History of the Highway 93 South Trail

A Community Effort, finally complete

Throughout Lemhi County’s Salmon Valley Trails Feasibility study process (2014-2015) five candidate trail segments were assessed for community connectivity, nonmotorized transport, and safety. Five public meetings were held which engaged over 100 local citizens. The Highway 93 project rose to the top, receiving nearly unanimous community support as a safety priority. At each of these community meetings, concerns were broadly expressed about the extremely narrow shoulder of Highway 93, making it difficult to safely walk, run, bike, or ride horses to access town and outlying areas. A Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant application was created and submitted in 2015 for a 5-mile pathway from Salmon, south to the BLM’s Shoup Bridge Recreation Site. Salmon Valley Stewardship took the lead and worked with the City of Salmon, Lemhi County, Salmon Field Office Bureau of Land Management, Youth Employment Program, Idaho Department of Transportation, and local engineers to come up with construction and maintenance plans. Local partners worked closely with Federal Highway Administration engineers every step of the way, ensuring the final design of the trail would be representative of improved safety along the Highway 93 corridor.  

Because this highway corridor is a singular connection into the community from the south, the narrow highway shoulder has been used by bikers, horseback riders, ATV users, and pedestrians alike for decades. The existing highway infrastructure did not lend itself safely to any non-motorized travel. The Western Federal Lands Highway Administration completed engineering and trail design, and managed construction of the trail during the spring and summer of 2022.

Now, non-motorized users have a paved 5-mile path connecting the City of Salmon at Kid’s Creek Park to the BLM’s Shoup Bridge Recreation Site.

Local partners hope that the new Highway 93 Trail eventually will include an additional 3.5-mile stretch to the north, connecting Salmon to the Lemhi County Fairgrounds.