Join Us For the 2020 Trail Master Series!
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 on a more regular basis. Once a month, we put on a presentation at REI in ... Read More
Nearly 8,000 hours of service in 2019!
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 – 13 One-day Projects – 11 Logs removed – 1212 Campsites inventoried – 13 Trail miles ... Read More
Crew Leader Spotlight: John McCarthy
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 the famed Middle Fork of the Salmon River and it was was a balmy 82 ... Read More
Preserving Traditional Tools and Skills
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 human activity. It is also a term assigned to public lands federally designated by law ... Read More
Giving Tuesday
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 supporting volunteer Non-Motorized Trail Maintenance with a donation to the Idaho Trails Association. The Idaho ... Read More
Women Only Weekends- WOW!
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 to keep it going. During the 2019 season, ITA organized three more WOW trips. Thirty-five ... Read More
First Season for ITA’s Youth Program
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 learn new skills for work, enjoyment and overall life. The projects are set in Idaho's public lands and under the ... Read More
Message from our Executive Director, Jeff Halligan
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 of projects completed and a record number of volunteer hours in the woods! If you ... Read More
Sheep Creek in the Gospel Hump Wilderness 2020!
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 on the Beach at the mouth of Sheep Creek and log out the Sheep Creek ... Read More
Kirkwood Trail Bridge 2020
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 will spend probably one night on the river. What a way to spend the weekend! ... Read More