Field trips are a great way to reboot a bad homeschooling week, get out of the house when everyone has cabin fever, and learn about your local area. Before heading out, check out Jeanne's tips for improving homeschool field trips.
Our listing of Idaho field trips for homeschoolers is ordered alphabetically by city. If you would like to submit a Idaho field trip destination, you may do so using the red button above.
Craters of the Moon National Monument and PreserveArco
A vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. We invite you to explore this "weird and scenic landscape" where yesterday's volcanic events are likely to continue tomorrow...
Farragut State ParkBayview
Learn about this former World War II-era naval training station at the Museum at the Brig during your visit. Museum opens Memorial Day and closes Labor Day each year. In the museum, some Brig cells have been left in their original configuration. Other cells have been converted to house interpretive displays with photos, equipment, letters, furniture, personal items, and more. The museum also offers an audio-visual theater and a gift shop. Two restored vehicles (1938 Ford flatbed and 1942 Pirsch fire engine) that were used on the base are now on display in the courtyard.
Idaho Potato MuseumBlackfoot
The Idaho Potato Museum is a unique museum which appropriately showcases Idaho's Famous Potatoes®. The rich graphics showcasing the history of the potato will lead you through the revolution of the potato industry. From the original potato planted in Idaho, to the largest potato chip made by the Pringle's Company in Jackson, TN. You'll be intrigued as you stroll through the Museum which was built in 1912. Once a bustling flurry of activity, the stone depot represents significant ties between the railroad and the potato industry.Potato Museum The Potato Museum provides information on potato history, the growing and harvesting process, nutrition, trivia and educational potato facts. Watch a short video presentation on how the potato industry has developed.
Boise Art MuseumBoise
BAM is the only nationally accredited, collecting art museum in the State of Idaho--accredited through the American Association of museum (AAM). For over 70 years, Boise Art Museum has been providing access to the visual arts for people of all ages, incomes, and abilities.
Discovery Center of IdahoBoise
The Discovery Center of Idaho's mission is to provide experiences and educational opportunities that inspire lifelong learning and interest in science, math and technology, and that supplement and enrich formal science education through interactive exhibits, educational programs and teacher resources.
Idaho State MuseumBoise
The Idaho State Historical Museum, founded in 1907, is Idaho's largest and most visited museum. It has evolved from a simple collection of curios and relics sitting on shelves to the first museum in Idaho to be accredited by the American Association of museum. Objects from the Museum's collection tell the story of Idaho from prehistoric times through the fur trade, the gold rush, and pioneer settlement to the present. Richly detailed interiors show how Idahoans in the late 19th and 20th centuries lived and conducted business.
Old Idaho PenitentiaryBoise
Our interpreters will share stories of notorious prisoners, escapes, and prison life. Your students will hear how inmates quarried the stone and built the prison themselves, and they will gain an understanding of the Penitentiary's place in Idaho history.
The Basque Museum & Cultural CenterBoise
The Basque Museum & Cultural Center provides a look into the heritage of the Basque communities of Idaho and surrounding areas. Boise, Idaho has long been a central location where Basque immigrants first congregated after coming to the United States from the Spanish Basque Region. As immigrants established their lives here, Basques became well known for their hard work and perseverance. The Basque Museum & Cultural Center provides a look into the Basque heritage by exhibits, collections, and tours. As a cultural center, it's a gathering place for events and educational opportunities - in which people of all backgrounds can participate in Basque activities.
Idaho Botanical GardenBoise
The Garden is a living museum, dedicated to the advancement and appreciation of gardening, horticulture and conservation, through plant collections and education programs within an aesthetic landscape.
Zoo BoiseBoise
The Zoo Boise features giraffe encounters, a butterfly house, a Wallaby walkabout, sloth encounters, and a zoo farm for visitors.
The Peregrine FundBoise
The Peregrine Fund sponsors the Velma Morrison Interpretive Center at the World Center for Birds of Prey. The center's goal is to enhance the health, reproduction, and reintroduction efforts of endangered species and to collect information about raptors.
Bruneau Dunes State ParkBruneau
Bruneau Dunes park boasts the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America with a peak rising 470 feet above the surrounding desert floor. The park is also a nighttime destination. The Bruneau Dunes Observatory is open at select times for public tours and viewings. See website for schedule.
Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural HistoryCaldwell
The Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History is free to visit, and all ages are welcome. There are thousands of things on display from mammals, anthropology, rocks, gems, minerals, fossils, ornithology, etc. This is the only natural history museum in the region encompassing southwestern Idaho, southeastern Oregon, and northern Nevada. The College of Idaho's Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History is the premier resource for environmental and natural history education in the region. The Museum is listed in the "30 Most Amazing Higher Education Natural History Museums," compiled by Best College Reviews. The Museum is located in the basement of Boone Hall on the College's campus in Caldwell. The hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. The college also has a planetarium that can be visited. There is a cost for the planetarium, but various shows are offered. For more information about the museum or planetarium, you can call (208)459-5507
Land of the Yankee Fork State ParkChallis
The Land of the Yankee Fork State Park brings to life Idaho's frontier mining history. This state park is part of the larger Land of the Yankee Fork Historic Area located in scenic central Idaho. Managed by the Idaho Department of park and Recreation, the Salmon-Challis National Forest and Bureau of Land Management this historic area provides unique historical interpretation and numerous recreational opportunities. At the Interpretive Center in Challis there are museum exhibits, a gold panning station, audiovisual programs, and friendly personnel to provide information on local mining history and area attractions. Also of interest are the ghost towns of Bonanza and Custer, the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge, the Custer Motorway and the Challis Bison Jump.
Museum of North IdahoCoeur d'Alene
The Museum of North Idaho collects, preserves and interprets the history of the Coeur d'Alene Region. to foster appreciation of the area's heritage.
Thrw Pottery StudioCoeur d’Alene
Thrw Pottery Studio, located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, offers homeschool group field trips. Reach out to them through their website thrwpottery.com to schedule your field trip.
Historical Museum at St. GertrudeCottonwood
Preserving the rich heritage of the Monastery of St. Gertrude, Camas Prairie, Snake River, Salmon River, and surrounding areas. View special exhibits, including the stories of the Benedictine sisters, the Nez Perce people, and fascinating local characters such as Polly Bemis and Buckskin Bill. Visit a replica of the original attic museum begun by Sister Alfreda Elsensohn, celebrated Idaho historian and foundress of the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude.
Gem County Historical Society and MuseumEmmett
Offers a variety of exhibits in a multi-building Museum complex. A Victorian residence is furnished with many of the belongings of Governor Frank W. Hunt (Idaho's 5th Governor, 1901-1903). Other structures include a blacksmith shop, one-room schoolhouse, bunkhouse, and natural history display. The main museum houses two floors of exhibits. The McNeely Historical Library is also housed here. It provides research opportunities and preservation for books, documents, maps and photos. The Museum Complex provides an educational focus on history for the 4th grade classes of Carberry Elementary, students from Black Canyon Alternative High School, and home-schooled children. They are given an insight into the daily lives of past Gem County residents starting with Native Americans and continuing into the 1960s. One of the most popular exhibits is the one-room school which portrays the education of yesterday for consideration by the youth of today.
Tribal MuseumFort Hall
Step into the past with a visit to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum located near the Tribal Enterprise businesses at exit 80, I-15. See the collection of old photographs dating back to from 1895, and artifacts from the site of the olf Fort Hall.
Westy's Garden LanesGarden City
Westy's is a 40 lane bowling center, Westy's is willing to offer a bowling rate for field's trips to our facility @ $2.00 a game plus tax (includes shoe rental).
Glenns Ferry Historical MuseumGlenns Ferry
The museum tells the history if this area in Idaho with artifacts housed in a 1908 schoolhouse.
Three Island Crossing State ParkGlenns Ferry
Three Island Crossing State Park is located on the Snake River at Glenns Ferry. It is home to The Oregon Trail History and Education Center where visitors can learn about pioneer emigrants and Native American history.
Minidoka National MonumentHagerman
During World War II, over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated without due process of law. Although little remains of the barbed-wire fences and tar-papered barracks, the Minidoka concentration camp once held over 13,000 Japanese Americans in the Idaho desert. Minidoka preserves their legacy and teaches the importance of civil liberties. The park preserves a portion of the WWII Japanese American incarceration site, along with some of its historic structures. The visitor center, open on weekends during the summer, offers visitor information, museum exhibits, the park film, and a small bookstore. Ranger-led tours of the site are available on weekends during the summer, and visitors can take a self-guided walking tour of the site daily.
Hagerman Fossil Beds National MonumentHagerman
Largest concentration of Hagerman Horse (Equus simplicidens) fossils in North America - 30 complete horse fossils and portions of 200 individual horses. Internationally significant Monument protects world's richest late Pliocene epoch (3 - 4 mya) fossil deposits: over 220 species of plants and animals! Glimpse life before the last Ice Age and view earliest appearance of modern flora and fauna.
