38% of Idaho's land is owned by the United States Forest Service which leaves an abundance of unique settings for Idaho's best public golf courses. The state has several distinct regions including the isolated Idaho Panhandle bordering Washington and Canada, the Snake River Plain where most of the population and farmland is located, and the eastern border with Wyoming's Rocky Mountain Range at the Tetons.

This guide features the best public golf courses in a variety of settings in Idaho including the top public golf courses in Boise, those around the Coeur d' Alene Golf Resort and its floating golf green and Circling Raven in the Panhandle, Whitetail and Jug Mountain in McCall, and the Sun Valley Resort as well as notable others in Pocatello and Twin Falls.