McCall is a resort town located in Valley County, Idaho named after the founder, Tom McCall. McCall is situated on the southern shore of Payette Lake and near the center of the Payette National Forest. McCall is one hundred miles north of Boise, accessed via the Payette River Scenic Byway (state highway #55). According to 2005 census estimates, McCall had an estimated population of 2,415^[1].

Traditionally a logging community whose last sawmill closed in 1977, McCall is now an all-season tourist destination for outdoor recreation. The resort town is known for its Winter Carnival, extended winters, and the highest average snowfall in the state. Nicknamed "Ski Town U.S.A.", McCall is the home to many past winter Olympic athletes.

History

Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the land in and around McCall. Three tribes, the Shoshone, a sub-band of the Shoshone known as the "Sheepeaters," and the Nez Perce, inhabited the land primarily in the summer and migrated during the harsh winter months.

In the early 1800s, the nomadic French Canadian fur trapper, François Payette, roamed the area alongside other mountain men like Jim Bridger, Peter Skene Ogden and Jedediah Smith.

During the 1860's, miners temporarily named the settlement "Lake City", but only alluvial gold was discovered and they moved fifty miles north to the town of Warren.

The settlement of McCall was established by Thomas and Louisa McCall circa 1889-1891. For a cabin and assumed rights to the 160 acres of land, they traded a team of horses with Sam Dever, who held the squatter rights. Tom, his wife, four sons and a daughter lived in the cabin located on the shore of the lake near present day Hotel McCall. He established a school, hotel, saloon and post office, naming himself as postmaster. McCall purchased a sawmill from the Warren Dredging company and later sold it to the Hoff & Brown Lumber Company, which would become the driving economic force until its closure in 1977.

Tourism increased in the early 1900s. In June 1902, the Boydstun Hotel in nearby Lardo opened as a "place to stay and camp on Payette Lake". In 1906, Charlie Nelson opened a tented camping area known as Sylvan Beach Resort along the west side of Payette Lake. In 1907, Lardo Inn opened for business. The arrival of the Oregon Short Line railroad (later named the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad) in 1914 secured McCall as a viable community and tourist destination. Three years later McCall was incorporated as a village. In the 1920s, the state land board started leasing homesites along the lake.

The now famous winter carnival started in 1923-24. Reports vary between hundreds to thousands of tourists visiting the festivities.

The beauty of McCall and Payette Lake drew attention from Hollywood in 1938 when it was selected as the filming location for the Academy Award-nominated Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, and Walter Brennan. The film, released in 1940, was about the French and Indian War of 1755-63.

In 1943, the U.S. Forest Service opened the McCall smokejumper base. It is one of only four smokejumper training bases in the nation. The site includes a smokejumper training unit, paraloft, dispatch office, and the McCall air tanker base.

The iconic Shore Lodge opened July 3rd, 1948,  on Payette Lake. The lodge became McCall's centerpiece for the next 51 years. Shore Lodge management and shareholders intentionally created a resort style lodge that was a cozy and intimate place for locals and tourists, contrasting with the glamor and glitz of the other famous Idaho lodge in Sun Valley.

In 1965, a 1,000 acre peninsula 2 miles outside of McCall became the Ponderosa State Park. The park is home to some of the largest old growth trees in the western U.S.

 Alpine Skiing

McCall's Little Ski Hill and Nordic ski jump are on the west edge of town. After a 76 acre donation from Carl Brown, the ski hill opened in 1937 as a diversion for local forest workers. It was the second ski resort in Idaho, after Sun Valley. It currently operates a T-bar surface lift and has a vertical drop of 405 feet (123 m), with a summit of 5600 feet (1706 m) above sea level. The slopes face north and west.

Brundage Mountain, northwest of McCall, opened in November 1961. It has three chairlifts and a platter tow. Brundage has a summit elevation of 7640 feet (2328 m) above sea level, and a vertical drop of 1800 feet (548 m). The slopes on Brundage Mountain are west-facing and the mountain's average snowfall exceeds 300 inches (762 cm). The resort operates a backcountry cat skiing operation, giving guests access to 13,000 acres of untracked powder in the Payette National Forest. Brundage Mountain is a family-owned resort, operated by the DeBoer family, descendants of early McCall pioneers.

The new Tamarack Resort is southwest of McCall on the west side of Cascade Reservoir (Lake Cascade). Originally conceived as "Valbois" in the early 1980s, the project was revived as "WestRock" in the late 1990s and ultimately renamed "Tamarack" in 2002. Tamarack opened for lift-served skiing in December 2004 and has a summit elevation of 7700 feet (2347 m) and vertical drop of 2800 feet (853 m). It currently operates five chairlifts and a poma lift. The ski area has snowmaking capability along many of its runs. The slopes on Tamarack face east, overlooking the Cascade reservoir.