Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park 4/1-2/14

Camp: Primitive area. No services, but there is one place with potable water. Picnic tables are available and the sites are not very level.

Cell coverage: Yes, depending on cell service

Turned off of 95 at DeSmet. Neat small town and is the area where CdA Indians moved after leaving Cataldo for better farming. Still on the reservation. Road recently graded going up partway… noted that there was NO traffic! In fact, all day, we have seen no other vehicles (after leaving 95). Turned left on Skyline Drive and drove until snow blocked the way around ??? mountain. Area has been logged, but not beat up. Many mature PP and DF. ORV use is low to medium as the place isn’t ground down. Took a nice, slow drive. Ate at a sunny spot towards the south end, not far from where we got turned back for snow. Grass widows just starting to bloom! Need to come back in 2 weeks and 5 weeks! Camped at Iron Mountain. Two sites and an outhouse, but other dispersed sites very useable. Great place to see sunset and sunrise – our sunset was very nice (don’t see Steptoe Butte from our camp as we’re looking a bit NW). We have an eastern view as well… VERY PEACEFUL at this time of year… would it be peaceful during July??? Went on shorter hike than yesterday… maybe 2.5 miles. Everything from here was downhill meaning way back is an uphill trudge. Too windy and cool to make campfire, which I wanted. Lots of firewood! Saw a neat "upside-down PP". Took pic on phone.

This area looks to be a popular ATV area, but not over-run. I also heard from a school principal from Oakesdale, WA (not far away) that the high-school students love going up there to party. We did not notice large piles of trash, indicating abuse by revelers.  

There is absolutely no road noise here! Very peaceful. “Somehow I have a feeling that this road, which opens so much beauty to so many, will endure after my time.” Virgil T. McCroskey

Skyline drive is more than 17 miles long and provides access to more than 30 miles of multiple use trails. “Skyline Drive is a narrow gravel and dirt road. Large vehicles or the towing of trailers of 25’ is not recommended” (taken from the brochure). These roads are often 1 lane, steep, potholed, muddy, and strewn with sharp rocks. Not to say you shouldn't visit, but you do need a rugged vehicle and the will and skill to navigate the roads.

This is an island of hills, rocks, timber, and open grassy hillsides surrounded by agriculture. I really like it... plus the fact we saw no one else and saw no other traffic! The elevation here is around 3650' – 4200', so it holds snow a while longer on the shady side of hills, which stopped our plan to drive the whole skyline drive.

They have a neat logo here with interesting signs “Where the mountains meet the sky”.

The hill in the distance is Steptoe Butte in Washington

What is the geology here???

What’s close by:

                University of Idaho

                Desmet – interesting history because the Indians moved from Cataldo to here because farming was better. Built a church that still stands.

                Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Area??? What’s this???
                Steptoe Butte (great drive to the top)

                White Pine Drive??? Where – scenic drive… take in! When I was in college at the U of I, there used to be a "drive" and headed up towards North/South Ski Bowl that had the largest Western White Pine (in the state, I believe...). Since then I hear that the tree died, but I think there is a posted plaque at the stump. We'll explore that another time and document that.

Heyburn State Park 3/31-4/1/14

                Camping $11.66 (bought the yearly pass for $40, which saves $5 each day of camping)

                Pass $40 (will get discounts throughout the year)

List of services: (Need a key) Copy from web site???

Verizon has cell coverage at Hawley’s.

