Pocatello, ID

Pocatello is the Bannock County seat and home of Idaho State University, with the Portneuf River running along the city’s western side. Its population was 56,320 in 2020. A small part of Pocatello extends onto the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Power County and contains the city’s airport. Shoshone and Bannock peoples lived in southeastern Idaho long before the Lewis and Clark expedition crossed the region in 1805. After the fur trade declined, Fort Hall became a supply point for Oregon Trail travelers, who passed through Portneuf Gap south of town. Idaho State evolved from a University of Idaho auxiliary campus and state college into Idaho’s second university in 1963. Since 1992, the city and Portneuf Greenway Foundation have developed a trail system along the river and across the surrounding valley.