Summer is finally here! Four places to go Mountain Biking in McCall

Huckleberry Trail in Ponderosa State Park is super fun and challenging! 

The trail drops down by the lake in multiple places, providing a place for Huck to cool off ... 

Flowers popping near Osprey Point ... that's Council Mountain with snow in the distance 

Hi all,

It's great to finally see the snow melting off in the higher elevations of the mountains, ushering in the summer mountain recreation season. While the highest elevations are still snow-bound, the lower elevations in the greater McCall area are melted out, and the wildflowers are sprouting everywhere.

This week, for my outdoor tip of the week, I'm recommending four destinations for mountain biking in the greater McCall area. All of these would work for hiking or trail-running as well. All of these trails are featured in my book, Mountain Biking in McCall, available at most outdoor stores in McCall, some of the bike shops in Boise and on my web site. 

1. Ride Huckleberry Trail around the perimeter of Ponderosa State Park. Rated intermediate with rocks and roots in the trail. Distance: approximately 6 miles. Riding time: 1 hour. Two years ago, Ponderosa State Park staff greatly enhanced the mountain biking experience in the park by adding new sections of the singletrack Huckleberry Trail. Now you can ride all the way around the perimeter of the park, stop at one of several places to go swimming if you wish, stop at Osprey Point to soak in the view, and then cruise along the west shoreline of the park with great views of the lake.

Huckleberry Trail parallels the lake along the west shore of the peninsula ... 

I just rode the trail today, and it's been cleared of winter blowdown and other debris. I saw several deer, beautiful wildflowers by Osprey Point, and enjoyed the views of the lake along the way. You have to be on your toes when you're riding the trail in terms of negotiating around roots and rocks ... something that's pretty standard on McCall trails, but not something you encounter that much on the Boise Trails.

Note that if you ride your bike into the park from wherever you are staying, there is no entry fee.

2. Ride Bear Basin - Rated beginning and up. Smoother trails than Ponderosa Park. Distance: Up to you. Riding time: Up to you. Bear Basin is the perfect place to take kids biking. It has a variety of singletrack trails to enjoy, and good trail signage for navigation. I recommend Sleepy Hollow, Ditch Witch, Upper Drain, Blue Ridge and more. See map below.

You can reach the Bear Basin trailhead by taking ID 55 west of the city of McCall and following 55 to a right-hand turn right before the Little Ski Hill. Follow the road to the Forest Service trailhead. There is a rest room at the trailhead.

3. Brundage Mountain had a grand opening for the summer season today (Thursday, June 22), so the chairlifts are running on Thursdays-Sundays throughout the summer. There is still too much snow on top of Brundage to ride Elk Trail, but you can still ride a couple of shorter trails at the base area. You also could take the chairlift to the top to enjoy the view and snap a few photos. As the warm weather of the summer kicks in, you'll be able to ride from the top of the mountain in a few weeks. Things are delayed because of the epic winter of 2016-17.

4. Ride Jug Mountain Ranch - The trails at Jug Mountain are mostly lower elevation, so people have been riding there for a few weeks. Jug Mountain Ranch is located directly east of Lake Fork. They've got some of the best trails in the greater McCall area with banked corners, narrow singletracks, opportunities for big air, and just a beautiful setting in a dense forest with huge trees. I recommend riding South Elk Trail, climbing up on South Boundary Road to Jug Reservoir, riding around the lake on Shoreline Trail, and then taking Vandelay downhill to Harpers Hollow and return to the trailhead via North Elk Trail. You've also got to ride Berm & Ernie, preferable downhill. There are lots of different trails to try at JMR!

Check on the best lodging options in McCall via inidaho.com, vrbo.com, and the McCall Chamber of Commerce. I noticed a lot of open camp sites in Ponderosa State Park today, but I doubt that will last long!

Have fun!
- SS

Five fabulous kid- and family-friendly bike rides in Cascade and McCall

Kids do amazingly well on the Bear Basin Trails in McCall 

Barb and Paul ride a boardwalk on the Shoreline Trail at Jug Mountain Ranch 

Dropping into Upper Drain in Bear Basin 

Cindy and Steve Jones on the North Valley Trail, south of McCall 

Hi all,

The weather is warming up and many people from the Treasure Valley will be heading up to Cascade or McCall to stay cool, maybe take a swim and hang out at the cabin or go camping.

Audio from 94.9 FM The River for this segment. 

My own family has a wedding in McCall this weekend, so we're gearing up for that. In the spirit of enjoying the green and forested setting in Valley County, I'm offering up five fabulous kid- and family-friendly bike rides to consider when you're in the neighborhood. I've blogged about many other more expert trails in the area, but this week, it's about kids and families. These trails are just fine for adults, too, especially those who like a relatively low-key experience.  

I'll start with the easiest trails and work up from there. All of the trails except the Strand are featured in my guide, Mountain Biking in McCall.

