Located on the extreme eastern border of
Idaho, Driggs lies in between the
Big Hole Mountains and the
Tetons -
Jackson Hole, Wyoming is just on the other side over
Teton Pass. Driggs (
zip code 83422) is the
county seat for
Teton County. Boasting a little over 2,000 people at last count, this
Mormon society's main produce is
potatoes, at least in the warmer months before winter brings bitter cold and snow and prevents growing the
tubers. Before winter there is a massive harvest, and all the Mormon schoolchildren are given two weeks off to assist with it. The potatoes grown here are used for eating (
Russet Burbanks), and many
seed potatoes are shipped to the
Pacific Northwest of the
United States to be cut - one eye per piece - for planting.
The most popular attraction in the town is undoubtedly the
Spud Drive-In, a drive-in movie theatre located two miles south of the centre of town that has been operating since 1953. Recognisable by a giant concrete potato on a
rusting flatbed truck out front, the theatre received it's first noise complaint last year - a result of houses moving further out as more people relocate to Driggs. Driggs is gaining a kind of popularity - not for potatoes and
drive-in theatres, but for
outdoor enthusiasts keen to take advantage of the opportunities available on and around the mountains that surround the towm.
Ballooning,
fishing,
golfing (once a 780
acre golf resort near town is finished)
hunting,
mountain biking,
mountain climbing,
paragliding,
skiing,
snowmobiling, and even skateboarding on newly laid mountain roads are all popular, with the leisure seeking '
move-ins' threatening the local way of life which has prevailed for over a hundred years. Some very rich people are buying land near Driggs -
August Busch III of American brewing giant
Anheuser-Busch and
Paul Allen from
Microsoft to name just two.
Harrison Ford parks his planes at the small town airport. The locals are not too worried however; "Come enjoy it," says a native Driggs resident, "But don't push us out."
Facts and information from National Geographic