Long Valley and Payette Lake: Landlording in Valley County, Idaho
Valley County is many things at once: an agricultural ranching valley, a four-season mountain resort community, a retirement and second-home destination, and one of the most beautiful places in Idaho. Established in 1917 and named for the Long Valley of the North Fork of the Payette River, it covers 3,733 square miles of alpine terrain between Boise County to the south and Adams County to the north. State Highway 55 — designated the Payette River Scenic Byway — is the primary transportation corridor, following the North Fork of the Payette River through spectacular basalt canyon country before climbing into the Long Valley. Idaho Code §§ 6-301 et seq. governs all residential tenancies throughout the county.
McCall: Idaho’s Mountain Resort Town
McCall sits at 5,021 feet on the southern shore of Payette Lake, one of Idaho’s most beloved mountain lakes. Tourism began here as early as the 1890s, when Boise residents discovered that the lake and surrounding mountains offered spectacular summer escapes. The arrival of the Oregon Short Line Railroad in 1914 cemented McCall as a viable resort destination. In 1938, the area was selected as a filming location for the Academy Award-nominated Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy — Idaho’s forests standing in for colonial New England. The McCall smokejumper base, one of only nine permanent smokejumper bases in the United States, opened in 1943 and remains active today, training wildland firefighters who parachute into remote blazes across the West.
The McCall Winter Carnival — rooted in a Payette Lake Sports Carnival first held in the 1920s — has grown into one of Idaho’s signature annual events, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each February for elaborate ice sculptures, torchlight parades, outhouse races, and winter outdoor activities. Brundage Mountain Resort, just north of McCall, offers skiing and snowboarding in winter and lift-served mountain biking in summer. Tamarack Resort, southwest of Cascade on Lake Cascade, provides additional ski terrain and a championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II. Together, the two resorts anchor a genuine four-season recreation economy.
Idaho’s Oldest County by Median Age
Valley County’s median age of 49.5 years is Idaho’s highest — nearly a decade older than the statewide median. This reflects decades of in-migration by retirees and second-home buyers from Boise and other Idaho cities, drawn by the natural beauty, recreational access, and comparably lower real estate costs relative to Sun Valley or coastal resort markets. The result is a community with a distinctive demographic character: well-educated, recreationally active, relatively affluent, and increasingly older. For landlords, this demographic translates to a tenant pool that skews toward stable income sources — retirement income, remote work, and professional employment in resort or healthcare sectors — but also to a housing market where long-term rentals compete with a growing short-term vacation rental sector for limited housing stock.
The Stibnite Gold Project and Valley County’s Mining Future
The Stibnite Mining District near Yellow Pine was critical to the United States’ WWII effort, producing antimony and tungsten essential for military manufacturing. Today, Perpetua Resources is pursuing the Stibnite Gold Project — a proposed open-pit gold, silver, and antimony mine on approximately 10,000 acres within the Payette National Forest — under federal environmental review. If permitted, the project would represent a significant new employment base for Valley County, with potential to bring hundreds of mining and support jobs to a county whose economy is currently dominated by seasonal tourism. The project’s permitting status and ultimate disposition will be worth monitoring for any Valley County landlord planning long-term investment.
Filing Evictions in Cascade
The Valley County District Court is located in Cascade, the county seat, at (208) 382-7100. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Idaho’s 3-day notice period for nonpayment applies uniformly throughout the county. In a resort community like McCall where seasonal turnover is high and housing stock is limited, written leases with clear terms, move-in condition checklists photographically documented, and formal notice service procedures give landlords the strongest possible position when enforcement becomes necessary.
Valley County landlord-tenant matters governed by Idaho Code §§ 6-301 et seq. (evictions), §§ 6-320 and 6-321 (security deposits), and §§ 55-208 and 55-307 (tenancy and notice). Nonpayment: 3-day pay or vacate. Lease violation: 3-day perform or quit. No-cause termination (month-to-month): 30-day written notice. Security deposit: no cap; return within 21 days (up to 30 if lease specifies); 3x penalty for improper handling. No rent control (Idaho Code § 55-304). No local landlord-tenant ordinances. Eviction: Unlawful Detainer at Valley County District Court (4th Judicial District), Cascade, ID 83611; (208) 382-7100; Mon–Fri 8am–5pm. 72-hour post-judgment vacate; Writ of Possession if tenant remains. Consult a licensed Idaho attorney before taking legal action. Last updated: May 2026.
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