Old Idaho Penitentiary

Old Idaho Penitentiary

Old Idaho Penitentiary
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
In 1872 the Idaho Territorial Prison opened its doors to some of the most desperate and mean criminals the West could offer. In 1973 the Idaho State Penitentiary closed to inmates. Now our doors are open for visitors to explore over 100 years of Idaho's unique prison history. Open year-round, visitors of the Old Idaho Penitentiary can walk through solitary confinement, cell blocks, and the gallows. Visit today and relive the Old Pen's exciting past of daring escapes, scandals, and executions. Call for more details about special events, educational programs and guided tours.
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See what travelers are saying

  • TedRecupero
    Kanosh, Utah278 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great place to visit, wouldn't want to live there.
    Interesting to say the least. There's history here. The buildings are probably the best indication on how society handled felons through the years. I'm not preaching here, but the facility wasn't near as nice as modern penal institutions. Unlike some places, the tour guides are not former guards or inmates, so you don't get those perspectives. The guide still did a good job. We spent almost 5 hours there.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 7, 2024
  • Nav1go
    Virginia1,115 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Better than hoped!
    What a great place to spend an hour or two. We took the 1030 am tour today with Leslee who was a fantastic guide; it is very clear that she has done a lot of independent research and that makes for the best guides. The property is an interesting contrast of purpose with beauty; the old buildings are photogenic and surrounded by green grass and roses yet there is a clear feel of captivity. Do not visit if you are sensitive to the death penalty or executions as there was death here.
    Visited July 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 6, 2024
  • Kara M
    New York City, New York162 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    What an experience!
    Having only seen Alcatraz, this was an eye opening experience. It felt so real since the penitentiary only closed a few decades ago. Death penalties were carried out by gallows in some cases and we saw the room where they happened - whoa……. Circumstances were such that we were fortunate enough to have a private, guided tour with docent Leslie. She was awesome!! We had a billion questions and she answered all of them, she took us into all sorts of interesting spaces in the penitentiary and we enjoyed learning so much from her. Even a self-guided tour would have been great at this place. The signage is excellent and it’s fun to wander about.
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written August 4, 2024
  • OrionB13
    Challis, Idaho20 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Couples visit
    Very informative, plenty of stories and being able to interact with the physical location (able to go into some of the cells) was educational. The roses were awesome and well taken care of. Love that it’s not far from other attractions. The gun collection was great!
    Visited September 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written September 16, 2024
  • KCJ44
    443 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A glimpse of the past at a Old State Penitentiary
    My husband and I visited on Saturday October 12th. We took a tour of the penitentiary and our guide Eric, was amazing! We learned so much from him and especially enjoyed his stories about some of the prisoners that were there. They even had a resident cat named Dennis. There is parking near the entrance but not a lot so you can park down below by the trails and walk up to the entrance. There is a fee but it’s worth it. All the employees we encountered were polite and friendly.
    Visited October 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 19, 2024
  • ESVoogd
    Oegstgeest, The Netherlands69 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    The Prison's OK but the Weapons Museum is top notch
    The penitentiary is certainly very interesting but if you have ANY interest in military history and weaponry, the Weapons Museum in the back of the compound is A1 fantastic. Not large but showcasing all the legendary military firearms from the Revolutionary War to the almost-present. Brown Bess, Spencer Repeater, MG42...they're all there. We did the self guided for the rest of the prison which was perfectly fine. But I can see where having a guide to add a little flavor and background would make it better.
    Visited November 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written November 6, 2024
  • Crazycruiser59
    Middleton, Idaho325 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing history
    We had family visiting from California. It was the day before Thanksgiving and it was cold. It was not crowded at all. Our tour guide, Abby, was excellent! She told several stories of the residents. It was very interesting. Abby also was cognizant of our grandson and made sure we were okay as some subjects mentioned death. Walking through the buildings was an experience! There also had a wonderful military museum. I highly recommend this place. Please note the guided tour was $2 additional. Well worth it!
    Visited November 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written November 27, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles1,032 reviews
Excellent
612
Very good
362
Average
52
Poor
5
Terrible
1

