New to backpacking? Looking for a great spring warm-up? These backpacking trips were hand-picked by our staff and backpacking 101 instructors for being not only beautiful places to visit but also on the easier side of the scale for overnight backpacking trips. Not a beginner? These are all awesome hikes for any backpacker regardless of skill level! Better start blocking out your summer weekends because once you start working ... Read More

Our Trail Spotlight highlights day trips to multi-day hikes across Idaho. Trail conditions can change quickly- swollen rivers can become impassable, windstorms can knock trees down across trails, and snow can come earlier than expected. Please take these recommendations as a jumping off place and do additional research to understand current conditions and  keep yourself safe if you choose to hike this trail. Physical guidebooks and maps are always good to ... Read More

Bidding is now open for ITA’s Second Annual Pack Your Summer Online Auction! We have over twenty unique items and experiences hand-picked just for our outdoor-loving, adventure-seeking members and supporters. Bid on these awesome items: Seven Devils Weekend Pack Trip featuring a gourmet dinner by chef Steve Weston Backpacking Adventure Package including an ultra-light tent by Six Moons Designs and trekking poles by Columbia. Lake Pend Oreille Day Paddle ... Read More

Glenn and Michelle are one of ITA’s power couples! They began volunteering in 2019 and since then, they’ve risen to crew leader status, helped ITA begin to offer projects in East Idaho near their home in Pocatello, and volunteered at local events. Glenn also joined ITA’s Advisory Board last year and together they’ve proven to have many great ideas for helping make ITA better. They are leading five trail ... Read More

Our Trail Spotlight highlights trails across Idaho we think are worth hiking! Ranging from one-day to multi-day trips, these recommendations are for trails recently cleared or hiked by ITA volunteers. Trail conditions can change quickly- swollen rivers can become impassable, windstorms can knock trees down across trails, and snow can come earlier than expected. Please take these recommendations as a jumping off place and do additional research (find a ... Read More

 ITA volunteer Jim Manning first began leading crews last season and was awarded ITA’s coveted 2022 Crew Leader of the Year award (and given a special ITA mug to prove it!) We’re grateful to Jim for leading crews and making a difference for Idaho’s trails!  Tell me a little about yourself. I spent 43 years in commercial banking, mostly in the Southwest and Western states. When we began our ... Read More

ITA's 2023 volunteer schedule is out for signups for the public! We have one-day, weekend, and weeklong projects of varying degrees of difficulty scheduled across the state. We also have six projects scheduled for our Youth Trail Crew Program and six for our Women in the Wild Program. If you're interested in learning more about what volunteering looks like, check out our volunteer FAQs. Here are just a few ... Read More

Alisa Rettschlag is an ITA super volunteer! She and her husband Gregg have been volunteering with ITA for a number of years and last year she took the plunge into crew leading AND teaching our Backpacking 101 class. It's easy to see she has a passion for teaching volunteers new things. She helped lead ITA's first Backpacking 101 trail project last year (and slogged through a very wet weekend with ... Read More

On March 1, our 2023 volunteer trail project schedule of 60+ projects will be released! Members (anyone who has donated to ITA in the past year) will be able to sign up to volunteer for projects on a first come, first served basis for most projects. Maybe you’re asking yourself, “Do people really rush to volunteer for trail work?” The answer is YES! Despite the chance of unseasonable snow, ... Read More

Idaho high school seniors must complete a “senior project” as part of their graduation requirements. While the criterion for completion varies from school to school, the basic requirement is that a senior take on a project, learn about it in-depth, then complete it by a certain date. Levi Armichardy, a student at Council High School in west-central Idaho, chose to focus on trails, something he is passionate about, and ... Read More