Grangeville Idaho Visitors Center
Come and explore the Grangeville Visitor Center and the wonderful people you will meet there.
We’re located in Eimers Park at the Junction of Highway 95 North and North Pine – Grangeville, Idaho
Seasonal Hours:
Summer Schedule from April - August
9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday thru Saturday
The visitor center is manned by volunteers there are times we may not a volunteer available to open. We apologize if you stop at the center and no one is there. There are maps and brochures in the rack at the front door. Thank you for your understanding.
Winter Schedule beginning Sept. 1st
10.00 am to 2.00 pm Monday and Wednesday
About Our Visitors Center
The Visitor Center is managed and staffed by volunteers out of our Grangeville community. All volunteers are locals who are there to answer questions about the area.
Informational books, brochures and maps are available. Free crayons and coloring sheets are available to children who visit the center. Mementos of your trip to beautiful Idaho are available for sale.
Relax in the friendly atmosphere of the Center, view the handcrafted art displays of some of the well-known artist of the area, i.e.: Wood Carving by Angus Kennedy, Rawhide Braiding of Horace Henderson, Ray Holes Leather Art, and the Silver Engraving of C.H. “Bill” Ketcham.
Featuring Grangeville’s Mammoth Replica Display
View an actual mammoth humerus bone on display, which was discovered and excavated from nearby Tolo Lake in September 1994. Then you may wish to stroll down the path to view a complete life-sized mammoth skeleton. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy Eimers-Soltman Park; potable water is available outside and clean restrooms are available inside the Center during regular visiting hours.
On September 2, 1994, Rich Gribble & Gerald Smith, discovered large bones buried in the mud of Tolo Lake, which had been drained to deepen it for better wildlife habitat. After calls to local experts and archaeologists, the area became a hot spot that fall and the next summer for both professional and volunteer diggers.…. Mammoths are close relatives to the modern Asian elephant, but only distantly related to the African elephant. To date, the only species positively identified at Tolo Lake is the huge Columbian mammoth, typical of ancient cool to subtropical environments in North America. Tolo Lake has been a gathering spot for animals for many thousands of years, and for mankind at least 11,000 years.
In all, according to the Mammoth Replica Committee, remains of more than 200 Colombian Mammoths, which became extinct 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, were discovered. It is believed these prehistoric mammals may have come to the lake area to die.
Tolo Lake was refilled in 1996 and planted with fish. Today, it is a popular area fishing hole.
It was a part of the Nez Perce home territory. Their name for the lake was Te-Pal-e-wam. After the Indian wars of 1877 the lake was renamed to honor a courageous Nez Perce woman, Tolo. With bravery she helped the settlers who had become her friends.
As a way to commemorate the find Grangeville’s Chamber of Commerce took over the project, the Mammoth replica Committee began fund-raising efforts shortly after the discovery of the remains. Eimers Park, next to the Grangeville chamber of commerce, on Highway 95, was chosen for the site for the exhibit.
Come and explore the Grangeville Visitor Center and the wonderful people you will meet there.
We’re located in Eimers Park at the Junction of Highway 95 North and North Pine – Grangeville, Idaho
Seasonal Hours:
Summer Schedule from April - August
9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday thru Saturday
The visitor center is manned by volunteers there are times we may not a volunteer available to open. We apologize if you stop at the center and no one is there. There are maps and brochures in the rack at the front door. Thank you for your understanding.
Winter Schedule beginning Sept. 1st
10.00 am to 2.00 pm Monday and Wednesday
About Our Visitors Center
The Visitor Center is managed and staffed by volunteers out of our Grangeville community. All volunteers are locals who are there to answer questions about the area.
Informational books, brochures and maps are available. Free crayons and coloring sheets are available to children who visit the center. Mementos of your trip to beautiful Idaho are available for sale.
Relax in the friendly atmosphere of the Center, view the handcrafted art displays of some of the well-known artist of the area, i.e.: Wood Carving by Angus Kennedy, Rawhide Braiding of Horace Henderson, Ray Holes Leather Art, and the Silver Engraving of C.H. “Bill” Ketcham.
Featuring Grangeville’s Mammoth Replica Display
View an actual mammoth humerus bone on display, which was discovered and excavated from nearby Tolo Lake in September 1994. Then you may wish to stroll down the path to view a complete life-sized mammoth skeleton. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy Eimers-Soltman Park; potable water is available outside and clean restrooms are available inside the Center during regular visiting hours.
On September 2, 1994, Rich Gribble & Gerald Smith, discovered large bones buried in the mud of Tolo Lake, which had been drained to deepen it for better wildlife habitat. After calls to local experts and archaeologists, the area became a hot spot that fall and the next summer for both professional and volunteer diggers.…. Mammoths are close relatives to the modern Asian elephant, but only distantly related to the African elephant. To date, the only species positively identified at Tolo Lake is the huge Columbian mammoth, typical of ancient cool to subtropical environments in North America. Tolo Lake has been a gathering spot for animals for many thousands of years, and for mankind at least 11,000 years.
In all, according to the Mammoth Replica Committee, remains of more than 200 Colombian Mammoths, which became extinct 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, were discovered. It is believed these prehistoric mammals may have come to the lake area to die.
Tolo Lake was refilled in 1996 and planted with fish. Today, it is a popular area fishing hole.
It was a part of the Nez Perce home territory. Their name for the lake was Te-Pal-e-wam. After the Indian wars of 1877 the lake was renamed to honor a courageous Nez Perce woman, Tolo. With bravery she helped the settlers who had become her friends.
As a way to commemorate the find Grangeville’s Chamber of Commerce took over the project, the Mammoth replica Committee began fund-raising efforts shortly after the discovery of the remains. Eimers Park, next to the Grangeville chamber of commerce, on Highway 95, was chosen for the site for the exhibit.