BlockBefore

Challis, Idaho

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Challis census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83226. The Survey maps it on the Challis quadrangle. 902 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,253 feet above sea level.

Challis within Custer County

On record in Challis

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 25 shown

Every listing in Custer County

Population over time

2 figures

Challis fell from 1,081 to 902 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,081
2020902-179 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

16 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Challis between 1992 and 2020, burning about 130 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning5
Recreation and ceremony4
Natural3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
14 September 1993Debris and open burningunder an acreSalmon-Challis National Forestnot named
10 September 1994Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSalmon-Challis National Forestnot named
9 July 1994Natural118 acresSalmon-Challis National ForestBLUE MOUNTAIN
9 July 1994Natural3.0 acresSalmon-Challis National Forestnot named
24 July 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreIdaho Falls DistrictMATTRESS
21 July 2011Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTwin Falls DistrictPENNAL GULCH
16 July 2018Naturalunder an acreTwin Falls DistrictLOMBARD
16 July 2002Fireworksunder an acreSalmon-Challis National ForestJUNCTION 75

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Custer County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Challis: 3 occurrences, 2 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Geothermal, Fluorine-Fluorite, Lead. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Garden Creek MineLead, SilverPast Producer
Mill Creek ProjectStone, DimensionUnknown
Unnamed ProspectFluorine-FluoriteOccurrence
Hot SpringGeothermalOccurrence
Unnamed Hot SpringnGeothermalOccurrence
Challis Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect

Every working recorded in Custer County

Storms near this place

18 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Challis in 18 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 1 hail, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1995Thunderstorm WindChallis$5,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindChallis$3,000Tree downed on a house in Challis with a reported 61 mph wind gust. Power was knocked out for 2 hours in the entire city of Challis.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindChallis$1,000Tree blown down in Challis in 60 mph wind gusts.
September 2010Thunderstorm WindChallis$1,000Wind gusts estimated over 60 mph uprooted a large spruce tree in Challis and it took out a Custer Telephone cable TV line. Salmon River Electric reported power outages in the Yankee Fork and Rod and Gun Club areas. The Yankee Fork outage was due to a tree falling on the Yankee Fok distribution line. About 50 people lost power for 3 hours. Times estimated from newspaper and ASOS reports in the area.
April 2008Tornado (EF0)Challis$1,000A tornado was reported 2 miles north of Challis. It removed and destroyed a roof on a house.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindChallis-A 58 mph wind gust recorded by spotter in Challis.
September 2025Flash FloodChallis-A mudslide occurred in Custer County on Bayhorse Creek Rd about 1 mile from the Bayhorse town site. One to one and a half inches of rain fell in a two hour period.
August 2023Debris FlowChallis-Heavy rain caused a landslide blocking all lanes of Highway 75 near US Highway 93 south of Challis.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindChallis-Trained spotter had a 61 mph wind gust.
August 2021Flash FloodChallis-Idaho Transportation Department reported multiple mudslides and rock falls along US 93 between Evans and McKim Creek roads.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindChallis-A 61 mph wind gust measured in Challis.
July 2013Flash FloodChallis-Custer County Sheriffs office reported 1 foot of water near Garden Creek affecting power and telephone poles.
July 2011Flash FloodChallis-Rainfall of 0.30 inches in 15 minutes caused extensive street flooding in the city of Challis.
July 2008Flash FloodChallis-The Morgan Creek area had several roads washed out by heavy rains.
July 2007HailChallis-Three-quarter inch hail reported in Challis.
July 2007Flash FloodChallis-Rainfall of over 1 inch in less than one hour caused three mudslides along highway 75 in Challis.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindChallis-In Challis strong winds downed trees and power lines causing the power to go out.
July 1996Thunderstorm WindChallis-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Custer County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Garden City (historical)0.4 miles11
Bayhorse8.5 miles13
Ellis16.2 miles11
Crystal (historical)17.1 miles14
Clayton19.2 miles13
Custer25.9 miles15
Torreys26.2 miles14
Bonanza27.9 miles16

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on ChallisAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1516949The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 397543. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.