution (refuges, endowment land, open state parks, Reclamation, Corps and the Birds of Prey NCA). Checked November 12, 2026.
Town map
A bold pin flags a town ringed by at least 100,000 mapped acres of public ground inside 10 miles; tap any pin to open that town.
Most land within 10 miles
Lowman leads with 198,804 GIS acres inside 10 miles; small base towns beside national forest and BLM ground fill most of the top twelve.
| Town | County | GIS acres, 10 mi | Places, 10 mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowman | Boise | 198,804 | 4 |
| Elk City | Idaho | 187,560 | 6 |
| Challis | Custer | 168,531 | 5 |
| Ketchum | Blaine | 165,911 | 6 |
| Sun Valley | Blaine | 163,675 | 8 |
| Mackay | Custer | 162,984 | 6 |
| Irwin | Bonneville | 162,672 | 8 |
| Wallace | Shoshone | 149,510 | 7 |
| Murphy | Owyhee | 146,437 | 5 |
| Salmon | Lemhi | 139,380 | 8 |
| Island Park | Fremont | 133,547 | 6 |
| Leadore | Lemhi | 133,126 | 5 |
Town pages FAQ
How were the 94 Idaho towns on this site chosen?
Every county seat (44), the other places of 25,000 or more people (5), and base towns (45) next to ranger districts, BLM field offices, IDFG WMAs of 1,000+ GIS acres, the six refuges in 50 CFR 32.31 and the Craters of the Moon preserve.
From which point is each town-to-land distance taken?
From the Census point of the town to the nearest edge of the land polygon, or to the land point when no polygon was mapped; roads add miles.
Why carry a caution on refuges, endowment land and a few federal records?
Refuges open only the units and categories in 50 CFR 32.31, endowment land allows recreation under Land Board policy, and the Reclamation, Corps and Birds of Prey records hold no place-specific hunting statement, so none shows as plain open ground.
Are reservation acres part of the totals?
They are removed. Reservation land is closed to non-member hunting except under tribal authority (18 U.S.C. 1165).
What do the unit and elk zone columns tell a hunter?
IDFG writes big game seasons and controlled hunts by numbered unit and sells general elk tags as A or B tags in 28 zones, so the unit and zone at a town decide which rows apply there.
Is harvest given for any one town?
IDFG reports harvest by unit and hunt only; town pages show 2025 unit totals and label them that way.
How official are the acreage numbers?
They are GIS overlays of mapped public hunting land, each acre counted once, with tribal land and closed places taken out; agencies publish their own acreages.
Which clock do the shooting times on town pages use?
The time zone of the county under 49 CFR 71.9: Pacific Time in the nine northern counties, Mountain Time elsewhere; Idaho County towns are worked out on Pacific Time with a note on the Salmon River split.
From places.json, lands.json, counties.json, services.json, the Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, 18 U.S.C. 1165 and 49 CFR 71.9. Checked November 12, 2026.
Other photos on this page: Alabama Extension (CC0 1.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); wikiphotographer (CC BY-SA 2.0); Sandra Slade (CC BY 2.0); greenebriar (Public domain); Russ (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); U.S. Geological Survey (CC0 1.0).