If you've never been to the Sawtooth Mountains NRA (National Recreation Area) before, you're really…read moremissing out. It's the best "non-National Park" in the continental 48, and in an ideal world would long ago have been elevated to gold-standard, national park status like Yellowstone or Yosemite.
Except ... then things would change, and perhaps not for the better.
Until that happens, you can continue to enjoy tried-and-true local establishments like the MVR, which is the closest thing to a one-stop shop you'll find in this remotely beautiful part of a state that abounds in remote beauty - especially the Salmon River watershed (aka the "River of No Return"). While I tend to frequent the local campgrounds in better weather in summer and fall, MVR excels at offering clean, affordable rooms with all the necessary amenities: comfortable beds, fluffy towels, working bathrooms, card-reader locking doors, desks, drawers, lighting, the works. A recent renovation to the rooms is - according to repeat visitors I met - a major upgrade in terms of quality, service, and overall value.
Sure, these things may strike you as obvious when in the suburbs or the big city, but out here, with millions of acres of national forests and wilderness areas at your doorstep, simply maintaining a semblance of "civilization" 12 months out of the year is ... well, a serious challenge.
And truth be told, once you're here, you don't want to hang out in your room; you want to get out and explore the surroundings, and when you return - tired and weary from all that open space - you appreciate a warm shower, a soft pillow, and a heater that works to keep you from freezing in the dark hours of the night.
Oh, and then there is the amenity that 5-star hotels in the city can't touch: an octagonal hot springs soaking pool on the premises that allows you to dip (briefly) into the clear waters of the Salmon River before rushing back into the warm waters for another round of hot springs therapy. Book ahead of time at the front desk when you check in. There are changing rooms at the soaking cabin, so all you need is a suit and towel and you're good to go.
Internet access, available for free at the bar and restaurant, gives you a chance to reconnect with the wider world (if you really want to), and if you like local craft beer, you'll be happy at the bar, which draws a mix of locals, tourists, and random road travelers in roughly equal numbers, depending on the time of year.
On a recent early June visit to the area, with rain and low 30 degree weather complicating our camping plans, the MVR front desk staff really came through with a clean room, an hour-long hot springs soaking session, a complimentary pint of draft beer, and some needed Internet access to alert friends in Montana of our arrival the next day. All for under $100, which in the grand economic scheme of things, is a pretty fair deal, indeed. Thanks for being there when we needed you! First-class hospitality can come sometimes when (and where) you least expect it, and that was very much the case with MVR.