Left home at 10am, time I had planned for… if not Lisa. Lazy drive through Sprague, then a number of smaller towns (Bradshaw Rd.) through Waverly, then finally ending up in Plummer. Nice drive through the Palouse, seeing springtime – winter wheat sprouting, ducks, erosion, a number of very nice, clean farms, and a number of junky homes. Arrived about 1pm. Lunch in visitor center parking lot. Checked in with desk and found out that ½ price for seniors camping at this park. Some other parks also in state are ½ price. (Got list next day from Leslie… very helpful) Went for hike from parking lot… next to paved road… muddy. Marsh boardwalk was nice. Great large Western White Pine. Then up Plummer Creek trail to Appoloosa trail. Steep, densely forested. Top was DF stand but trip up was very diverse (see tree species). Came down to horse riders parking (nice setup). Turned left and followed power line down to close to parking lot. About 4.1+ miles. Nice hike… lot of elevation. My knees were painful as there were still bruised from fall in pole barn (through rafters and onto the tire rack). We had a nice camp in Hawley’s Landing (site 44) had problems with power and moved over one to 43. Power okay. Very peaceful as no one else was on our loop! Camping had just opened the day before. Road noise was noticeable, but not bad within the camper. Red-necked grebe were calling in evening with chorous of frogs! Incredible! Morning was chilly (perhaps 35) and a bit foggy. Cleared as morning progressed. Nice sun, but not brilliant. When leaving camp about 10, we stopped at center again and talked. Outside, we met with Beth and she talked a lot. One question I asked was what made this park special to her. She said “diversity”. We talked about a lot… tree species, PP management (openings, burns, etc.), inholding leases, cabins, Boulder Co (where she moved from, but grew up in Wisconsin).

Find out details about establishment of park – something about Heyburn wanting a national park but it became the northwest’s first state park…

Many coniferous tree species found here: PP, LPP, WP, GF, WF, DF, WL, WRC, Hemlock, Pacific Yew, Spruce, but don’t know the species? This is fairly unusual.

Ron is the manager… about 30 years there.

Benewah unit was upgraded in 2013 – bathrooms rebuilt, RV sites upgraded to full service and 50amp. Tent sites are close, but lakeside sites (up a steep shore) are beautiful and were not upgraded.

Lots of camping available – there are three distinct units: Hawley’s Landing, Chatcolet, and Benewah… not open for camping year round but the park is! (web site wasn’t clear) Hawley’s Launch opens about 4/1, but other sections open later, as late as mid-May.  October 1 – November 1 for closures, depending on unit. Check web site for exact info. Park is open year round.

Visitor center is very nice and staffed daily during peak season. We noticed the interpretive signs are much better than average, often including tribal names and customs. Make sure you take the Marsh Boardwalk (it’s short), and notice the variety of birds, trees, shrubs, and plants. There’s a large specimen of Western White Pine along the trail. WWP was what the logging companies went for in the heyday of logging at the end of the 1800’s and through 1950 or so.

Frogs and robins very noisy in the spring. Red Necked Grebe was courting loudly. Road noise is noticeable at one of the camps (Hawley’s Landing). Occasional trains.

Benewah camp is first come first serve. The two other camps are reserveable and are often reserved far ahead of time. It is a very popular park during the summer.

Should we list species of wildlife (and other?) for each state park?

Once known as “Chat Cak Alye” (meaning “lake”) by the Coeur D’Alene Tribe, Chatcolet Lake has long been a favored spot for camping and fishing.

Biking, hiking, horseback, boating, fishing (very popular – both spiny ray and trout), swimming, wildlife viewing (excellent birding).

Park can be difficult to make camping or cabin reservations for as it is a very popular park.

Area being big timber in the past.

CdA is impounded by dam. Raised water a few feet. St Maries River… St. Joe River? CdA River?

History of lake???

What’s close by (within 25 miles):

                Palouse

                Casino

                Plummer/St. Maries

                Trail of CdA’s

Retirement and setting a goal

Lisa and I have recently retired (last Dec. 31st) and wanted to do something with our time that was a bit challenging yet was attainable within a year, possibly two, without making the goal the sole purpose of our time together. We set a goal of visiting, camping, and writing about all the state parks in Idaho -- all 30 of them (we're finding there's actually discussion on how many there really are... I hope we'll find out the truth to this during our quest). Although we live just across the border into Washington, we went to college, lived and worked in Idaho for 16 or so years and return often.

At this point, we're using the blog to record our notes. Many notes may be very rough, but over time, we'll edit, insert photos, and clean things up. Our ultimate goal? Publish a book???

If you have any comments, want to add information that we've missed or correct us on any mistakes, please add a comment or drop us a line.  Also, if this has provided you some useful information, we'd like to hear about it. Really, we don't really want to do all this in a vacuum, so we like to hear from you.