Ketchum, Idaho
Ketchum is a city of 3,594 people in Blaine County, Idaho, founded in 1880.
Why visit Ketchum
Townapedia lists 6 museums and landmarks, 11 parks and trails, 15 places to eat, 7 places to stay and 9 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Cold Springs Pegram Truss Railroad Bridge, Dollar Mountain, Proctor Mountain Ski Lift and Bald Mountain Hot Springs.
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 80°F; January lows average 8°F, and about 102 inches of snow fall in a normal year.
Weather in Ketchum
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Ketchum
Ketchum is a city in the western United States, located in Blaine County, Idaho. In the central part of the state, the population was 3,551 at the 2020 census, up from 2,689 in 2010. Located in the Wood River Valley, Ketchum is adjacent to Sun Valley and the communities share many resources: both sit in the same valley beneath Bald Mountain, with its skiing. The city also draws tourists to its fishing, hiking, trail riding, tennis, shopping, art galleries, and more.
From the Wikipedia article Ketchum, Idaho (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do9
Cold Springs Pegram Truss Railroad Bridge
Bridge · National Register of Historic Places · 2.4 mi
Bridge in United States of America
Museums and landmarks6
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Proctor Mountain Ski Lift
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 2.4 mi
Historic ski lift in Sun Valley, Idaho, United States
Bald Mountain Hot Springs
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.7 mi
Greenhow and Rumsey Store Building
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.6 mi
Ketchum Ranger District Administrative Site
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.7 mi
Parks, trails and playgrounds11
Christina Potters Outdoor Ice Rink
Sports field and stadium
900 3rd Avenue, Ketchum
Restaurants and cafes15
Enoteca
Restaurant · Pizza · 0.6 mi
300 North Main Street, Ketchum
Su-Th 05:00-21:00; Fr,Sa 05:00-21:15
Pioneer Saloon
Restaurant · 0.6 mi
320 North Main Street, Ketchum
Mo-Su 16:00-21:30
3 more on the map.
History
Originally the smelting center of the Warm Springs mining district, the town was first named Leadville in 1880. The postal department decided that was too common and renamed it for David Ketchum, a local trapper and guide who had staked a claim in the basin a year earlier. Smelters were built in the 1880s, with the Philadelphia Smelter, located on Warm Springs Road, processing large amounts of lead and silver for about a decade.
After the mining boom subsided in the 1890s, sheepmen from the south drove their flocks north through Ketchum in the summer, to graze in the upper elevation areas of the Pioneer, Boulder, and Sawtooth mountains. By 1920, Ketchum had become the largest sheep-shipping center in the West. In the fall, massive flocks of sheep flowed south into the town's livestock corrals at the Union Pacific Railroad's railhead, which connected to the main line at Shoshone.
After the development of Sun Valley by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1936, Ketchum became popular with celebrities, including Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway loved the surrounding area; he fished, hunted, and in the late 1950s bought a home overlooking the Big Wood River near the city. It was there he committed suicide; he and his wife Mary, his granddaughter, model and actress Margaux Hemingway, are buried in the Ketchum Cemetery. The local elementary school is named in his honor.
From the History section of Ketchum, Idaho on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to stay7
Churches and places of worship3
Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church
Church · Roman Catholic · 0.7 mi
202 East Sun Valley Road, Sun Valley
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Church · Mormon · 0.7 mi
300 Spruce Avenue, Ketchum
Shopping8
Schools, colleges and libraries3
Map of Ketchum
62 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Climate by month
Monthly table
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°F | 8°F | 2.2 in | 27.0 in |
| Feb | 35°F | 11°F | 1.9 in | 17.2 in |
| Mar | 43°F | 19°F | 1.8 in | 10.5 in |
| Apr | 52°F | 27°F | 1.2 in | 3.2 in |
| May | 62°F | 35°F | 1.8 in | 0.2 in |
| Jun | 70°F | 40°F | 1.3 in | 0.0 in |
| Jul | 80°F | 45°F | 0.6 in | 0.0 in |
| Aug | 79°F | 44°F | 0.5 in | 0.0 in |
| Sep | 69°F | 36°F | 1.0 in | 0.0 in |
| Oct | 56°F | 28°F | 1.4 in | 1.6 in |
| Nov | 41°F | 17°F | 1.2 in | 10.3 in |
| Dec | 30°F | 9°F | 2.6 in | 32.0 in |
U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 for Ketchum Rs Hcn (1 mi away), NOAA NCEI.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Blaine County has had 8 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for fires.
- 2022-09-05: Ross Fork Fire (Fire)
- 2020-04-09: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
- 2017-08-27: Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides (Flood)
- 2013-08-15: Beaver Creek Fire (Fire)
- 2007-08-28: Castle Rock Fire (Fire)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Sun Valley / Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 13 miles away.
- Sun Valley 2 mi east, about 3 min by car
- Hailey 12 mi south, about 20 min by car
- Bellevue 16 mi south, about 26 min by car
- Fairfield 32 mi southwest, about 51 min by car
- Carey 34 mi southeast, about 54 min by car
- Mackay 41 mi northeast, about 1 h by car
- Richfield 45 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Stanley 46 mi northwest, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Shoshone 52 mi south, about 1 h 30 min by car
- Gooding 54 mi south, about 1 h 30 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (Public domain): climate by month
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Bald-Mountain-Sun-Valley-Rd, Stephen Marks - (WT-en) StephenM at English Wikivoyage, Public domain
- Ketchum, Idaho-6916, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ketchum, Idaho-6888, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ketchum, Idaho-6891, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ketchum, Idaho street July 2024, Sharon Hahn Darlin, CC BY 2.0
- Ketchum, Idaho-6870, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ketchum, Idaho-6864, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ketchum, Idaho-6873, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ketchum, Idaho street scene July 2024, Sharon Hahn Darlin, CC BY 2.0
- Ketchum Sun Valley in winter, Chloé François from Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, CC BY 2.0
- Cold-Springs-Bridge, Andrew Dumke, CC BY-SA 3.0
- The chairlift at Ruud - Proctor Mountain in Sun Valley, Idaho USA (one of the first chairlifts ever), Kingmiwok, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fox (6218556271), Ben Christenson, CC BY 2.0
- Starbucks - panoramio (4), Oleg Moskalensky, CC BY 3.0
- Greenhow And Rumsey Store Building2 NRHP 83000280 Blaine County, ID, Jon Roanhaus, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Greenhow And Rumsey Store Building NRHP 83000280 Blaine County, ID, Jon Roanhaus, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sun Valley, Idaho Classic Chevy, Sharon Hahn Darlin, CC BY 2.0
- Bald Mountain, Idaho, Sam Beebe, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Sun Valley, Idaho 2024 - Old Pickup, Sharon Hahn Darlin, CC BY 2.0
- Bowling balls (8595594527), Tom Hentoff, CC BY 2.0
- Greetings from Sun Valley, Idaho - Large Letter Postcard (4237368938), Steve Shook from Moscow, Idaho, USA, CC BY 2.0
- University of Washington Ski Team, ca. 1930 (500109374), UW Digital Collections, No restrictions
- Warm Springs Run, Rickmouser45, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Maria Konnikova in 2013, Thomas Hawk, CC BY 2.0
- Ranchland On The Way To Sun Valley, Gord Schindell, CC BY 3.0
- Wikivoyage sun valley banner, Chloé François, CC BY 2.0
- ISS065-E-85959 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS040-E-46583 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS027-E-29639 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS029-E-39339 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS007-E-12428 - View of Idaho, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
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