Here's a picture of my new wagon. The two-week bushmod project somehow expanded to eight weeks but she is finally ready for her first backcountry trip. I am wondering about non-paved landing options with fuel in Idaho, western Montana and central/eastern Washington. I know that many airports don't have official grass runways but local pilots sometimes land areas adjacent to the runway. I would appreciate hearing about these locations with enough detail to orient pilots unfamiliar with the airport. Again, I'm interested in fueling stops. Thanks!

Martin Field in College Place, WA. Fly over and make sure the wheel line they use to water it isn't in operation.

Hood River has a grass strip between the runway and taxiway on the 25 end.

Felts Field has a control tower and a grass strip.

What a beautiful airplane!

West Fork Lodge (4U7) is a fun one in SW Montana. I haven’t been there since the new ownership took over but a few years ago they had camping and lodging in a beautiful location with a friendly old-timer to chat with who ran it all.

Bozeman, MT, KBZN. Turf 11/29 is long and in great shape. Only problem is it’s often closed after rain.

Locals often lan immediately adjacent to the west side of runway 3. No runway there, but smooth enough, and if you request landing adjacent to rwy 3, tower will say “landing adjacent to runway three is at pilots own risk”. They can’t clear you to land on a non operating surface, but that is your signal to land.

That puts you right beside the self serve fuel ramp also.

Best in mind if you do this, you are NOT cleared onto ANY operating surface. So if you want to taxi onto the runway or a taxiway, you’ll need to request clearance.

There is a very nice Air Camper Park in the back hangars near Reach. Grassy area to tie down and tent, toilets, Be sure to request sprinklers off. There’s a sign.

I’ve also landed at Three Forks in the grass between runway 21 and parallel taxiway. Kinda rough for small tires, but perfect for Bushwheel’s. Also right next to self serve gas.

MTV

Thanks for the posts! I would otherwise not learn about these places. I'm working on a list and will add all of these.

Thinking about checking out Boundary County in Idaho. Cheap fuel and lots of grass. I phoned the FBO and they said the grass area south of RW 20 is leased to a farmer who hays the area so I would expect the grass could get long. Although I wasn't given permission to land, they said the farmer probably wouldn't care and isn't on site.

Have made stops in Kamiah. The vast grass runway there is outstanding. There's a fuel callout list posted next to the entry if no one is around and they don't charge extra. I always worry whether or not the fuel truck will start - this process is worth a video. AT&T cell service doesn't work at the field but fortunately, a pilot in our group was able to call via Verizon. FYI the drinking water is foul.

Thanks for the tips jcaldwell!

Turrican - I flew over West Fork last August but didn't land. I wasn't sure about their fuel status but will drop in there and check it out. Thanks.

mtv - I appreciate the details. I did my comm/inst training in Bozeman and remember landing the turf strip during training but wasn't aware of the potential closure or the west of RW 3 option. I camped at that wonderful park during my flight training. John McKenna and airport security were very gracious about it even though I didn't have a plane with me at the time. I've landed Three Forks, and attended a fun fly-in there but don't recall that grass area. Good info, thanks.

Vmc- you could be right about a lack of fuel these days. I checked around but can’t find anything concrete, and unfortunately I’ve since moved to a different part of the country. Good luck!

Just got back from a fly in lunch at Twin Bridges, Montana.....7S1 is the designator. A very nice airport, with avgas at $4.69 per gallon, a decent turf strip oriented east/west, and a small, but nice grassy area to pitch your tent, complete with outhouse.

Looks like a good place to fuel up, and maybe camp for the evening if you're passing by.

MTV

Turrican wrote:What a beautiful airplane!

West Fork Lodge (4U7) is a fun one in SW Montana. I haven’t been there since the new ownership took over but a few years ago they had camping and lodging in a beautiful location with a friendly old-timer to chat with who ran it all.

No fuel at West Fork, and the last I heard the lodge was sold to someone with no intention of keeping it as a lodge. That's town gossip not fact, but the airstrip property is split between the lodge and several private residences, so I'm not sure it's even going to stay open to the public. Probably worth checking before landing.

If you're at Boundary , you're not far from me. Don't have any fuel, but you're welcome to drop in for the "two bit" tour. "Hanson" on the Great Falls sectional.
John

jcadwell wrote:Martin Field in College Place, WA. Fly over and make sure the wheel line they use to water it isn't in operation.

Hood River has a grass strip between the runway and taxiway on the 25 end.

Felts Field has a control tower and a grass strip.

Desert Air in Washington has 1,000' grass runway alongside paved runway

9S7 Winifred Airport
Winifred, Montana, USA

And the manager is an RAF supporter (which is how I ended up there).

