Ketchum, Mountain resort city in Blaine County, Idaho, US.
Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, nestled in the Wood River Valley between forested slopes and peaks. Wooden houses and low buildings line the streets, while trails lead to riverbanks and mountain paths.
Miners founded the settlement in 1880 when silver discoveries drew workers into the valleys. Later, herders shipped more sheep from here than anywhere else in the West before the area turned to winter sports.
The town takes its name from David Ketchum, who operated a farm here and whose meadows guided the earliest routes through the valley. The writer rests in a simple grave at the cemetery, which visitors find beneath cottonwoods and pines.
The area sits about 15 miles north of Hailey, where a regional airport offers regular connections. Hiking trails start just behind the houses and lead into open valleys or higher into the forests.
The community belongs to a small number of officially protected night sky areas worldwide, so street lamps are dimmed and stars shine brightly above the ridges. On clear evenings, the Milky Way appears as a broad band above the valley.
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