Huckleberry Season Is Here. Here's the Sweetest Way to Celebrate It

If you've spent any time in Idaho or the Mountain West, you know what huckleberry season means. From late July through August, the mountains fill with people hunting for wild huckleberries - a fruit that can't be commercially farmed, can't be reliably found outside the Pacific Northwest, and tastes like nothing else on earth.

It's one of Idaho's most beloved seasonal traditions, and Idaho Candy Company has a bar built around it.

What Makes Huckleberries Special

Huckleberries are not blueberries, though they're often mistaken for them. They're smaller, more intensely flavored, and genuinely wild - no one has successfully domesticated them at commercial scale. They grow at elevation in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Oregon, and their season is short. According to the University of Idaho Extension, wild huckleberries are one of the most economically and culturally significant wild plants in the Pacific Northwest. [External: uidaho.edu]

For Idahoans, finding a good huckleberry patch is personal information shared only with trusted people. The berries are that valued.

The Huckleberry Gem Bar

Idaho Candy Company's Huckleberry Gem Bar brings that flavor into candy form. It's the most distinctly Pacific Northwest bar in the lineup and a natural fit for the season when huckleberries are at their peak. For anyone who has picked huckleberries in the mountains of Idaho, it's a taste that hits close to home. For anyone who hasn't, it's a genuine introduction to one of the region's most treasured flavors. 

A Taste of Idaho Season to Send Home

Huckleberry season is also when people travel through Idaho and discover the berry for the first time. If you're visiting and want to take a piece of the season home with you, the Huckleberry Gem Bar ships nationwide from Idaho Candy's Boise factory. It's the kind of edible souvenir that actually gets finished.

Browse the full Idaho Candy lineup at idahospud.com - and if you're in Boise, their factory at 412 South 8th Street has been the home of Idaho candy making since 1909.