Untitled Document

Scenic Byways to be featured on IPTV's Outdoor Idaho

Idaho’s rugged vistas and scenic beauty have generated international renown. Just as striking, though, is the web of highways that provide access to those recreational and tourist destinations and Idaho's unique geographic and cultural amenities.

The 30 designated scenic byways, representing 2,416 total miles in regions from Priest River to Preston, will be featured on Idaho Public Television's Outdoor Idaho this month. The one-hour documentary, produced by IPTV’s John Crancer, is part of the “Idaho at 150” observance, marking creation of the Idaho Territory 150 years ago.

Idaho Scenic Byways will air Sunday (March 10) at 7 p.m. MDT on public television’s primary channel. It will repeat on Thursday (March 14) and again the following day (March 15). The latter airing will be on IPTV’s second channel.

ITD provided about one-third ($45,000) of the production costs through a federal Scenic Byways Program grant, and joined the Idaho Department of Commerce in helping IPTV complete the project.

About six IPTV videographers worked the past two seasons on the project, Crancer said. He and a team of four other producers spent 8-10 weeks converting the videos into the final product. Twenty-five-year Outdoor Idaho veteran Bruce Reichert narrates the program.

“In Idaho, a drive can be an adventure, a journey to places of beauty, history and inspiration,” Crancer explains. “It can be a remote trek along a dusty desert pathway or a leisurely spin on pavement bordered by striking mountain vistas.”

"Along the way, people who know these routes talk about the special character of individual byways. Pend Oreille Scenic Byway committee members tour the route in a classic 1938 Chevrolet. Bicyclists near the Wyoming border find their path lies along the Teton Scenic Byway. One group travels the Sawtooth Scenic Byway in a recreational vehicle."

ITD’s scenic byways coordinator John Krause provides a brief history of the byways as part of the video. It also includes short interviews with local byway authorities and features historic vignettes and stunning views found along Idaho’s scenic byways.

The Outdoor Idaho video groups the byways into three regions – western and central, northern, and eastern.

“Lead producer John Cancer, along with other producers and videographers, have been gathering the stories of these routes,” according to an IPTV program announcement.

“A local resident in each area acts as a tour guide as cameras chronicle the history, scenery, recreation, agriculture or other industry, and other points of interest. Segments under way include the Sawtooth, Teton, main Oregon Trail and St. Joe scenic byways.”

The Idaho Department of Commerce published a three-minute promotional version of the program on the visitIdaho.org Facebook Site and on You Tube this week. In the first 24 hours it was available, nearly 7,500 viewers watched the video. Click here to see the segment, including an interview with Krause.