Vmc wrote:<snip>
Have made stops in Kamiah. The vast grass runway there is outstanding. There's a fuel callout list posted next to the entry if no one is around and they don't charge extra. I always worry whether or not the fuel truck will start - this process is worth a video. AT&T cell service doesn't work at the field but fortunately, a pilot in our group was able to call via Verizon. FYI the drinking water is foul.

<more snip>

My first landing on any actual grass strip was at Kamiah, about 44 years ago, to pick up my airplane partner, who guided on the Idaho rivers to "recharge" from being an OB-GYN all year long. I'd landed on various gravel strips in Alaska when I was learning, but nothing grass. At the time, only the first 2000' was mowed to "airstrip length", although according to AirNav, it's 3000' long. No biggie, as it's at 1200' MSL.

But my pard showed up with 2 others, who he wanted to drop at McCall. One was about 240 lbs, and the other was a woman probably at 140 or so, plus their gear. He's not all that big, maybe 135, and I was at about 175 at the time, but he had gear, also. Fortunately, I'd refueled at Idaho Falls and had burned off a couple hours of fuel in the Skylane, but I was still concerned about getting in the air in the amount of runway available. So we both agreed that the better practice would be to plow through the uncut grass at the end, which we did--grass flying from the prop--turned around, and started the take off roll down the furrow we'd cut. The ol' bird lifted off with plenty of room to spare.

Much time was spent back at Laramie, removing the grass from the belly antennas and the grass stains from the prop and gear. Ah, the ignorance of youth (or yoot, as the case may be).

Cary

More options:

Townsend, MT - A long grass strip on the east side of paved runway. Confirmed with Aircrafters, a local flight school. 100LL available.

Lewiston, ID - Lewiston, ID - A local said they land the grass there routinely. I phoned the tower and Rick said the same thing. He was not at all discouraging. A local EAAer says Wendy is a good controller contact: 208-743-1537. The most common grass landing areas used are:

1. North side of RW 12 between approach end and Delta TW, land over the top of the PAPIs.
2. RW 8 south side.
3. RW 30 south side is used but not currently available due to construction activity.

Shoshone County, ID - Unofficial grass strip south of RW that I used by local pilots. Richard, the airport manager was very helpful. There are five (not a typo) newer courtesy cars available for pilot use just replace the gas. Cheap 100LL.

Thank you for the invitation hardtailjohn. We may get a chance to stop in sometime!

Thanks again mtv.

Mountain Doctor, does Desert Air have fuel?

Just land on pavement every once in a while. Everything will be OK.

cdgarg wrote:Just land on pavement every once in a while. Everything will be OK.

DON'T YOU DARE BLASPHEME IN THIS HOUSE!!!

Vmc wrote:More options:

Townsend, MT - A long grass strip on the east side of paved runway. Confirmed with Aircrafters, a local flight school. 100LL available.

Lewiston, ID - Lewiston, ID - A local said they land the grass there routinely. I phoned the tower and Rick said the same thing. He was not at all discouraging. A local EAAer says Wendy is a good controller contact: 208-743-1537. The most common grass landing areas used are:

1. North side of RW 12 between approach end and Delta TW, land over the top of the PAPIs.
2. RW 8 south side.
3. RW 30 south side is used but not currently available due to construction activity.

Shoshone County, ID - Unofficial grass strip south of RW that I used by local pilots. Richard, the airport manager was very helpful. There are five (not a typo) newer courtesy cars available for pilot use just replace the gas. Cheap 100LL.

Thank you for the invitation hardtailjohn. We may get a chance to stop in sometime!

Thanks again mtv.

Mountain Doctor, does Desert Air have fuel?

Good tip on Shoshone. I was just there but used the pavement I didn't know I could use the grass.

After I posted that I realized I was wrong. No fuel at Desert Air, but a nice short grass strip to test yourself. Very easy approach and departure

Sorry for the misinformation.

Martin Field in College Place WA DOES have fuel and awesome lounge if not already mentioned.

Landed Cascade ID in the grass between taxiway and runway. Gas is cheaper than McCall and 24 miles south.

Jake

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C130Jake - Which taxiway did you land? Ray says planes sometimes land the first patch of grass NW of 30 between the RW and taxiway but close to the taxiway. The right (SW) side of 12 at the numbers looks good on Google Earth. The Johnson Creek base camp area could use a good grass strip with fuel. Would be nice if McCall had a designated grass RW or the state sold avgas at JC.

Cool strip at New Meadows but no avgas there.

I landed the first and my buddy landed the third closer to the pumps. North Landing.
Pretty smooth. I was on 29 inch airstreaks

Jake

Cascade U70 between the taxiway and runway. Cheaper gas than Mccall.