Where is Sun Valley Resort?
Sun Valley Resort is in central Idaho, approximately 155 miles (2.5 hours) east of Boise.
Sun Valley has two ski hills: Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain (beginner area). The main base area of Bald Mountain (River Run) is 1 mile south of downtown Ketchum. Dollar Mountain (the beginners’ area) is also part of “Sun Valley” which is on the other side of Ketchum.
Flights
There are a couple of options for flying to Sun Valley. You can look at
flight routes here.
Hailey Airport
The Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) in Hailey is only 14 miles from Sun Valley and is serviced by Alaska Airlines and Skywest from Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver and Salt Lake City. (It can be hard for travelers to keep heading onto Sun Valley when there are so many great ski resorts to choose from near SLC and Denver!) A huge pro for flying into Hailey is the minimal travel time from the airport, and those staying in Sun Valley Resort lodging can hop on a complimentary shuttle. Potential cons are that it’s a small airport with limited flight choices, flights are expensive, and the cloud cover with a low ceiling can readily divert flights (to Twin Falls).
Boise Airport
Most people fly into the Boise International Airport, which receives flights from various western US cities as well as Minneapolis and Chicago (expensive flights). From Boise Airport you can get a rental car, get a private transfer, or there are once a day scheduled shuttles with Sun Valley Express.
Driving
Driving to Sun Valley is really easy considering that there are no mountain passes or steep roads. As always during big storms, check for road closures. Occasionally the Highway 20 between Boise and Sun Valley closes but you can just take a wider route. If coming from the east (e.g the Wyoming ski resorts), the Highway 26 past the Craters of the Moon can be closed.
Getting Around Sun Valley
The free bus system is very well developed, in part because most of the lodging is not within easy walking distance of the slopes.
There are buses to both base areas of Bald Mountain (River Run and Warm Springs) and Dollar Mountain, around the town of Ketchum, and the Sun Valley Resort Village. For the latter, buses go every 15 minutes to/from the River Run base of the ski area, and there is ski/snowboard storage at the base of River Run if you don’t want to have to cart this on the bus.
In the evenings there is a town bus that heads around Ketchum (we found it wasn’t very reliable). Guests of the Sun Valley Inn and Sun Valley Lodge may find it easiest to use the on-demand driver service if you want to go out for dinner in Ketchum.
Other Ski Resorts Nearby
If you’re on a big road trip, you could combine Sun Valley with
Grand Targhee, which is 4 hours to the east, and
Jackson Hole, a further 50 minutes east.
Most of the other Idaho ski resorts are not particularly close to Sun Valley, although Soldier Mountain is about 1.5 hours drive away and Magic Mountain about 1:45 hours away.