Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Moose Creek US Forest Service Airport is a remote backcountry grass airstrip deep in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho, run by the US Forest Service near Kooskia. It sits at the confluence of Moose Creek and the Selway River, offering sim pilots a genuine wilderness approach with no instrument aids and only grass runways to work with.
Moose Creek US Forest Service Airport is a small, isolated backcountry airstrip operated by the US Forest Service in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of central Idaho. It has long been a favourite destination for backcountry pilots because of its remote setting, historic ranger station, and the challenge of operating from short grass runways surrounded by wilderness terrain. For a simulator pilot it represents a classic bush-flying exercise, well away from any controlled airspace or navigational infrastructure.
The airfield lies within the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness near Kooskia, Idaho, at the confluence of Moose Creek and the Selway River. It is extremely remote, with no nearby controlled airspace, towns or other aerodromes of note; the closest recorded airports are both several nautical miles away near Kooskia itself. This isolation places the field firmly in uncontrolled airspace, with no ATC services in the vicinity.
Moose Creek has two grass runways. The longer is Runway 02/20, 4070 feet in length, while the shorter Runway 05/23 measures 2430 feet. Both are turf surfaces with no lighting and no ILS. Field elevation is 2451 feet.
No communications frequencies are published for Moose Creek US Forest Service Airport, and there are no navaids or instrument approaches serving the field. Pilots should expect to operate entirely by visual reference, with no radio or ATC support available at the airstrip itself.
No specific joining or circuit procedures are published for Moose Creek. Given its wilderness location and short grass runways bounded by rising terrain, arrivals and departures require careful visual assessment of wind and terrain rather than reliance on any formal pattern.
The airfield lies at the confluence of Moose Creek and the Selway River, which serves as the principal visual landmark for locating the strip. The historic 1920s ranger station log buildings stand at the end of the original runway and remain in use, providing a further visual cue for pilots on approach.
The US Forest Service cleared the original 2,300-foot turf runway at Moose Creek in 1931. A longer, 4,100-foot runway was added twenty-seven years later, in 1958, to accommodate larger aircraft. The 1920s log ranger station buildings situated at the end of the original runway have survived and remain in active use today, giving the airfield a strong sense of its early aviation and forest-service history.
Moose Creek continues to operate as a Forest Service backcountry airstrip and is maintained through the stewardship of volunteers, including seasonal caretakers associated with the Recreational Aviation Foundation. Its extreme remoteness, described by one long-time volunteer as being 50 miles from the nearest lightbulb, makes it a noted destination among backcountry pilots, though it offers no fuel, lighting or communications facilities.
