| State: | ID |
| Type: | SH |
| Route: | 8 |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Map Notes: | SH-8 highlighted in red |
| Maint: | ITD |
| Length Mi: | 53.589 |
| Length Ref: | [1] [2] |
| Direction A: | West |
| Terminus A: | in Moscow |
| Junction: | |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus B: | 1st Street and Main Street in Elk River |
| Previous Type: | SH |
| Previous Route: | 7 |
| Next Type: | SH |
| Next Route: | 9 |
State Highway 8 (SH-8) is an Idaho state highway in Latah and Clearwater counties, running from the Washington state line in Moscow to Elk River. It is 53.589miles in length, and runs primarily east–west.
SH-8 begins at the Washington state line, connecting with Washington State Route 270 to Pullman. Between the cities to the north is the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. The two state highways comprise the "Moscow-Pullman Highway" in the 8miles between the university cities.
In Moscow, Highway 8 runs east along the northern boundary of the University of Idaho campus as Pullman Road (widened to five lanes in 1996–97),[3] [4] [5] [6] enters an "S" curve, and becomes Third Street. It briefly overlaps US 95, and runs south through the city center (one ways (since 1981): Jackson Street southbound and Washington Street northbound, a block on either side of Main). South of downtown, SH-8 branches east to become the "Troy Highway" and continues to Troy, where it intersects SH-99.
East of Troy, SH-8 heads generally northeast, intersecting SH-9 shortly before entering Deary and overlapping SH-3 there. From Deary, the overlapping highways run east and northeast to Bovill, where they diverge.[1] [2] [7] From Bovill, SH-8 heads south and southeast into Clearwater County, then turns east and northeast into Elk River, where it ends at the intersection of First and Main streets.[1]
For non-motorized traffic, Highway 8 is paralleled to the south by a series of paved trails from the state line to Troy, on former railroad corridors. The Bill Chipman Palouse Trail originates in Pullman, gradually ascends alongside Paradise Creek, and terminates a mile into Idaho at Perimeter Road.[8] There it links with Moscow's Paradise Path, which continues alongside the creek on the north and east edges of the UI campus; it connects to the Latah Trail in southeast Moscow and then travels east through open Palouse country to Troy.[9] [10]