Thousand Springs State ParkHagerman
Thousand Springs State Park, with its nine beautiful units, is a testament to why the area is called the Magic Valley. Visitors can view wagon ruts and bridge abutments at Kelton Trail, explore the magnificent Malad Gorge, access the riding arena at Billingsley Creek, get writing inspiration at Vardis Fisher, step back in time and tour historic structures at Ritter Island and Bonnieview, take in the scenery at Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon Springs Nature Preserve, view Niagara Springs, fish at Crystal Lake. Day use opportunities abound within the units of Thousand Springs State Park.
Blaine County Historical MuseumHailey
At the Blaine County Historical Museum visitors can explore the Wood River Valley's pioneer past, research family histories, and view vignettes of mines, schools, ranches, famous literary personalities, period fashions, and political memorabilia. Each display shows aspects of the life that early inhabitants and pioneers experienced.
Tautphaus Park ZooIdaho Falls
Watch the flock of threatened African Penguins, experience a wallaby mob on the move, discover the gibbons aerobatic abilities or surround yourself with sights and sounds of South American birds in the walk-through aviary. Stop by the Children's Zoo and pat a donkey, feed a lamb or just relax on a bench and enjoy the beautifully landscaped grounds. Over 400 animals, the largest collection in Idaho, call Tautphaus Park Zoo home.
Jerome County Historical MuseumJerome
The museum's displays tell the story of the development of the North Side Irrigation project, one of the most successful Carey Irrigation Act projects in the nation, and its towns and people. A display of materials from the Minidoka Relocation Center at Hunt is also featured.
Shoshone County Mining and Smelting MuseumKellogg
Where the mountains meet the mining history.
Nez Perce National Historical ParkLapwai
Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest. Despite the cataclysmic change of the past two centuries, the Nez Perce are still here. Join us in exploring the park's thirty-eight sites and experiencing the story of a people who are still part of this landscape.
South Bannock County Historical Center MuseumLava Hot Springs
The South Bannock County Historical Museum, in operation for nearly 30 years, offers both permanent and rotating exhibits about the history of the Lava Hot Springs area and development of the surrounding rural communities of Arimo, Inkom, Downey, McCammon, Virginia and Swan Lake.
Nez Perce County Historical Society and MuseumLewiston
Nez Perce County Historical Society works to preserve the unique history of Nez Perce County and its environs and to share it with residents and visitors to the museum. Join us for a look at our history and heritage from the Nez Perce Indians and Lewis and Clark to the modern day.
Hells Gate State ParkLewiston
Hells Gate lies on the river bottom left over from the great ice age floods about 15,000 years ago. At the south end of the park are basaltic columns from the Pomona flows 14 million years ago. Hells Gate State Park was once the site of a Nez Perce Village. Little is left of the village, but depressions south of the campground are the remnants of pit houses used for years by the Nez Perce as they fished for lamprey near Asotin Creek.
Oneida County Pioneer MuseumMalad
The Oneida County Museum is housed in the former R.B. Davis Drug Store and Boarding House, built in 1914. The original safe and pressed-tin ceiling are still intact. The Museum displays a variety of local treasures, including furniture, photographs, quilts, toys, farm implements, musical instruments, clothing, hats, military uniforms, medical instruments, and books.
Latah County Historical SocietyMoscow
Located in Moscow's historic Fort Russell neighborhood, the McConnell Mansion (at 110 South Adams Street) is an architectural and historic landmark. William J. McConnell, leading merchant, prominent Republican, and Idaho Governor from 1887 to 1893, built the house in 1886. On the main floor of the house are historic rooms interpreted in different time periods from 1900 to the 1930s. The second floor contains the restored master bedroom and exhibits, including hands-on activities for young visitors. During warm weather, visitors are invited to relax and enjoy refreshments in the backyard garden. The Museum Store carries books on local history, notecards from area artists, and more. Staffed by a corps of volunteers, the mansion is open Tuesday through Friday, and some Saturdays dependent on volunteer availability, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
Yellowstone National ParkMulti-state
Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife, including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Lewis & Clark National Historic TrailMulti-state
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail winds nearly 4,900 miles through the homelands of more than 60 Tribal nations. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Pacific Ocean.
Oregon National Historic TrailMulti-state
The Oregon Trail was for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries, and others, the pathway to the Pacific. Wagon ruts and landscape scars can still be seen from that time.
