[Cdt-l] Hitchhiking in Idaho -- followup

[Brill Stephen]

I wanted to follow-up on the recent post concerning
hitchhiking in Idaho.  Yes, it is
illegal to hitchhike in the Gem State. 
My own personal experience in this may be helpful.

 

Last year I was hitching back to my home in Boise after a
4-day CDT hike in Yellowstone.  My
friend picked me up from the trail and after spending the night at his place in
Island Park, drove me to Rexburg, from where I started hitching.  

 

It was a Sunday morning in the heart of Idaho’s MoCo.  I managed to get a ride from Rexburg to Mud
Lake but had a very difficult time getting out of Mud Lake.  After about two hours trying to hitch out of
Mud Lake, a state trooper came by and informed me that what I was doing
(standing by the side of the road with a sign reading “Arco”) was against the
law in Idaho.  Had there been a sidewalk
there and had I been standing on the sidewalk with my sign, this would have
been ok.  But since there was no
sidewalk, even though I was well off the roadway, what I was doing was
illegal.  It is illegal to attempt to
solicit a ride with your thumb or sign if you are on a highway (or any public road, for that matter).  According to this trooper, it is perfectly
legal to simply stand by the side of the road if you make no attempt to solicit
a ride.  It is also legal to ask a
motorist in a stopped car for a ride. 
This last strategy eventually worked for me, and I was incredibly
fortunate to catch a ride all the way from Mud Lake to Boise, a distance of
about 250 miles.

 

Finally it is worth noting that before the trooper left he
said he would return in a few hours. 
.And if he saw me out there attempting to solicit a ride illegally, he
would arrest me.

 

Hope this helps for all those considering hitchhiking
in Idaho.  My suggestion is to go to a
gas station and ask for a ride, rather than attempt to truly hitch.

-- Moondancer
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