STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Does your pooch have a flair for fashion? Or, does it like being a clown?

The City of Ketchum is throwing Ketchum’s first Puppy Parade and Costume Contest as part of its annual Summer Solstice and Warm Springs Preserve Celebration on Monday, June 23.

The party will include guided yoga, nature and photography hikes, picnicking and stargazing.

Warm Springs Preserve is a place for community residents—and their dogs—to meet and chat.

Additionally, there will be an “In a Landscape” classical piano concert taking place in the preserve. Those who made donations to purchase the preserve snapped up reservations for the headsets immediately, but the headphones of no-shows will be given out on a first-come, first served basis.

Pianist Hunter Noack has created this experience that fosters a connection between classical music and nature in national and state parks, land trusts and Native American reservations. He so far has presented more than 300 such concerts for more than 75,000 people, replacing the traditional concert hall with mountain tops, forests and meadows.

Here’s the schedule for the free Solstice Party:

11 a.m.—Clara Hulette will lead a guided yoga session in nature.

Warm Springs Creek is getting a makeover this summer to improve fish and wildlife habitat.

3:30-4:30 p.m. Guided nature and photography hikes will be offered by Mike Olenick and John Finnell.

4-8 p.m.—Picnicking encouraged. Bring your own or choose from on-site offerings from the Salted Sprig, Joe’s Juice, Sawtooth Brewery and Roots Wine Bar.

5-5:30 p.m. The Puppy Costume Contest and Parade will feature prizes for Best Costume, Best Local Vibe and Best Dog/Owner Look-a-Like.

8:30 p.m. Classical pianist Hunter Noack will perform while guests explore the Preserve while listening to the performance through wireless headphones. While reservations for the headphones are full, headphones for individuals who do not show up will be released on a first-come, first-served basis.

Donor naming opportunities are listed on a board in the preserve.

The City of Ketchum purchased the 65-acre preserve, which once featured a golf course and popular restaurant built against a steep forested north-facing side of Bald Mountain, in 2022 to protect it as open space for residents and visitors in perpetuity.

Nearly a thousand community members donated $9.5 million to purchase the property, reserving $1 million of that for repairs to the irrigation system and restoration.

The preserve gets more than 200 visitors a day, many of whom cross country ski and snowshoe there in winter and who walk their dogs in the off-leash area in summer.

When the Summer Solstice Party is over, the work begins on restoring the riparian area and  building an improved parking lot and other amenities, such as interpretive signs, restrooms and a welcome building with a leash hook board, waste bin, trail map, bottle filler, pet water station and donor wall.

The preserve, long known as “the dog park,” provides a nice shady place to relax.

Restoring the riparian area and replacing the antiquated irrigation system is the most immediate concern, according to Juerg Stauffacher, Ketchum’s Park and Rec superintendent.

The way Warm Springs Creek has been constrained by rock rip-rack has increased the risk of flooding downstream. Workers will spend this summer restoring the creek so it features instream habitats and riffles for fish.

Additionally, the preserve uses 80 percent more water per acre than the ballfields at Atkinson Park. A new irrigation system will be more efficient and will run only at night, Stauffacher said. And it will save the city money.

“The restoration work will bring this area back to what it used to be. We’ve been dragging a lot of hose to keep the irrigation going. And you would not believe how many golf balls we found from when this area was a golf course.”

When finished the park will sport stepping stones and footbridges across the creek, log and boulder seating, a cattail marsh, wet and upland meadows, beaver dam and soft surface pathways winding through the park.

There will be an ADA-compliant path for wheelchair users around the park, as well as more narrow non-accessible paths keeping the natural earmarks of the area. Fifteen acres of riparian woodlands along the southern plain of Warm Springs Creek will allow a connector trail to River Run.

People have run into a mama bear and her cubs in that area, which is “pretty cool,” said Stauffacher.

“Unfortunately, there’s some really beautiful Douglas fir we will have to cut some down for some of the restoration work; you can’t expect to excavate the land nearby and have them survive,” he added.

While many use the preserve to walk, others who are more limited in mobility sit on benches and throw balls to their dogs.

“I can’t believe what they have out here,” said one woman. “It’s my happy place.”

Funds for the improvements, including bridge and culvert work, were raised through private donations and federal grants, with the city pitching in 5 percent of the costs to connect the roadway and utilities.

About $800,000 is still needed to purchase benches, build a boardwalk, restrooms, establish overlooks and do some trail work Naming opportunities are available at warmspringspreserve@ketchumidaho.org.

Donor-naming opportunities include the Ridge Trail and Southern Flood Plain Trail, a new Dog-Friendly Pond, a Wetland Overlook with Bench and Picnic Table, Pond Overlook with Bench and Picnic Table, ADA Floodplain Overlook with Seating and Point Bar Creek Access with Natural Bend.

Donor-naming opportunities also are available for a Picnic Table, two Footbridges, four Benches, Disc Golf Course, Drinking Fountain and Leah Hooks. And—get this—you could even have your name on the Bathroom…without having to write a single word of graffiti!

DID YOU KNOW?

About 350 poop bags for dogs are dispensed each day at Warm Springs Preserve.