What does recreational land near McCall Idaho cost, and what does it take to make it usable?

$59,000 an acre. That is the math on TBD Eagle Feather Road in New Meadows, where five acres is asking $295,000. So let me ask the blunt question people ask me in the truck on the way up. Can you actually build on it? Yes, and there is a list of things that have to happen first. Raw mountain ground is priced like a finished lot in people’s heads, and it is not one. Here is the honest version.

What does five acres near McCall actually cost?

At this parcel, $295,000, which works out to $59,000 an acre. That is one listing rather than a market rate, and land up there swings hard on view, access and whether utilities are anywhere close.

What you are paying for here is position. It sits near the top of the mountain, at the back of a cul de sac behind a coded gate, so nobody drives past you to get anywhere else.

New Meadows sits about twelve miles north of McCall. Most people search McCall, then end up looking at ground in Meadows Valley or Donnelly once they see what McCall proper costs.

What are you buying at TBD Eagle Feather Road?

Five acres and a view, with the infrastructure still ahead of you. Here is the sheet.

Detail	TBD Eagle Feather Road, New Meadows
Asking price	$295,000
Acres	5.000
Price per acre	$59,000.00
Class	Land, recreation
County	Adams
Subdivision	The Highlands Above Meadow Creek
Zoning	County-R-2, per the MLS
Water	Proposed well, or buy into a shared well
Septic	Proposed, not installed
Power	Available to the property line
Natural gas	None
Road	Dirt
Topography	Rolling, sloped, wooded, view property
CC&Rs	Yes, on file
Manufactured homes	Not allowed
2025 property taxes	$756.30
Financing terms	Cash or conventional
MLS number	98995378

Can you actually build on it?

Yes, and the details belong to Adams County rather than to me. The MLS lists the zoning as County-R-2, and there are recorded CC&Rs on file for The Highlands Above Meadow Creek.

Those two documents decide most of what you can do. Setbacks, height, outbuildings, whether you can camp on it while you build, and what the covenants say about all of the above.

So before you write, read the CC&Rs and get the zoning requirements from Adams County in writing. Manufactured homes are not allowed here, which the MLS states directly, and that one alone changes some people’s plan.

Where would your water come from?

From a well you either buy into or drill, and that is a real line in your budget. The listing shows a shared well available, or you drill your own.

Those are two different deals. Buying into a shared well means reading the well agreement: who maintains it, how cost is split, what happens if it needs work, and how much water your lot is entitled to.

Drilling your own means a driller, a permit and a number nobody can quote you until they know the depth. Mountain ground is unpredictable that way.

What about the septic?

There is not one yet. The MLS shows the septic as proposed, which means the system, the permit and the perc test are all still ahead of you.

That is normal for raw land and it is not a red flag. It is just a cost and a timeline that belongs in your number before you write, rather than after.

I would start with Adams County on the permit path and ask what a site evaluation requires on sloped ground. Slope matters for septic design, and this parcel is described as rolling and sloped.

What is already there, and what is not?

Power is the good news. Electric runs to the property line, which is the single most expensive utility to bring in from a distance.

After that the list is short. There is no natural gas and no phone lines. The road in is dirt, with no curb, gutter or sidewalk, which is exactly what you would expect at the back of a mountain cul de sac.

Plan your winter access honestly. A dirt road near the top of a mountain in Adams County is a different commitment in February than it is in July, and that is a question to ask the neighbors rather than the listing.

What does it cost to hold while you figure it out?

Almost nothing on the tax side. The 2025 tax bill was $756.30, which is what unimproved recreational ground costs to own.

Your real constraint is financing. Terms here are cash or conventional, and a bank underwrites raw land very differently than a house. Expect a larger down payment and a shorter term than you are used to.

So a lot of these deals happen in cash, and the people who do them well tend to buy the ground first and build on their own schedule rather than a lender’s.

What makes this parcel different from other mountain lots?

The building site is already a building site. That is rarer than it sounds. Most five acre mountain parcels need clearing before you can picture anything, and clearing is money and months.

Here the ground is open and park like, with mature ponderosa scattered across the building site and heavy timber standing behind it to the west. The ground drops away below into ranch land and mountains, with the Brundage ski runs cut into the far ridge.

Position helps too. Five minutes up the hill from MeadowCreek Golf Resort, with Brundage, hot springs and the Payette all a short drive.

Who should not buy this?

Somebody who wants to be in a cabin next summer. Between the well, the septic, the design and the build season up there, this is a multi year plan and pretending otherwise would be doing you a disservice.

I would also slow you down if you have never owned unimproved land. The costs are knowable, but you have to go get them, and nobody hands you a list.

And if you are picturing a manufactured home or an RV as the interim answer, read the CC&Rs first. The MLS already says manufactured homes are not allowed, and covenants often have something to say about the rest.

So is it worth standing on?

That is the only way to answer it, and it is why the listing says what it says. Land like this does not photograph the way it feels, because a photo flattens the drop and the view is the whole product.

It sits behind a coded gate, so this is not a drive by you do on a whim. Access gets arranged ahead of time.

Come stand on it. That is the whole pitch.

Garrett with Living in Idaho at LPT Realty

Updated September 2026