Nez Perce National Historic TrailMulti-state
The Nez Perce (Nimiipuu or Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail stretches from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to the Bear Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Montana. It was added to the National Trails System by Congress as a National Historic Trail in 1986. The 1877 flight of the Nez Perce from their homelands while pursued by U.S. Army Generals Howard, Sturgis, and Miles, is one of the most fascinating and sorrowful events in Western U.S. history. Chief Joseph, Chief Looking Glass, Chief White Bird, Chief Ollokot, Chief Lean Elk, and others led nearly 750 Nez Perce men, women, and children and twice that many horses over 1,170 miles through the mountains, on a trip that lasted from June to October of 1877.
Owyhee County Historical SocietyMurphy
The Owyhee County Museum provides a multi-station tour where kids will learn about the fascinating history of ranching, farming, and mining. Your students will be able to see how a 1915 Model T works, pan for gold, brand their initials into a piece of wood, see how school was taught 124 years ago and so much more. If you are teaching Idaho history or western history this is the place to come to immerse yourself and your students in that history.
Canyon County Historical SocietyNampa
The CCHS has two museums: The Nampa Train Depot Museum & Our Memories Museum in Caldwell.
Warhawk Air MuseumNampa
The mission of the museum is to teach and preserve World War II history from the home front to the war front and aviation history from the advent of flight through the space age. The Warhawk Air Museum encourages an educational experience about the technology, culture, and social changes that have occurred in North America since World War II. Tours are available for group, club and educational purposes and must be arranged at least two weeks in advance of visit date.
Gutierrez Family FarmsNampa
A guided👩🌾 tour. You’ll see cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, and more. February, we’ll be receiving our new run of 🐣chicks. March- April, our 🏠barn will be full of lambs and 🐐kids, and you might see 🐮calves cuddle with their moms. May - July, it’s all about 💦irrigation and pasture management. August-September, seasonal 🌻flowers, produce 🌽corn, and 🍎apples, nuts🥜 and more. September-October, 🐑sheep shearing and you pick 🎃pumpkins and 🍇grapes. 24-hour reservation required. We welcome groups of all sizes and ages. Contact Us for times and group rates. Tours are Rain or Shine and Non-Refundable.
Clearwater Historical MuseumOrofino
Clearwater Historical Museum invites folks to come see our collections that focus on the people and history of Clearwater River Country and its environs including Clearwater County and parts of Lewis, Nez Perce, Idaho and Shoshone counties. Our goal is to share the Clearwater River drainage rich legacy that started long before history was recorded. Our museum features artifacts relating to the Nez Perce People, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, gold mining, early homesteading, farming, logging and much more.
Idaho Museum of Natural HistoryPocatello
Actively nurtures an understanding of and delight in Idaho's natural and cultural heritage. As the official state museum of natural history, it acquires, preserves, studies, interprets and displays natural and cultural objects for Idaho residents, visitors and the world's community of students and scholars. The Museum also supports and encourages Idaho's other natural history museum through mentoring and training in sound museological practices.
Lemhi County Historical MuseumSalmon
Welcome to the birthplace of Sacajawea, Lemhi County, Idaho. Here you will find archives filled with interpretations and stories of the journeys of Lewis and Clark, specifically, they are devoted to historically correct information concerning Sacajawea and the valley she was born in, Lemhi County, Idaho. There are two buildings side by side: 204 Main is the River of History Exhibit and Research Center and 210 Main is the primary Lemhi County Museum.
The Art Spirit GalleryThe Art Spirit Gallery
Our gallery is the perfect space for a free, engaging field trip! Students will have the chance to explore three floors of inspiring artwork and exhibitions, guided by our friendly, knowledgeable staff. We’ll share a short talk about why art matters—its influence on society, its ability to spark imagination, and how it encourages curiosity. The visit includes a hands-on element: a exciting scavenger hunt designed to develop observation skills and inspire discussion as students seek out specific pieces of art. We finish with a lively group conversation, where students share their favorite works and reflect on the importance of art in our lives. We’d love for your homeschool group to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity—completely free of charge! To schedule your visit or if you have questions, please contact us at 208-765-6006.
Herrett Center for Arts and ScienceTwin Falls
The Herrett Center is a non-profit support service of the College of Southern Idaho. Its purpose is primarily educational, offering programs to elementary and secondary school students, CSI students, and the adult community of south-central Idaho. The Center collects, preserves, interprets, and exhibits artifacts and natural history specimens with an emphasis on the prehistoric American continent.
