Halfway adds gravel festival to Fourth of July celebration, fundraiser for track

Halfway’s Fourth of July celebration is gaining a new draw this year, and it is built as much around fundraising as around fireworks. The Halfway to Hells Canyon Gravel Festival will run July 3-5, 2026, with two days of bike riding or walking routes around the valley, each starting and ending at Pine Eagle High School, and entry fees going toward resurfacing the Grace Gulick Community Track.

That track project gives the festival its local purpose. Organizers say the goal is to build a safe, modern 8-lane track and field complex serving students, families and residents across Pine Valley, Eagle Valley, Oxbow and the Hells Canyon region. The project honors Grace Gulick, remembered as a beloved PE teacher, volleyball coach and track coach at Pine Eagle. The fundraising effort has raised about $25,000 toward a $610,000 goal, with a related update saying $160,000 is the local target meant to show support to larger funders.

The gravel festival is being presented by Pine Valley 2050 and capped at 250 total registrations. Festival materials list a two-day adult pass at $125 and route options ranging from 5 to 40 miles, including loops and climbs with names such as Hooker Flat Loop, West Wall Walking Loop, Orr Hill-Carson Loop, East Pine Mt Climb, Mehlhorn Butte Loop, North Wall Walking Loop, Goodwin-Bowerman Loop, The Mtn Lodge Gravel Ride and Summit Point Vista Climb. Organizers are also tying the event to America 250 festivities and promoting lodging, food and route details to visitors.

For Halfway, the question is whether that added traffic will translate into meaningful dollars for the valley or mostly expand an already familiar holiday celebration. The route system is designed to slow riders and walkers down through the landscape, while the registration limit suggests a small, tightly managed event rather than a large festival crowd. Still, even a modest influx of cyclists and support vehicles could matter in a town of 351 people, where one weekend can carry outsized weight for local businesses and civic projects.

The July 4 schedule is not giving up its older traditions. Stargazing, fireworks and other festivities remain part of the holiday, keeping the event rooted in the small-town mix that has long defined Halfway. Pine Valley 2050’s history notes that the town was named Halfway in 1909, after a charter request for Midway came back with the name Halfway. In a place that small, the new gravel festival is as much a community campaign as a holiday attraction, with the track fundraiser now woven into the town’s biggest summer weekend.