Donnelly, ID

Donnelly is a Valley County city with 249 people at the 2020 census, set in Long Valley on the northeast shore of Lake Cascade. McCall is 13 miles north and Cascade 16 miles south along Idaho Highway 55; Tamarack Resort sits across the reservoir to the southwest. The city was incorporated in 1914 and named for Patrick Donnelly, a prominent railroad man.

The railroad changed the valley's center of gravity. Donnelly grew after a depot opened on the Idaho Northern line between Emmett and McCall, and buildings from Roseberry were moved into the new town by steam tractors and horse teams. Some of those original structures still stand along Main Street. Today, Highway 55 runs through the center, while the lake, city park, and Tamarack connection give Donnelly a recreation-oriented map. The city is also the headquarters of the Donnelly Show Ski Team, established in 2008, and students are part of the McCall-Donnelly School District. Donnelly is a rail-born town that now sits between an old valley settlement and a large reservoir.