Rare new ski resort opens north of Boise

Rare new ski resortopens north of Boise
DONNELLY, Idaho (AP) -- A new ski resort has opened in Idaho -- Tamarack, located on West Mountain, 90 miles north of Boise.
The resort has five lifts, including two high-speed quads and a slower teaching chair, serving 25 runs on 700 acres. If snow on lower slopes is unsuitable, Tamarack can open just the top 1,100-foot section of its 2,800-feet of runs. It also offers Nordic ski trails.
An 18-hole golf course is scheduled to open next summer at the resort and a marina has also been proposed.
The development is being financed by real estate sales. Two thousand lots will be sold over the next decade. Already, more than 170 lots have been sold at an average price of $450,000.
For more information on Tamarack, which opened Dec. 15, visit www.tamarackidaho.com or call (208) 325-1000.
Trail lures nature loversto 100 stops in Illinois
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- Organizers of the new Illinois River Country Nature Trail hope it will persuade nature-seeking tourists to flow into central Illinois.
The 140-mile-long trail begins in Ottawa and winds south to Havana. It highlights more than 100 stops in the Illinois River Valley at places like orchards, parks, hiking trails, nature preserves and state parks. The trail spans Bureau, Fulton, LaSalle, Marshall, Mason, Peoria, Putnam, Stark, Tazewell and Woodford counties.
In Havana, stops on the trail include a bird-watcher's haven, a llama farm and a hatchery which annually produces 42 million fish to stock public and private waters.
Officials in the cities along the trail hope it will create interest in local, nature-based attractions and spur economic development.
For information about the trail, call (800) 747-0302 or visit www.peoria.org and click on Illinois River Country.
Rosewood patrons getfirst crack at books
NEW YORK (AP) -- The words "book" and "hotel" have taken on new meaning at Rosewood resorts.
The company's resorts are offering guests advance copies of works by best-selling writers like Sidney Sheldon, Stephen King, Dan Brown and Annie Proulx. The program, called "Hot Type," is the result of an arrangement between Rosewood and five major publishers -- Random House, Harper, Hyperion, Knopf and Simon & amp; Schuster -- to provide bound galleys of the books anywhere from six weeks to six months before they are released to the public.
New titles will arrive monthly at Rosewood properties.
Guests can choose their reading material from a menu available by the pool or on the beach at all the resorts and have the latest best seller finished before it's even reviewed.
For more information, visit www.rosewoodhotels.com or call (888) ROSEWOOD.