Trail Blaze: The Blog of Idaho Trails Association

It takes a lot of work to keep some of our treasured trails open. Some would say that trail maintenance is “men’s work,” but that simply isn’t true. Over the years, the number of women out there working crosscuts and swinging Pulaskis has continued to grow. The skills needed for this kind of work don’t […]

We had an awesome 2020 season of trail work! Thanks to all of our volunteers that gave so much to make Idaho’s trails better for everyone. Dear ITA friends, 2020 presented many new challenges this year. A big thank you to our volunteers who helped us navigate this unpredictable and ever-changing season! While we did have […]

Dear Idaho trail users and friends, Our membership drive is underway and goes through the end of the year! We need YOUR help to preserve and maintain vulnerable trails in Idaho’s backcountry. Trails take us to our state’s most beautiful places, providing access to unique landscapes and Wilderness areas. Unfortunately, decades of inadequate funding for maintenance have […]

Join us November 1- December 31 for our membership drive!  When you renew or become a member of Idaho Trails Association, you are joining an organization and community that cares about Idaho’s wild places. Not only do we need volunteers to make our projects succeed, but also members to financially support the hard work of […]

This blog is part of our series honoring ITA’s 10-year anniversary! There is one thing that all of the members of our board and staff have in common- a passion for trails! Here are 10 hikes hand-picked just for you. Kane Lake Trail (#66) in the Pioneer Mountains east of Ketchum Kane Lake is a […]

This blog is part of our series honoring ITA’s 10-year anniversary! By John Plat, ITA Advisory Board member John Platt has been backpacking for over 50 years, mostly in Idaho. He is a climber, backcountry skier, an Eagle Scout, and a volunteer with Valley County Search and Rescue.  He has backpacked and camped in wild country […]

This blog is part of our series honoring ITA’s 10-year anniversary! By Jeff Halligan, ITA Executive Director It’s important to have the right tool for the job. These ten items will have any trail cleared in no time! Crosscut saw- This has been the backbone of trail work for a couple hundred years.  The vintage saws (that […]

By Clay Jacobson, ITA Trails Program Director Whether you are going out on an ITA project or planning your own backpacking trip, these items can help make your time in the backcountry a little more enjoyable! Hand Sanitizer – In the post-pandemic world, we have become increasingly familiar with the benefits of clean hands. These […]

Earlier this summer, ITA, in partnership with the Payette National Forest Heritage Program, helped complete a survey of the historic Three Blaze Trail in the Frank Church- River of No Return Wilderness. The Three Blaze Trail was built in 1902 during the Gold Rush days to connect the mining town of Dixie, Idaho with the […]

Idaho Trails Association is seeking a full-time Executive Director. The chosen candidate will lead ITA into its second decade of promoting the conservation and enjoyment of Idaho’s backcountry on foot. Working collaboratively with the Board of Directors and ITA staff, this position will focus on seven main responsibilities: strategic vision and plan implementation, fund development, […]

Dear friends of Idaho Trails Association,  After six years as Executive Director of ITA, Jeff Halligan will be retiring at the end of this year. Jeff has been involved in ITA from the start and has helped lead us through periods of rapid growth and great achievements. We are so grateful for the leadership and compassion […]

Here at ITA we love Idaho’s trails. We also appreciate that there are many types of trail users, and different forms of recreation to enjoy. At times, there has been some conflict between the Motorized and Non-motorized trail users as these groups struggle to fund and maintain trails with limited resources. We were recently contacted […]

Anyone who submits a report to ITA’s new trail reporter anytime from Saturday to the end of the day Monday the 8th will be entered into a drawing for a Gossamer Bumster lumbar pack. Our trail reporter is a simple survey that you fill out after your hike about trail conditions you encounter. These reports […]

Some friends ask me why someone who has no kids of their own would work so hard to provide opportunities to get someone else’s kids outside and into the backcountry. Well, it started when I was young. My parents liked to camp and visit the mountains and national parks during my childhood in the 60s.  I […]

We have new shirts and cups to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! Every donor who gives $100 or more to our Idaho Gives campaign will have the choice of one of these goodies. Give today!

Do you remember going on outdoor trips when you were young? Do you have fond memories of making s’mores around a campfire, learning how to pitch a tent, and using a crosscut saw to clear trails? Okay, probably not that last one. But maybe you remember hiking as a kid! Outdoor experiences from childhood have shaped […]

The health and safety of our staff, members, family and community are our number one priority.   In response to the worldwide Covid-19 outbreak and the concern it poses to everyone’s health and well-being, our entire staff will be implementing best practices which will still allow us to do our jobs safely and help keep our […]

With so many great projects on the schedule, it’s hard to even know where to start! Here are a few that we are especially excited about: April 26 – May 2 • North Central Idaho • Gospel Hump Wilderness • Sheep Creek Jet Boat TripJet boat from Vinegar Creek Boat Ramp, outside of Riggins, to Sheep Creek in […]

We’re so excited to announce that our project schedule is open to members to sign up! There are so many great maintenance and monitoring trips this year and we can’t wait to get out on the trail with you. We have projects from one to seven days and ranging from easy to difficult. Our Members-Only sign-up period will be until April 1 when it […]

On January 29th, as part of the ITA Trail Master Presentation Series, board member Pam Bond and Leave No Trace Ambassador Evan Worthington discussed the potential impacts, good and bad, of sharing our outdoor experiences through social media like Facebook and Instagram.  Those who attended had varying opinions about how outdoor enthusiasts should share their […]

