Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation is hosting a public meeting in Driggs on April 26th to provide this community with information and plans for the Ashton to Tetonia Rail Trail.
Date: Friday, April 26
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Teton High School Auditorium In 2021/22 State Recreation Departments received funding from the Federal Government to improve recreation access and facilities. Through this funding source, IDPR plans to pave the Ashton to Tetonia Rail Trail. Join the community meeting on the 26th to learn more and share your thoughts.
Here's a summary of Trails & Pathways' position on the Ashton-Tetonia Rail Trail.
During initial planning, IDPR planned to pave the entire section of the trail and not surprisingly, we've been asked our thoughts about this. As with any trail/public land situation, there are a lot of factors to consider. In listening to the wider spectrum of trail users, below are some themes:
A paved trail surface is smoother and easier to navigate for persons in a wheelchair, the older senior population, and the very, very young
An asphalt surface is expensive to build and sustaining a good surface requires a regular and costly maintenance routine.
Asphalt is not user friendly to horses
A natural surface trail of crusher fines or finely crushed limestone when placed with moisture, rolled and compacted form a surface that is very usable for the widest range of users. It also requires regular maintenance to ensure weeds/grass do not grow through the surface, but less per mile than asphalt maintenance.
We plan to ask IDPR to please not pave the entirety of the trail but look at some smaller sections for asphalt. We support looking at parking area improvements for full accessibility for all users and paving some shorter sections from the parking areas to scenic points. When looking at these sections, consider establishing a singletrack trail adjacent to the path where horses can ride. In general, we think there are some good solutions to support a range of users over the 30 miles of trail.
