Cougar Mountain Lodge

08/12/2026

🔥 WILDFIRE UPDATE – HIGHWAY 55, MILEPOST 81 🔥

A wildfire near Milepost 81 on Highway 55 is currently estimated at approximately 75 acres.

Multiple resources from the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) and U.S. Forest Service are on scene. IDL is currently the primary agency managing the fire and is working to order additional resources, including potentially some aircraft.

⚠️ Please use caution if traveling through the area. Fire crews and equipment are actively working along Highway 55 and Banks-Lowman Road toward Garden Valley. Drivers should slow down, remain alert, and give emergency personnel plenty of room to work.

Conditions can change quickly. We will share additional information as it becomes available.

08/09/2026

Well, it’s as official as it gets. ❤️

The legacy of Cougar Mountain Lodge is being passed on to another family, and with that, we are closing a very meaningful chapter of our lives.

After four generations of this iconic piece of Idaho history being woven into our family’s everyday lives, it will now become a treasured part of our history as well. We are officially hanging up our time here, and honestly, I don’t even know if there are words big enough to express what that means to us.

Cougar Mountain Lodge has been so much more than a lodge and restaurant. It has been a home, a gathering place, a livelihood, a challenge, an adventure, and the backdrop to countless memories that we will carry with us forever.

We have treasured almost every moment. 😉 There were certainly some hard days, long days, and moments that tested us, but when we look back, the good far outweighs the difficult. The memories, the laughter, the friendships, the stories, and the people we have met along the way will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

There are far too many people to thank individually. To our family, friends, employees who became family, customers, neighbors, travelers, and everyone who walked through our doors and supported us along the way — thank you. Thank you for believing in us, sharing your lives with us, celebrating with us, and allowing us to be a small part of yours.

For generations, our family has had the incredible privilege of being caretakers of this special place. We know we were never truly its owners — we were simply the ones lucky enough to hold its story for a while.

And now, it’s time for another family to write the next chapter.

Leaving is bittersweet, but we do so with full hearts and immense gratitude for the years we were given here.

Thank you, Cougar Mountain Lodge, for the memories.
Thank you, Idaho, for the history.
And thank you to every single person who helped make our years here so incredibly special.

The next chapter begins, but this one will always be a part of us. ❤️

With love and gratitude,
The Cougar Mountain Lodge Family

Patrick & Stacy Willis

06/21/2026

Happy Fathers Day to all the amazing Dads out there!
Dads love tools and antiques... we still have a lot of our antiques for sell, come in for a great burger and take a CML antique souvenir home for Dad.

06/04/2026

We are now open Thursdays and Mondays from 11am to 8pm. Also, we also will be open next week during the North Fork Championship.

05/15/2026

We are looking for kitchen staff. This is your opportunity to make the best burgers in Idaho.

05/09/2026

We have opened back up for the season!

Stop in to see us, grab one of our famous fresh ground burgers, cold beer or your favorite road trip snacks. For now we are open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 8 pm.

05/02/2026

We still have A LOT of antiques for sale as well, we realized we have way too many treasures and need to part with them so stop in after May 8th, or send us a message for information or to claim what you want before someone else gets it....

05/02/2026

Friday May 8th we are back! Stop in and say hi. The store and restaurant will be open. For May we will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 8pm.

05/01/2026

What is everyone's thoughts on this? Is it a good thing or is Valley County becoming to restrictive? Share what you think here, many of our elected officials follow our page.

A proposal to limit the size of single-family homes in Valley County fell flat this week with the Board of County Commissioners.  The proposal, brought by Planning and Zoning Director Cynda Herrick, would have established a square footage cap on single-family homes in a bid to limit impacts to neig...

05/01/2026

As a business Cougar Mountain Lodge tries to stay out of politics. I not only own the business but I also own the land. No one has asked me if they can place political signs on my property and according to state law they can not be inside the highway right of way (which in this section of hwy 55 extends 50 feet from the centerline of the highway).
Please do not put your signs on my property. Especially without asking first. So if you have a sign shown you can contact me and I will gladly give it back to you, or you can stop by and pick it up at your convenience, so you can place it somewhere else.
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