Friends of the Weiser River Trail
According to Barb McGann, President of the Friends of the Weiser River Trail, her group accomplished numerous projects on the trail this year.
“We have 63 trestles all built in 1997 and all in need of repair or replacement. This year, we were able to hire a company to rebuild three of those trestles,” she said.
One is about a half a mile south of Goodrich, another is located behind the Tamarack Mill, and the other one is in a location that people would not be familiar with.
The cost to replace the three trestles was about $33,000.
The group also was able to install four corrals, and a new parking lot fit for horse-trailers at the trailhead in Weiser.
“There was also a stand of trees in Weiser, and we hired a tree service to remove the 100 dead ones,” she said.
Every year the group receives grant money from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and this year, they were able to use that money to place hitching posts at each of the ten bathrooms located on the trail.
They also finished the vault toilet in Cambridge, but McGann said most of that work had been done the previous year.
Their only full-time employee is someone hired in the spring and summer months for weed control along the trail.
As for coming events, the group is getting ready for their October Trek Bike Ride. Cyclists start at the Wye Campground, just north of Tamarack have lunch at the Council Senior Center and camp out at Mundo Hot Springs in Cambridge, before biking the rest of the way to Weiser on the second day.
As for next year, usually during the third week in April the group organizes a 50K (31-mile) relay and solo race.
On Memorial Day they hold their annual Wagon Train Event. Covered wagons are accompanied by riders on horseback during the four-day event, which includes a big BBQ in Midvale.
During the first week in June the group stages a bike ride from the Wye Campground to Cambridge. Along the way the cyclists stop for lunch at the Council Senior Center.
Basic yearly membership ranges from $15 to $100, but one can also purchase a lifetime membership for $1,000.
McGann said the group hopes to be able to repair or replace five more trestles this coming year and also the next year after that and so on until they are all in great shape.
