Standing tall right in Moscow’s back yard is a recreation center that almost seems to be catered towards the city, hence the name Moscow Mountain. Despite it being in the great outdoors, the mountain is oddly close to home, physically and figuratively.
“It’s the closest recreation center to Moscow, so it gets a lot of traffic,” Trevor Fulton, the director of the University of Idaho Outdoor Program said.
The closest access point, only a few miles north of Moscow, is up the Moscow Mountain Road.
Two University of Idaho professors, Rob Ely from the department of mathematics and statistical science and Eric Stuen from the college of business and economics, skied up the trail on Sunday while others watched the Super Bowl from their homes.
However, this is not the only entrance to the mountain; there are two other main entry points.
One is off Foothills Road on the western side of the area known as headwater, which gets mostly summer use, according to Fulton.
The other, on the east side, is what is known as the tamarack entrance. This entrance, Fulton said, is the primary winter use area, with its higher elevation being ideal for those wanting to get into the snow.
Then off the main entrances, there are around 50-60 miles of trails, according to Fulton. The trails, which are thoroughly maintained, make an interesting dilemma for the mountain.
“It’s unique as it is a mixed-use of landowners,” Fulton said.
The land is owned by private owners, timber companies, state land and UI experimental forest.
Along roads riddled with no trespassing markers and signs asking to pick up after dogs, the headwater and Moscow Mountain Road access have lots of houses right around the trailheads “It’s important to maintain good relationships with the landowners of the area,” Fulton said.
“Folks need to be good stewards,” Fulton said, and it’s important to note there are no open campfires and no target shooting allowed in the area due to wildfire danger.
Maintaining the trails is careful navigation of working with the landowners.
The organization that coordinates and performs most trail maintenance is the Moscow Area Mountain Bike Association.
Sandra Townsend, who’s on the association’s board of directors, said the management follows a multi-tiered system for a trail adoption program.
Anyone is welcome to adopt a trail, Townsend said, “They just have to be passionate about going up to a certain trail and doing some brushing.”
As for Townsend’s favorite parts of Moscow Mountain, the Moose Marbles trail is the best for lots of “swoops and turns” on a mountain bike, and tamarack was the best for backcountry skiing.
Along with keeping the trails clean, Townsend recommends recreators get around without trespassing using the Trailforks app, which shows all updated trail conditions and GPS information.
This article has been adjusted to display the correct spelling of Trevor Fulton and remove of a photo incorrectly stating a private fence was a public entry.
Cody Roberts can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CodyRobReports