We are getting ready to kick off our third season of the ITA Trail Master Presentation series. We thought it would be a great idea to start offering a recurring presentation on something related to hiking, outdoor skills, etc. over the long winter months to keep our members, and the general public, engaged with ITA […]

Since ITA’s start in 2010, the number of projects, volunteers, and supporters has grown every year. 2019 was no exception! Two hundred and seventy-seven volunteers contributed 7,996 hours of service and completed a total of 37 trail projects across the state. 2019 Totals: Miles of trail cleared- 189.5 Week-long Projects – 13 Multi-day Projects – […]

Going from freezing morning temperatures to an 80-degree bluebird afternoon is just part of the fun and excitement of an Idaho Trails Association project. In early June, our ITA crew started the day at Meyers Cove with a thick layer of frost on our tents. By afternoon we’d hiked 16 miles down Camas Creek to […]

This week, we would like to highlight why ITA chooses to use traditional tools and skills for our work. We are fortunate enough to have our work take place in the wilderness. But what does wilderness really mean? Wilderness can be a general term used to describe a tract or region of land that is relatively undisturbed by […]

Amidst the rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, join us on December 3rd for Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving. Giving Tuesday is your chance to support the community organizations that contribute to your way of life. For the outdoor enthusiast there are plenty of ways to support your favorite recreation areas, including […]

This week we highlight our Women Only Weekends (WOW) and it’s official! WOW has become an official Idaho Trails Association program called ‘Women in the Wild’. This program was unintentionally created last season when ITA partnered with the Boise Bold Betties Chapter for an all-ladies trail maintenance weekend. It was such a success, we decided […]

This week, we would like to highlight a new ITA initiative. As we know, one of the big pushes nationwide is to get America’s youth outside and away from the electronics and sedentary lifestyles. ITA has answered that call by starting our Youth Program for 14 to 18 year olds. With this program, we aim to get our youth into the backcountry to […]

Why Become a Member of Idaho Trails Association? As the snow starts to blanket the high country, we’re planning ITA’s trail projects for 2020. I have to say we had a great season in 2019. We had a record number of volunteers provide time and energy to get the work done, we had a record number […]

It’s going to be 2020 soon! We are in the process of putting together our 2020 projects and it looks like we are going to have some doozies! Have you ever wanted to jetboat up the Salmon River and spend a week in the Gospel Hump? We are working on that opportunity for you! Camp […]

Don’t have a week? We are going to rebuild the bridge at Kirkwood Ranch in Hell’s Canyon! We are planning a weekend in Hell’s canyon at the Kirkwood ranch rebuilding a trail bridge. The plan will be to jetboat up to the ranch from Pittsburg landing and spend 2 days working on the bridge. We […]

Fly into the Frank Church! Have you ever wanted to spend the week in one of the most remote places in the lower 48? We are looking at a flyin project where you will fly from McCall to Cold Meadows on a Monday Morning. The project is clearing the trail through Coyote Springs to Black […]

Join Idaho Trails Association. Idaho is blessed with over 10,000 miles of non-motorized hiking trails on our public lands. These trails take hikers to some of the most beautiful parts of the state. Unfortunately, funding for the care of trails is far short of what is needed to keep them open and usable. ITA is […]

Mark your calendars, it’s party time! Are you a current ITA member or have volunteered with us in the past? We are having two parties to celebrate YOU! Haven’t volunteered with ITA before? No problem. New recruits are welcome as well. Signup to attend one of our volunteer appreciation parties: https://www.idahotrailsassociation.org/volunteerparty/ — May 4, 2019 Volunteer […]

A special thank you to ITA member Larry Callister for a donation of cross cut saws!  We are so thrilled to have these new additions to our tool cache.  The Simonds 513 is going to be limited to shows and demonstrations.  Come give it a try at the Spokane Great Outdoors Expo on February 24th […]

Hello ITA supporters! Did you know if you are a Fred Meyer customer you can help the Idaho Trails Association just by shopping for your daily essentials? It’s true. Just register your Fred Meyer Rewards card on their website, go to the Community Rewards link: https://www.fredmeyer.com/topic/community-rewards-4 then ‘re-enroll or link your Rewards Card now’ and pick […]

The Idaho Centennial Trail takes hikers 900 miles through some of Idaho’s most beautiful places. With the current rise in popularity of long distance hiking, it is high time that the ICT gets the recognition it deserves as one of America’s most rugged and remote hikes. But an increase in hikers means an increased need […]

We here at ITA are proud to have grown beyond our Boise roots into the beautiful backcountry of North Idaho. From the Selkirks to the St. Joe, you’re sure to find some of the most pristine forests in the mountain West. Our volunteers have been hard at work improving trails for all to enjoy. As […]

Without our volunteers, the Idaho Trails Association could not do the important work of keeping public trails open. As part of our 2016 membership drive, we’d like to introduce you to some of the folks that have made our projects so successful and fun. Tobey has volunteered on our Alice-Toxaway project two years running and […]

Become a Steward of Idaho’s Trails Join ITA During Our 7th Annual Membership Drive Dear Idaho Backcountry and Wilderness Trail Lovers: Idaho’s network of backcountry trails leads hikers to and through some of our state’s most beautiful, hidden places. As one of the state’s fastest growing volunteer-driven organizations dedicated to clearing backcountry trails, Idaho Trails […]

On Tuesday, July 26, eleven volunteers helped work on the final sections of the new Bee Top Connector Trail in the Sandpoint Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. This new trail will re-open access to the Bee Top/Round Top Trail #120 from the east end for the first time in many years. The […]