Winter Outing at the Palouse Divide Lodge Register

Date and Time:
Sat, Feb 7, 2026; 10:00 AM (Pacific)

Organized By: Palouse Group

Location: 176 Palouse Divide Rd, St Maries, ID 83861, USA

Map | Directions

Event Organizers:
Michael Cantrell
   macantr18@gmail.com
Krystal Fairfax
   kryfax@gmail.com
Timothy Hatten
   hattentim@hotmail.com

Photo credit: Krystal Fairfax

Join the Palouse Group of the Sierra Club and Friends of the Clearwater for our annual Palouse winter Outing at the Palouse Divide Lodge! We'll meet on the morning of Saturday, February 7th just before 10:00 am at the Lodge, and split into two groups for a cross country ski and snowshoe tour on the Palouse Divide trail system. If you would rather enjoy the day on your own, you can join us as outing participants at the lodge in the late afternoon or for dinner and an evening program!

What to expect:

Those joining us for the day may come into the lodge entryway shortly before 10:00 am to warm up before heading outside. Our ski and snowshoe groups will spend a number of hours on the trails through the gorgeous forest in the area. We will return to the lodge in the late afternoon, then have time to rest or get together for happy hour in the conference room we have reserved, followed by a buffet dinner and an evening program.

Difficulty

Both the ski group and the snowshoe group will be on trails of low to medium difficulty, with the majority of the time spent on sections of low difficulty.

Group Size Limits

To ensure that our leaders are able to keep everyone safe, our cross country ski and snowshoe groups will each be limited to the first 10 participants that sign up. Folks who sign up after this limit has been reached are welcome to recreate on their own and then return to the group for evening activities. We will update the RSVP page when the group size limit has been reached for each group.

Parking, Food, and Accommodation Costs

The outdoor activities for the day are free, and financial assistance is available to help cover up to the full price of food, parking, and gear rental costs if needed (see "financial support" below). The outing will officially end after the post-dinner program.

Every vehicle that will be parking at the lodge requires an Idaho Park 'n Ski Pass ($7.50 for a 3-day permit or $25 for the season). These passes are available for purchase at Hyperspud Sports in Moscow or online.

Lodge charges for outing participants:
--Dinner and late afternoon happy hour/hanging in our reserved meeting room: $20
--Full day lodge use without lodging: $25
--Full day lodge use plus dinner: $30
--Overnight stay: Includes dinner and breakfast the next morning for $100 per person if in a shared double room, $150/person if in a single room.

(Dinner cost is typically higher, but Sierra Club is able to offset these costs. Please email amanda.reed@sierraclub.org if you need any additional financial support to cover food or parking costs.)

A limited number of rooms are still available this weekend for both Friday and Saturday evenings. Reservations are required, so you may want to reserve your room as soon as possible. Contact Mac Cantrell for lodging and dinner reservations, and he will convey the information to the lodge (macantr18@gmail.com 509-330-1644). Shirley Hathaway, who owns the lodge, is a lovely host and will try to accommodate people with dietary limitations, so please include that information. Individual payments will be to Shirley on the day of your arrival.

Need financial support for gear rentals, food, or parking costs? Please reach out to amanda.reed@sierraclub.org. We'll work with you to cover any costs to make this trip accessible for you. If you need support with gear rentals specifically, we'll need at least 3 days notice prior to the trip to arrange this.

Restrictions

All cross country ski participants must have skied at least a few times in the past. Snowshoers may be first timers. All minors joining the trip must be accompanied by a guardian.

Waiver & Next Steps

Since this is an official Sierra Club Outing, trip participants will need to register and sign a waiver before we head out on the trails, so please RSVP and sign the virtual waiver! Please look for additional information we will send a few days before the event, including a contact list of participants to help you coordinate plans and in case you want to independently arrange carpools.

Please fill out a separate registration form for each person, so we can have a signed waiver on file for each person and know each individual's dietary preferences, etc.

We expect everyone joining this event to act respectfully and help create a safe and inclusive space for folks from marginalized identity groups. All participants must adhere to the standards of conduct in our participant agreement.

We hope you can join us at Palouse Divide Lodge. The trails, the forest, and the views are beautiful! 

Bring: All participants are responsible for bringing their own warm clothing (including extra gloves and extra layers!), ski or snowshoe equipment, plus water, lunch, and refreshments.

Carpool: Participants are free to arrange carpools on their own if they'd like. We will provide contact information but will not be arranging the carpools.

Note: Carpool transportation is at the sole risk of the participants.