Boise: sand dunes in the heart of Idaho

Idaho's capital along a green river flowing through the desert, Boise is home to the largest Basque community outside the Basque Country itself.

The centre is easily explored on foot, close to the sand dunes that surprise in Idaho's heart.

The Basque Block, a historic district downtown, celebrates the Basque community that arrived in Idaho as shepherds in the late nineteenth century, today the largest outside the Basque Countries of origin.

Just steps away, the Idaho Capitol, the only state capitol uniquely geothermally heated, takes advantage of natural hot springs beneath the city.

Continuing along the river one walks on the Boise River Greenbelt, over thirty kilometers of green paths that traverse the entire city, popular among cyclists and runners.

For those with more time, the Bruneau Dunes, about an hour from Boise, preserve the tallest single sand dunes in North America.

Boise has been using a municipal geothermal heating system active since 1892, among the oldest still-functioning in the world, which heats public and private buildings with hot water naturally sourced from below ground.

The Bruneau Dunes reach nearly one hundred twenty meters in height from their base, formed thanks to a particular geological basin that traps sand carried by wind rather than dispersing it.