Rexburg

Eastern Idaho college city with a strong Mormon character and a dramatic flood-scarred history.

Rexburg is a small city in eastern Idaho, sitting in the Upper Snake River Plain near the Teton Range. It is dominated by Brigham Young University-Idaho, a private university operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which gives the town a distinctly Mormon character and a young, clean-cut student population.

The city's most dramatic historical episode was the Teton Dam Flood of June 1976, when the newly built Teton Dam on the Teton River ruptured, sending a wall of water through northern Rexburg and submerging most of the city. The recovery was rapid, driven by community cooperation. The Teton Flood Museum, housed in the basement of the old Rexburg Tabernacle, documents the disaster and the history of the region.

Rexburg sits within easy reach of some exceptional scenery. Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park are both within a couple of hours' drive. The Teton Scenic Byway passes through here on its way south toward Driggs and the Wyoming border.

Guide

Day Trips

Rexburg's greatest asset is its location. Yellowstone National Park is roughly 90 miles to the northeast — about an hour and a half's drive via US-20 through West Yellowstone, Montana. Grand Teton National Park is about an hour to the southeast via the Teton Scenic Byway (Highway 33), passing through Driggs and Victor in the Teton Valley. Both parks are genuinely world-class, and Rexburg is a practical and affordable base for visiting either.

The Teton Scenic Byway itself is worth driving for its own sake — the views of the Teton Range from the Idaho side are less visited and, some would argue, more dramatic than those from the Wyoming side. Island Park, to the north on US-20, is a good stop for trout fishing and has access to the western reaches of the Yellowstone ecosystem. If you are spending more than a night in the area, a day at Grand Teton and a day at Yellowstone is the obvious plan — Rexburg puts you in reasonable striking distance of both.

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Getting There

Rexburg has its own small airport — Rexburg-Madison County Airport — but scheduled commercial service is limited. Most visitors fly into Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA), about 30 miles to the south, which has connections to Salt Lake City, Denver, and Seattle. From Idaho Falls, Rexburg is a straightforward 30-minute drive north on US-20.

By road, Rexburg sits on US-20, the main corridor between Idaho Falls and West Yellowstone, Montana. If you are driving from Salt Lake City, the journey is around four hours north via I-15 and US-20. From Boise, it's roughly four and a half hours east across southern Idaho. There is no passenger rail service. Greyhound and regional bus connections exist but are infrequent — a car is the practical choice for this part of Idaho, especially if you intend to continue to Yellowstone or Grand Teton.

Guide

Things to Do

Rexburg is a small, orderly LDS college town with a dramatic flood history and a location that puts two of America's great national parks within easy reach. Most visitors pass through on the way to Yellowstone or Grand Teton, but if you spend a few hours here you'll find a quietly interesting place — a community shaped by faith, by catastrophe, and by the rhythms of student life.

The town centre is compact and walkable. The BYU-Idaho campus, the Rexburg Idaho Temple, and the Teton Flood Museum are all within a short distance of each other. There is no nightlife to speak of — this is a dry town — but the scenery surrounding it is spectacular, and the sense of community here is genuine and unhurried.