The Valley County Master Plan has been incorporated into the Valley County Comprehensive Plan, a document that guides the future planning and development of the county. Our latest Master Plan was approved by the Valley County Commission in July 2017. The current Master Plan is strengthened by the latest pathway plans developed by the cities of McCall, Donnelly and Cascade, and it also embraces the North Fork Payette River online Water Trails recreation guide. A new 2-inch binder contains all of the plans in living color, including all the maps.
VCP master plan executive summary (PDF)
The Vision Statement of VCP is as follows:
Vision Statement
We seek to connect the communities of McCall, Donnelly, Lake Fork and Cascade with a north-south pathway system in Long Valley. We also envision a pathway around Payette Lake and Lake Cascade. To the maximum extent possible, the Valley County Pathway system would connect valley trails to community and neighborhood pathway networks, tourism amenities and services, parks, schools, natural areas, and national forest roads and trails.
In our updated Master Plan, the vision now includes linking to Adams County, New Meadows and the Weiser River Trail.
Highest priority projects for VCP:
- Donnelly Flyway – Developing a new walking/biking pathway from downtown Donnelly to the city beach on Lake Cascade via a trail next to the Donnelly Airport (grass airstrip). Distance is 1.3 miles. The City of Donnelly has given VCP a local option grant to assist with project construction. Timeline: Summer 2021.
- Finishing up the Heinrich Singletrack Sidewalk walking/biking demonstration trail along Heinrich Lane, 3.5 miles south of McCall. VCP teamed up with the Central Idaho Mountain Biking Association (CIMBA) for a trail-work day in November 2020. We plan to finish the trail in May 2021 and open it to the public in June 2021. The Heinrich demo trail allows people to do a loop back to McCall or travel to Lake Fork and points east or south. Alex Ray of Payette Environmental in McCall is our trail contractor.
- Rogers Lane to Payette Middle School via Carefree subdivision. This is a 5-mile trail project that was broadly supported by McCall-area residents, via outreach meetings with the McCall Chamber, the McCall City Council, McCall Rotary, and the online trail survey. Trail distance: 5 miles; Timing: Summer 2022.
- Tamarack Falls to Tamarack Resort – Developing a paved or natural surface trail that flows through the campgrounds and picnic areas along Lake Cascade waterfront. This project is a high priority for Tamarack Resort, campers and recreationists in that corridor.
- Lake Fork to Donnelly – This 10-mile section was listed as a high-priority in our online surveys and public meetings. The actual route selected from Lake Fork to Donnelly will be determined via public outreach meetings with local community, ranchers and landowners. Long-range plans call for building a singletrack sidewalk along Norwood or Nisula or a combination thereof to provide a pathway corridor between those two communities in the mid-valley. Timing: TBD.
- West Mountain Greenbelt – This section of pathway would run south of Tamarack Resort to French Creek Campground or farther south as a long-range scenic pathway running alongside Bureau of Reclamation and Forest Service land on the west side of Lake Cascade. Timing: TBD.
- Cascade to Sugarloaf Campground – Community meetings with the Cascade Mobility Committee, the Cascade Chamber and online surveys showed this route to be the highest-priority for the Cascade community. This route involves Bureau of Reclamation land and private lands. Timing: TBD.
- Continue working on a pathway corridor around Payette Lake. New, wider bike lanes were built on Warren Wagon Road on the west side of the lake in 2018. This was a VCP success story, with help from the McCall community. While CIMBA works on building singletrack mountain biking trails around the lake in the forest, VCP will look for opportunities to build a detached paved trail along the east side of the lake on Eastside Drive. Timing: TBD.
- Bike lanes or a detached pathway along Davis Road to Gold Fork Hot Springs, a popular destination. Timing: TBD.
- Develop a detached pathway along Cabarton Road from the Clear Creek junction to the city of Cascade. Timing: TBD.