There are 3 barns, a new garden shed/chicken house and a garage and 2-bedroom guest facility. Much of the land can be grazed. An area of flat, fertile ground that offers crop potential is now planted in pheasant cover, to provide a protected corridor from National Park land, along a vegetated ditch to the sheltered cottonwood bottom along the creek.

Other things to treasure at Sweet Spot Ranch: The creek music and, away from that, deep quiet that makes your ears ring; a night sky brilliant with stars (there really is a Milky Way); wildflowers to treat your eyes at every step; and an unbelievable array of wildlife. The rugged beauty of this canyon rangeland takes over your senses.

The breathtaking views have a big impact on us. You'll see and hear a lot about them on these pages. There are the mountains and canyons, of course, but our views often contain interesting life, too; for example, from our living room windows you can see elk up the canyon almost any winter day. The open slopes across the creek reveal deer, elk, coyotes and cowboys working cattle.

The cut across the road shows evidence of the lake that used to cover the whole valley. During some past geologic era, 150 feet of water covered White Bird. The layers on the face of the cut are annual deposits of silt, which contain many leaf fossils. The hill formed by those deposits is Lower Cemetery Knoll. The Nez Perce tended to bury their dead at prominent places.

There are three ski areas within an hour of White Bird. In addition, Tamarack Resort ("the next Sun Valley"), at Donnelly, is less than two hours away. It is an easy drive to three golf courses. And it's only 17 miles by road to the Snake River and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. We are just minutes from millions of acres of national forest, wilderness areas and other public lands.