McCroskey State Park

McCroskey State Park was given to the state of Idaho in 1955 by a local conservationist, Virgil T. McCroskey (1876–1970),{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Zv1LAAAAIBAJ&pg=7028%2C1376093 |newspaper=Spokane Chronicle |location=(Washington) |last=Devlin |first=Sherry |title=Pioneer environmentalist left legacy |date=January 9, 1984 |page=5}} who gradually bought up land endangered by logging and cobbled his purchases into a {{convert|4400|acre|km2|0|adj=on}} parcel.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0LxeAAAAIBAJ&pg=1810%2C769137 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=New state park to be dedicated |date=July 9, 1955 |page=2}} 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 state 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, maintained 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.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u2lWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6285%2C6927778 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Donor had vision, recipients didn't |agency=(editorial) |date=August 10, 2005 |page=B4}}{{cite journal |last=Vogt |first=Andrea |title=The Man Who Gave Away Mountains |journal=Washington State Magazine |publisher=Washington State University |location=(Pullman) |date=Fall 2006 |url=http://washington-state-magazine.wsu.edu/stories/2006/August/McCroskey.html}}

McCroskey named the park in honor of his mother Mary, a pioneer woman who left Tennessee with her husband and children and came to eastern Washington to establish a homestead near Steptoe Butte; she died when Virgil was 14, and he dedicated it to all pioneer women.

After his death, the park received less than adequate attention from the state for nearly two decades, until the late 1980s.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r6wpAAAAIBAJ&pg=6463%2C4986459 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |last=Oliveria |first=D.F. |title=McCroskey park funds demanded |date=May 5, 1988 |page=B1}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BpUrAAAAIBAJ&pg=2753%2C1461797 |newspaper=Idahonian |location=(Moscow) |last=Harriman |first=Peter |title=McCroskey Park finally gets some attention |date=August 15, 1988 |page=1A}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JfFPAAAAIBAJ&pg=3143%2C784367 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |last=Oliveria |first=D.F. |title=State's cleanup of donated park pleasing to McCroskey offspring |date=July 12, 1990 |page=B1}}

McCroskey State Park occupies the rocky slopes of Skyline Ridge on Mineral Mountain, in a transitional zone between the Palouse prairie to the west (and south) and the Rocky Mountains to the east. The park's chief attraction is a narrow unimproved road called Skyline Drive, which winds for {{convert|18|mi|-1}} 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 {{convert|32|mi}} of trails open to hiking, mountain 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 underutilized, it provides excellent habitat for an assortment of wildlife, including deer, moose, and black bears. Despite McCroskey's "park" status, however, significant logging still takes place within park boundaries.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

The park lies about {{convert|10|mi|spell=in}} north of Potlatch. The best access point is from Highway 95, but visitors can also enter the park from Farmington road on the west side, a few miles north of Farmington, Washington. On the Farmington side, the only indication of the park's presence is the Skyline Drive sign, and the roads are much rougher.{{cite web |last=Brians |first=Paul |title=McCroskey State Park |url=http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/Holland/masc/paul_brians/palouse/mccroskey/index.html |work=Tour WSU and the Palouse (And the Surrounding Region) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823122237/http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/paul_brians/palouse/mccroskey/index.html |archive-date=August 23, 2007}}

{{clear|left}}

Image:McCroskeysouth.jpg|Looking south from Skyline Drive

Image:Mccroskey skyline drive.jpg|Skyline Drive with Steptoe Butte in background

Image:Mccroskey park.jpg|View of Farmington, WA and Steptoe Butte

Image:FireplaceScenicView.jpg|Scenic view from Fireplace Day Use Area

{{portal|Idaho}}

• List of Idaho state parks
• National Parks in Idaho

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url=https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/mccroskey |title=McCroskey State Park |publisher=Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation |date=January 6, 2025 |accessdate=February 10, 2025}}

{{cite web |url=https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/mccroskey/info/ |title=McCroskey State Park Information |publisher=Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation |date=July 2, 2020 |accessdate=February 10, 2025}}

{{cite web |url=http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geog/publrecr/text/stlndmn.htm |title=History: State Lands in Idaho |publisher=Idaho Museum of Natural History |access-date=February 10, 2025}}

{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2PNXAAAAIBAJ&pg=2296%2C1915734 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |title=Dedication is set for large state park |date=July 8, 1955 |page=3}}

{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=6476%2C923299 |newspaper=Idahonian |location=(Moscow) |last=Harriman |first=Peter |title=Family fights bureaucracy to restore Uncle Virgil's park |date=May 7, 1988 |page=10A}}

{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-MYjAAAAIBAJ&pg=3863%2C4031782 |newspaper=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |location=(Idaho-Washington) |title=Green dreams |last=London |first=Bill |date=August 10, 2002 |page=1D}}

{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/7989 |title=McCroskey, Virgil Talmadge (1876-1970) |first=Laura |last=Arksey |encyclopedia=The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History |date=November 5, 2006 |publisher=HistoryLink |access-date=March 5, 2011}}

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{{commons category|McCroskey State Park}}

• [http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/mccroskey McCroskey State Park] Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation
• [https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/McCrosky-State-Park-2-2-23.pdf McCroskey State Park Map] Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation

{{Protected areas of Idaho}}

{{authority control}}

Category:State parks of Idaho

Category:Protected areas of Benewah County, Idaho

Category:Protected areas of Latah County, Idaho

Category:Protected areas established in 1955

Category:1955 establishments in Idaho

Category:Parks established in the 1950s