Trail Blaze

Dear Trail Lovers, We're kicking off our Annual Membership Drive to raise $65,000 in support of Idaho’s trails on December 1 and going through the end of the month. With your help, we can make 2025 an incredible year for preserving and maintaining the places we all cherish. Whether ... Read More

Congratulations to our north Idaho Volunteer of the Year, Ken Dueis, for his great work in helping co-lead his first projects this summer for Idaho Trails Association. "Ken is a high energy, very active volunteer with ITA. During 2024, he worked on multiple projects up north, served as Deputy ... Read More

Both Anne and Alisa were part of  ITA's three week Wilderness Immersion Project in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness this past summer. Here are some of their thoughts on their experience in the Wilderness. Sensory Recalibration by Anne Favorite, Immersion Crew Member Looking to reboot, recharge? Then get yee to the ... 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 ... Read More

Don was awarded the 2024 North Idaho ITA Crew Leader of the Year! He has been leading crews for many years and is always willing to take on the longer weekend and weeklong projects. When changes to the locations of trail projects inevitably arise, his ability to roll with ... 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 ... Read More

by Melanie Vining, Executive Director Ok, so this could be the title of an article at the end of pretty much any summer lately. Snowpacks melting earlier, heat waves lasting longer and fall rains coming later are the new normal in the West, but with the west central Idaho ... Read More

Trail work is rewarding. It’s why we do it. We get to see the immediate fruits of our labor and know we are contributing to both an immediate and a longer term, larger cause, keeping access to public lands open and allowing others to experience the mental and physical ... 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 ... Read More

Patti has been working with ITA since the very first project in 2010, first as a Forest Service trail leader and then as a volunteer crew leader. She has also helped as a crew leader teacher at our CLEM (Crew Leader Education and Mentoring) Training. Her long history working ... Read More

Kasey and Eric are rockstar ITA youth leaders, having led not one, but two weeklong youth projects this year alone! It takes a unique mix of skills, patience, and sense of adventure to guide a crew of 14-18 year olds through the backcountry, and we’re beyond grateful for their ... 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 ... Read More

ITA is seeking a full-time Trail Program Specialist for the northern Idaho trails program. The chosen candidate will help lead ITA’s trails program into its second decade of keeping Idaho’s hiking trails open for all. This candidate will play a key role in growing the organization, engaging more volunteers ... Read More

Sydney has been an incredible part of ITA's Youth Trail Crew since 2021! As she embarks on her university journey next month, we want to send out a huge thank you from all of us at ITA. Your hard work has made Idaho's trails better, and your dedication has ... 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 ... Read More

Going hiking or camping soon? Stage 1 fire restrictions are now in effect in most of Idaho. We all can do our part to be sure we and our loved ones enjoy our trails while taking precautions to keep ourselves safe and our forests green! Stage 1 includes no ... 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 ... Read More

By Melanie Vining, ITA Executive Director I wouldn’t put myself in the “wing it” category, but if there is spectrum I’d not be at the “well-prepared” end either. Maybe somewhere in the middle. I’ve taken off on ten-mile day hikes with running shoes and a peanut butter sandwich, but ... Read More

The first season of our Trail Scouting Program is underway! One of our volunteers scouted about 30 miles of the Middle Fork Trail from the Boundary Creek Boat Launch down to the Pistol Creek Airstrip already, but with the snow melting out in the high country, there are more ... Read More

Submitted by ITA volunteer cook, Hugh Cooke. What is a Camp Dutch Oven? Kitchen dutch oven has rounded dome lid to capture liquids and flat bottom to rest on range. Camping coals will not stay on this lid with ease. Camp Dutch Oven has three legs to hold pot ... Read More

Great for camping out or at home, this recipe is a crowd-pleaser! Submitted by ITA volunteer cook, Hugh Cooke. Check out our Dutch Oven Cooking Tips for Beginners if you are new to Dutch oven cooking. Photo by Nicole Fellows of Amateur Camper. See recipe post here. Cheese, ... Read More

By Melanie Vining, ITA Executive Director My summer recently took a hard right turn. On Wednesday, May 15th, I had a calendar full of ITA trips, hiking trips, trail runs, and outside projects at my house. On Thursday, May 16th, I was lying prone on a stretcher, bound for ... 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 ... Read More

Alexis Bennett is an Idaho native who enjoys big hikes and trails with her son and dog. Her street credit includes 20 years of running and weight training experience, including as a collegiate track athlete, finishing the Boise Trail Challenge on foot in 2023, and holding the women’s single-day ... 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 ... Read More

Brad helped to start ITA back in 2009 and recently volunteered many hours to create ITA's new Frank Church-River of No Return Trail Map! He is heading up a new ITA volunteer opportunity of gathering GPS data in the south half of the Frank to produce a second map ... Read More

We are excited to be hosting many projects on the thousand-mile Idaho Centennial Trail this summer! The ICT is Idaho's only thru-hike that spans from Canada all the way to Nevada. We have many opportunities for volunteers to visit and work on the ICT this year. If you find ... Read More

By Melanie Vining I remember my friend Tobey calling me in the spring seven years ago, asking if she could stay at our house in Council on her way to a trail project. Of course I said yes- she was one of my oldest friends, and distance and busy ... Read More

Idaho Trails Association is teaming up with Two Wolf Foundation for a women’s veteran trail project in late May, and we are so excited! Two Wolf Foundation was founded in 2022 by Executive Director Brian Flynn, whose own struggles after retirement from military service compelled him to help others ... 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 ... Read More

For the second year in a row, Leslie is leading ITA's first project of the year- the BSU Alternative Spring Break Project! We can only hope this year's group will be as lucky as last year's and see mountain goats. Even if not, the crew is fortunate to have ... 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 ... Read More

Alexis Bennett is an Idaho native who enjoys big hikes and trails with her son and dog. Her street credit includes 20 years of running and weight training experience, including as a collegiate track athlete, finishing the Boise Trail Challenge on foot in 2023, and holding the women’s single-day ... Read More

Part 3: The Work- By Melanie Vining, Executive Director. Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2. ITA works with public land managers across Idaho, but most of the time our land manager partner is the Forest Service. We work on nine National Forests in Idaho and in ... Read More

Part 2: The Nitty Gritty and Project Sign Up- By Melanie Vining, Executive Director. Click here to read part 1. Tune in for part 3 about working on trails coming soon! The first two weeks of February for ITA staff, especially our Trail Projects Director, is a bit like ... Read More

Navy vet Ray Arguello began volunteering in 2018 with ITA and last year became a crew leader. He is excited to be part of our growing Veterans Program and is leading our first weeklong Veterans project this year at Ditch Creek. He also enjoys working with young people and ... Read More

Part 1: Project Schedule- By Melanie Vining, Executive Director. Check back for part 2 and 3 about project signups and working on trails coming soon! We get questions regularly about how we choose projects each season, what trail work is and why we do it the way we do. ... 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 ... Read More

ITA's 2023 Annual Report is here! We had an INCREDIBLE year for trails thanks to your support. Read highlights from the season and see some gorgeous photos of Idaho’s backcountry taken by our volunteers and staff. We’ve got updates about our Women in the Wild, Youth, and Veterans programs, ... Read More