New Meadows sits in Historic Meadows Valley, a small valley in the mountains of Central Idaho remembered for a time when logging and ranching shaped daily life. Payette Lake, a glacial lake formed when the Payette River passed through the remains of a volcanic crater, was first inhabited along its shores by Native Americans, and later drew miners, loggers, and merchants. The Idaho Historical Museum occupies a four-acre site listed on the National Register of Historic Places for unique log structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 and includes local history exhibits and a 32-ton Corliss Steam Engine. The Hembrey Creek Wetlands provide natural nesting habitat for migratory birds, raptors, and waterfowl. Rainbow Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its engineering design, was built in 1933 as an open-spandrel concrete bridge whose arches span 410 feet across the North Fork of the Payette. Along the Farm-to-Market-Road lies the turn-of-the-century town site of Roseberry, with the Long Valley Museum and the Finnish Church and Cemetery. Smith’s Ferry dates to 1887, when a network of roads connected central Idaho communities, and the ferry was important in moving livestock north to summer pastures in Round and Long Valleys. At the north end of Horseshoe Bend, northbound travelers first see the Payette River, and for the next 25 miles the highway follows the river past views of white water along the Main and North Fork Payette Rivers.