Idaho North Idaho Trailblazers CabnFvr April 9, 2022
- Thread starter Wildman
- Start date
I’ve run trails with them. They’re the only true Jeep “club” that does anything. I really like them. They are even more risky than me.
There used to be several good clubs in the area years ago but most have fallen. I was a member of Sunset Four Runners and NORRA years ago but NORRA was basically ruined by Spokane County when they shut them out of the sports park and Sunset fractured after some bad seeds became members.
Washington sucks as far as politics and government over-reach. They are regulator-happy.
They shut down trails and ruin all the outdoor fun. North Idaho Jeeps is not a “club”, but they are a huge group that has grown very popular. So there are still lots of wheelers around. It’s a very diverse group. Everything from Jeep Renegade’s to buggy’s. I’m trying to get involved, but I’m soo busy building all these rigs right now I haven’t hit many trails with them. Soon…Yeah before I left Spokane I watched Nine Mile, Liberty Lake and the sports part get taken away from the offroad community.Washington sucks as far as politics and government over-reach. They are regulator-happy.
I heard about Nine Mike. Sounds like I would have liked that area a lot more than 8-Mile. Liberty Lake I believe is ATV’s only. I suggested some Jeep trails but never heard back from those heading it up.
Worst part was neither case was the fault of the 4x4 community. Nine Mile was closed due to illegal dumping and shooting. Liberty Lake we were stabbed in the back by the Motorcycle community. Liberty Lake has an erosion problem that is causing silt to wash into the lake as well as the motorcycle users kept kicking down the upper fence so they could ride in Idaho. But the Motorcycle users convinced the county that it had to be the big bad 4x4s that were the problem and not the single track ruts on the steepest hills that no 4x could even attempt. Did not matter that we were the ones cleaning up the area and mending the fence.
OP
I've heard of these trails too but never knew the WHY of what happened.
Back in the 70's early 80's the Shoestring Trail and the Naches Wagon trail were listed as some of the harder trails in the country. Back then doing the Shoestring was a weekend trip not 4-5 hours that it is now. But then people came in and cut out trees and paved some of the harder parts. Then in the late 90's they almost closed the Shoestring Trail due to people driving their rigs into Shoestring Lake. Luckily we were able to talk the FS into a reroute of the trail away from the lake that was able to keep it open.
I can't even count the number of areas on the westside that have been closed in the past 20 years.
A trail named Rollercoaster in Shoshone County over in ID is going before the court in about a week. The road is a public road legally, but a local landowner blocked it with a giant pine tree and posted no trespassing signs. It's like the third or fourth time he's blocked it in some form or fashion. A lot of us are either going over to the hearing so our voices can be heard or sending in written statements to the court. That particular trail is a road that North Idaho Trailblazers gained permission by Shoshone County to modify with giant caterpillar equipment to make obstacles on the side leaving bypasses for normal vehicles. So, a lot of money and time was spent by people in the off-road community on that road.
One opportunity that is knocking on the door is a private property owner to form a private off-road park. Of course, it's pay to play, but this was common in TX where I came from. When I introduced the idea to people in the PNW and INW they balked at such a thing (pay to go offroad?!), but they are running out of trails. All that will be left soon are fire roads. Still people are building rigs.
Yeah the 90s were not a good time for the 4x community as a whole. With the bad press leading to closures it also negatively impacted all the good we were doing. Sunset used to hold an annual rally with all the proceeds going to the March of Dimes. We raised and donated tens of thousands to them but one day they decided that we were "not a good fit" and did not want to partner with us anymore.
Running into a lot of the same stuff up here as well. Private parks are most likely the future in a way whether we like them or not.
OP
We're spoiled out here in the west. And yes due to all the closures on the westside of WA the central area is now over used which has caused more closures or travel restrictions for certain times of the year.
I'm more than willing to spend $20-30 a day to come play in a park if it's big enough and has good trails. I'll hate that the trails that require 2-4 day to travers will be gone. But I'd rather have some place to enjoy than NOTHING.
I think the blame for the Naches' decline points in three directions. (1) Entitled wheelers doing illegal trail modifications (the stump and root on the top west
side climb) and apparently the ledge on Bull Run) and creating bypasses. (2) JKs and JKUs. They are so wide and long that they beat everything but Rimrock into freeways. Of course the flat fender guys point at you and I for the same reason! (3) The USFS for their "trail maintenance" which I think often wasn't just about protecting the watershed and landscape. I think they actually want Granola Boy to be able to cross in his Subaru.
OP
Well before the JK's & JKU's it was the buggy craze with idiots on 54" tires. And then the guys who tried to take a Blazer or Bronco thru there. I've watched those trails go from nice tight and technical to paved freeways. Shit some parts of Rimrock are getting fucked up now too.
AS I use to PREACH and still do, Build for YOUR Trails in your area not for the trails some place else. Some of these buggies I'd seen built around here couldn't wheel any where here.