Cottonwood, ID

Cottonwood sits on Idaho’s Camas Prairie, just west of U.S. 95 between Grangeville and Lewiston. It began in 1862 as a chain of way stations for prospectors and mining suppliers headed toward Florence and Warrens, and its name comes from the trees that once lined Cottonwood Creek. The town’s signature landmark is Dog Bark Park, the giant beagle-shaped building created by chainsaw artists Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin. Their carved dogs and oversized beagle make this stretch of north-central Idaho easy to pick out from the highway. Cottonwood remains a small prairie town, but the old trail-stop story and the giant dog give it a hook you won’t confuse with anywhere else.