In 1879 a tall, wiry prospector named David Ketchum built a small shelter
along the Trail Creek to use as his base of operations in the area. He didn’t stay long. By 1880, when mining operations began to be permanently established, Ketchum was long gone, rumored to be in Arizona, or perhaps dead in a saloon standoff.

The new town called itself Leadville but the United States Post Office turned
down the name because Leadvilles were as common in the West as dashed dreams
by that time. The settlers decided to name their town after pioneering David
Ketchum, whose rudimentary shelter still stood down by Trail Creek.

For more than a decade Ketchum boomed but the collapse of the silver market
in 1894 opened a gash in the town’s economy that drained 90 percent of its
population. The town recovered some with an infusion of sheep ranching but by
the 1930s there were fewer than 300 people living in Ketchum.

In 1935 Austrian Count Felix Schaffgotsch was hired by Union Pacific Railroad
Chairman W. Averell Harriman to scout the American West for the best site to build a
destination ski resort like the tony resorts in the European Alps. Schaffgotsch
scoured the mountain regions of the West and rejected such places as Aspen,
Jackson Hole and Yosemite. He was prepared to return to New York and report his
failure when a railroad representative from Idaho asked him to check out Ketchum.
Within three days, the Count wired Harriman: “Among the many attractive spots I
have visited, this combines more delightful features of any place I have seen in the
United States, Switzerland, or Austria for a winter sports resort.” Eleven months later
Sun Valley Resort opened to international acclaim and Ketchum’s future viability was
assured.

Ketchum features over 40 miles of dog-friendly trails located within a 5-mile
radius of town. The marquee walk is the 5-mile Bald Mountain Trail, at the end of
3d Avenue at River Run Plaza on the edge of town. The trail crosses numerous ski
trails up 3400 feet to an elevation above the tree line at 9151 feet. Not only can you
hike with your dog on the Bald Mountain Trail, but halfway up the mountain,
in a glade of giant fir trees, is a drinking fountain with a perpetually-filled dog
drinking bowl built right into the trail. About the only place dogs are not allowed is
on the ski lifts.

Other trails around Ketchum include hikes along Corral Creek in the Sun Valley
resort and additional alpine walks north of town on Highway 75 at Fox Creek and
Adams Gulch. These dirt and grass trails are afire with wildflowers through the
summer months.

Further up Highway 75, just seven miles from Ketchum is the Sawtooth
National Recreation Area, with 756,000 acres of public land. A highlight in the
Sawtooths, with more than 40 peaks higher than 10,000 feet, are more than 300
high mountain lakes. Several of the lakes, including Baker Lake and the Norton
Lakes are within two miles of a trailhead.

The Harriman Trail is a 31-kilometer corridor in three segments that is open to
hiking, biking and cross-country-skiing that starts at the Sawtooth headquarters.
The trail climaxes in Galena, overlooking the headwaters of the Salmon River.

Ernest Hemingway spent his final years in Ketchum and he is remembered with
a memorial on a shaded bank of Trail Creek in Sun Valley. Nearby, in the Ketchum
Cemetery on the northern edge of town on Route 75, is Hemingway’s unadorned
grave. Guarded by a sentry of trees, the marker is flush with the ground and offers
no more than a name and dates for the life of America’s most celebrated writer of
the 20th century. Hemingway’s four dogs - Black, Negrita, Neron, and Linda - are
buried in a neat patio at his home in Cuba.

Ketchum is north of I-80 on Highway 75. The Visitor Center on Main Street
(Highway 75) features abundant material on the various hiking options in the area.

copyright 2006

Doug Gelbert

I am the author of over 20 books, including 8 on hiking with your dog and the widely praised The Canine Hiker’s Bible. As publisher of Cruden Bay Books, we produce the innovative A Bark In The Park series of canine hiking books found at http://www.hikewithyourdog.com Articles in the Doggin’ America series of dog-friendly parks can be found at http://www.DogginAmerica.com

During the warm months I lead canine hike tours, guiding packs of dogs and humans on hiking adventures. Tours, ranging from one-day trips to multi-day explorations, visit parks, historical sites and beaches. My lead dog is Katie, a
German Shepherd - Border Collie mix, who has hiked in all of the Lower 48 states and is on a quest to swim in all the great waters of North America!

Click here to see Katie! ==>http://www.hikewithyourdog.com/NewKatiesQuest.html