The ICT was created by Lasting Legacy Panel

When Roger Williams and Syd Tate trekked the length of Idaho in the mid 1980s, they created the vision for a state trail, but it would take several years of hard work and committee meetings before the Idaho Centennial Trail was created in its current form.

Williams, a longtime member and past president of the Idaho Trails Council, a statewide trail advocacy group, pitched the notion of an official north-south trail through Idaho at the annual meeting of the Idaho Trails Council in the spring of 1987. He gave a slide show on his odyssey through Idaho’s incredibly rugged and diverse landscape, and sold the Trails Council on the idea. Although the notion of a statewide trail had been advanced casually before, no one had ever selected an actual route. The trails selected by Williams and Tate in their 1986 trip became the starting point for discussion about an official route.

In 1989, Williams was named to sit on the Lasting Legacy Committee of the Idaho Centennial Commission, a committee that would select special historic projects as part of the Idaho Centennial celebration in 1990. Williams sold the Lasting Legacy Committee on the concept with his color slide show, and the Centennial Commission officially adopted the project as a way to showcase Idaho’s outstanding beauty. The Idaho Parks & Recreation Board and department staff were very supportive of the project and helped move it along.

A Centennial Trail agency steering committee and citizens advisory committee were formed to select an official route. It was a difficult struggle to find a route agreeable to all trail user groups, environmental groups, eight different national forests and several BLM districts. A professional facilitator mediated the meetings. A trail-selection process called “Choosing by Advantage” was used to narrow down the route.

As things turned out, Williams’ and Tate’s route was retained in some instances and rejected in others. Alternative routes called Centennial East and Centennial West were created to provide bypass routes for trail uses banned in wilderness areas.

Finally, in 1990, after much debate and emotional anguish, a final route was adopted by the Idaho Parks & Recreation Board and all of the federal agencies. As things turned out, the painful debates paid off, the Centennial Trail takes visitors on a tour of Idaho’s most spectacular landscapes.