Caribou County is a county in Idaho, United States, in the southeastern part of the state, along the Wyoming border. It had a population of 7,027 at the 2020 census and covers 1,799 square miles (4,660 km2) centred near 42°46′N 111°33′W.<\/p>\n
Soda Springs is the county seat, and its postal code is 83276. The county has three incorporated cities, more than a dozen unincorporated communities, sits in the Mountain time zone, and carries FIPS code 16029.<\/p>\n
Caribou County has three incorporated cities — Soda Springs, Bancroft and Grace — and a scatter of unincorporated communities, several of them former mining camps or rail sidings tied to the county’s phosphate industry. Idaho has no civil townships, so the table below omits that column.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soda Springs<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 2,932<\/td>\n | 83276<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Grace<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 961<\/td>\n | 83241<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bancroft<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 402<\/td>\n | 83217<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wayan<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83285<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Conda<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83276<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Freedom<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83276<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Henry<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83241<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Alexander<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bench<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Central<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Chesterfield<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| China Hill<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hatch<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Kinport<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lago<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lund<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Meadowville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Niter<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pebble<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rose<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Talmage<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Telluride<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Turner<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nZIP Codes<\/h2>\nSmaller unincorporated places such as Alexander, Chesterfield and Turner have no ZIP code of their own and are served by whichever of the four post offices sits closest.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nCaribou County sits on Idaho’s high plateau country, where the Caribou Range’s timbered ridges give way to the broad valley of the Bear River. The Blackfoot River and its reservoir cross the county’s northwestern corner, and Soda Springs itself grew up around natural mineral springs at the edge of the river valley. Elevations run from around 5,700 feet in the Bear River valley to 9,963 feet at Meade Peak, the county’s highest point.<\/p>\n Caribou County borders Bonneville County to the north, Lincoln County, Wyoming to the east, Bear Lake County and Franklin County to the south, Bannock County to the west, and Bingham County to the northwest.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nCaribou County had 7,027 residents at the 2020 census, giving a density of roughly 4 people per square mile — one of the more sparsely settled counties in southeastern Idaho. Soda Springs and Grace are its two largest communities. Rural, agriculture- and mining-dependent counties like Caribou typically run below the Idaho median of $74,942, though no county-specific figure is independently verified here.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nPhosphate mining anchors the local economy: the hillsides around Conda and Soda Springs hold some of the country’s largest phosphate reserves, mined for fertilizer and industrial chemical production by companies including Nu-West Industries and Simplot. Dryland wheat, barley and hay farming fill out the valley floor. Soda Springs is best known for Hooper Spring and the capped Soda Springs Geyser, a man-made carbon-dioxide geyser on the town square that erupts roughly every hour.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nCaribou County was organized on February 11, 1919, carved from parts of Bannock and Bear Lake counties. It takes its name from the Caribou Range, itself named for a French-Canadian prospector known as “Caribou” Jack Fairchild, who found gold in the mountains in the early 1870s. Soda Springs was settled earlier still, in May 1871, when Brigham Young and a company of Latter-day Saints purchased land around the mineral springs that gave the town its name.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nUS Route 30 and Idaho State Highway 34 are the county’s main roads, meeting at Soda Springs.<\/p>\n
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