Tasha A
24 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023
Paid our $6 apiece and got a map from the knowledgeable docent at the front desk. Did a self-guided tour of all the grounds and buildings that were open to the public (some are under renovation and not available to explore). Interesting details of the most infamous inmates are told on black and white storyboards. Exhibits of actual weapons made by prisoners, their cells, and the guard stations. Toured the execution by hanging room and the drop room below.
Gray, rainy day reflected the depressing atmosphere the prison must have exuded while it was an active penitentiary.
Definitely worth the entry price.
Written August 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cheryl B
Denver, CO131 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022 • Couples
This prison operated for approximately 100 years from the 1870s to 1970s. This museum is well worth a stop and the guided tour is well worth the additional two dollars. There are cells available to tour from various eras as well as the grounds and other buildings with interpretive exhibits. We easily spent 2-3 hours here despite the fact it was raining.
Written June 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarah T
6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022 • Family
Well worth a couple hours of your time. Pay the extra $2 for the guided tour. It is a very interesting, beautiful, yet sad place. Our guide (I wish I could remember his name) was very informative and had some very interesting stories about the prison. Seeing the execution room and “Siberia” was a strange feeling. The weapons exhibit was very cool. Our 13 year old enjoyed the whole visit, the 10 year old got hot and tired about half way through.
Written June 29, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sally S
Fort Littleton, PA145 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Friends
It’s unheated and I’m a very cold person so we tried our best to move from building to building without letting the cold effect the experience. We did warm up in the weapons museum that comes with the price of your admission. The weapons museum was small but interesting and warm. Two of the buildings the cafeteria and the oldest jail block are just ruins due a fire. The other buildings are interesting, sad, and a little disturbing. Lots of stories (biographies) about criminals throughout. Don’t skip Siberia or the women’s ward both were interesting. We didn’t buy anything at small gift shop. Benches in the “theater” area were uncomfortable but is it heated along with the gift shop. Door in and out of jail gets stuck when it’s really cold. If you bang on it for them to come let you out they look a little annoyed. For the money, it’s a diverting couple of hours but nothing I’d write home about.
Written December 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kerry C
sandy, utah1,897 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023
This was my favorite stop of the five days I've been in Boise while my husband was in a training. I took the 1 hr guided tour, an additional $2.00 (I got a combo ticket with the botanical gardens and the guide talked for 90 min. I spent 3 hours total at the penitentiary. It also has a very interesting weapons museum.
Written June 8, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kedalion1
Sheboygan, WI211 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2020
Forgive for the terrible pun. I've travelled all over the US, and when you do, you start to see a repeating pattern of the same things in each town. The Penitentiary was an incredibly unique experience... felt like walking around Shawshank Prison. The prison grounds were beautiful in their austere, orderly sort of way. Even the ruins looked cool. The cell block buildings and solitary confinement helped tell the story of these men - some of whom made dumb mistakes, some of whom were truly wicked, and some of whom paid the ultimate price to be "square with the house again," to borrow the phrase from Green Mile. There was another sub-museum in the Penitentiary as a bonus - I don't know precisely why it was there, but it was a ton of weapons and other martial curiosities that helped break up the prison tour and keep you from misery overload. Neat place!
Written June 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Gracelynne
Thompson Falls, MT15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Couples
Fascinating. Took the 1 hour guided tour which hit the main areas. Guide told about history of the place and added interesting stories about some of the prisoners. After the tour we spent more time wandering the grounds ending in the weapons museum…which was worth seeing.
Written July 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Susan H
Tacoma, WA4,171 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021 • Couples
This site was very interesting and worth the time and drive to visit. Very well preserved with great signage and many stories of the men and women who were incarcerated here up until the early 70s. Off season hours are different than summer. The site said they opened at 10 but in fact off season is noon.
Written October 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JBentraveler
Fort Walton Beach, FL808 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Couples
The Old Pen is showing it's age, but full of history. The place has deteriorated quite a bit, but you definitely get a feel of how prisoners lived. The story boards were the best part of the. tour. Understanding that teenagers were sent to a penitentiary with grown men back in the late 1800's must have been something.
The cells with 2- 4 men in them were quite small. The disciplinary cell of 4x4x4 is no bigger than a dog house. These were some tough prisoners.
Written August 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

harryatkck
Kansas City, KS982 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
This old penitentiary is well preserved. The exhibits give you an excellent idea of what life was like for the prisoners. There is also a weapons museum here that has a wide variety of weapons from around the world. I paid the senior admission rate of $4 & it was well worth it.
Written August 27, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Old Idaho Penitentiary - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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