North America/United States of America/Idaho/De Smet/Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park/

Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park

• Location & Contact Information
  • Address: 30 miles North of Moscow on SH 95
  • Telephone Number: +1-208-666-6711
  • Official Website: [1]
• Overview

Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park is Idahos second-largest state park. It is a 5300 acre wilderness area located in Latah and Benewah Counties along the border of Idaho, and extending into Skyline Drive, looking west. McCroskey built much of the road himself.

History

McCroskey State park has an unusual history. It was gifted to Idaho in 1955 by a local conservationist, Virgil T. McCroskey, who gradually bought up land endangered by logging and cobbled his purchases into a 4400 acre parcel. To make the land more attractive to tourists, he cut viewpoints into some of the slopes, built picnic areas planted flowers, and established a road. The Idaho legislature, however, had serious doubts about the new park; thinking it would not generate enough revenue to justify the loss in taxes and agreed to accept the gift only if McCroskey, then in his late seventies, would maintain the park at his own expense for the next fifteen years. McCroskey accepted the terms, and lived exactly fifteen more years, fulfilling his obligation to the state of Idaho just weeks before his death in 1970 at age 93.

McCroskey named the park in honour of his mother, a pioneer woman who came to Eastern Washington with her husband and children to establish a homestead near Steptoe Butte; he dedicated it to all pioneer women.

Description

McCorskey State Park occupies the rockey slopes of Skyline Ridge on Mineral Mountain, in a transitional zone between the palouse prairie to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east. The park's chief attraction is a narrow unimproved road called Skyline Drive, which winds for seventeen miles (27 km) along a steep ridge, climbing through dense Cedar forest that gives way to stands of Ponderosa Pine and, eventually, to prairie. The road also links a scattering of interpretive signs and vista points. In addition, there are approximately thirty miles of trails open to hiking, montain biking, horses, and all-terrain vehicles. Picnic areas, pit toilets and primitive campsites are available, along with a single source of drinking water near the midpoint of Skyline Drive. Since the park is large, remote, and underutilised, it provides excellent habitata for an assortment of wildlife, including deer, moose, and black bears. Despite McCroskey's status, however, significant logging still takes place within park boundaries.