1. The Strand in Cascade -  Kid-friendly rating ***** The Strand runs parallel to the North Fork of the Payette River from the south Hwy 55 bridge trailhead in Cascade to a point just short of Water's Edge RV Park. It's 2.2 miles one-way. At the north end trailhead, you just turn-around and ride back to the south bridge trailhead. This ride is cool because it runs along the river, where you might see wildlife, and then it also runs by Kelly's Whitewater Park, where you can see kayakers and surfers play in the waves. Plus, there's a nice lawn there and places where you can walk down to the river's edge and watch as close as you want. 

The Strand along the North Fork of the Payette River 

2. Crown Point Trail in Cascade - Kid-friendly rating ***** This trails runs alongside Lake Cascade from the Crown Point camping area 3 miles to the north trailhead at Vista Point Road. It's an out-and-back ride on a mostly flat surface with pine trees bordering the trail on both sides, or really nice lake views off to the west, plus West Mountain towers above on the opposite shore. There are some sweet beaches directly adjacent to the trail, where you could hang out and have a picnic, go swimming or just relax. Getting there: Take Lake Way from ID 55 to a point where it ends by the campground. There's a small parking area by the trailhead for Crown Point Trail. 

Spacious beaches next to the Crown Point Trail look inviting 

3. North Valley Trail - Kid-friendly rating **** The North Valley Trail is a little more challenging than Crown Point Trail because it has some singletrack sections, which might be difficult for young riders. Ideally, I recommend starting on the greenbelt path next to the City of McCall offices on Park Street in downtown McCall, and ride the paved pathway out south to where the path ends by the McCall Smokejumper Base on Mission Street. Go left (south) along Mission Street, pick up the paved pathway in River Ranch, keep riding south, and then follow signs to the North Valley Trail. It's about 1.5 miles or so from downtown to this point, and then it's another 3.5 miles on the North Valley Trail to Heinrich Lane. The trail ends here, so it's five miles back to the start; 10 miles total. The North Valley Trail is very scenic -- it runs by a large wetland pond, where you can see water birds, and it's bordered by pine trees for most of its course. It's a mix of two-track and singletrack on the old RR ROW. 

North Valley Trail is bordered by pines 

4. Bear Basin - Kid-friendly rating **** For kids 8 and up, the Bear Basin Trails are a perfect place to take the family for a low-key ride. The trail map shows green, blue and black trails by difficulty, which is helpful for those riding the area for the first time. I led a big group of my family on an intermediate ride last summer, starting on Baby Bear, dropping into the shadows of big trees on Sleepy Hollow, then climbing Blue Ridge to Upper Drain, a challenging switchback trail with big bermed corners. Even people who have never ridden banked corners do amazingly well when they try it for the first time. If it's too scary for some folks, have them walk down the trail. Upper Drain runs into Grand Traverse (not signed), the first singletrack trail you come to. Go left and return to Baby Bear junction. Try different routes and have fun in Bear Basin! 

5. Jug Mountain Ranch - Kid-friendly rating **** Jug Mountain Ranch continues to add more trails and knock it out of the park in terms of trail design and big fun factor. They've got a shuttle service to make it easy to reach the top of their trail system, or you can climb to Jug Mountain Reservoir and enjoy a super fun gravity ride downhill. The trail everyone is raving about lately is Berm N Ernie. Check out of the video and see what you think! Download their trail map here. One possible short loop is to ride the South Elk Loop, return to the trailhead area and take Basic Training to Mid-Mountain doubletrack, then take the lower part of Berm N Ernie back to the start. Or, take South Elk to the South Boundary Road, climb to the reservoir, ride Shoreline around the lake, descend on Vandelay, Harper's Hollow and finish on North Elk. JMR has a cool overnight shelter at Jug Mountain Reservoir that you can rent. Call (208) 634-5072 for more information. 

Have fun! - SS

Family Reunion recreation tips from Stueby - Our Fabulous Experience in McCall

Wendy and Ellie on the beach 

Steve and cousin John cruising around on Payette Lake 

L-R, Theo Coonen, Haiti and France, Peter Damon, L.A., John Damon, R.I.
Greg and Sandra Coonen, Andora on the Stueby raft 

Back of the boat: Steve, Drew and Jack Damon  

My sister, Kathy, Minnesota, Nolan and Andrew Stuebner, Maine  

Jonesy at the helm

Hi all,  

Almost 40 Stuebner relatives from all over the globe flocked to McCall last week for seven days of non-stop fun. Our family members just RAVED about the beauty in McCall, and thoroughly enjoyed the mix of structured outdoor activities and hang-loose time as well. 

I wanted to share our experience in terms of the recreation activities, rental toys and rental homes that we lined up in case this might be useful for other folks planning a reunion in McCall. Just to give you a flavor, we had a welcome dinner Sunday night, I took folks mountain biking on Monday morning and then Burgdorf Hot Springs in the afternoon, we did a 4-hour horseback ride with Yahoo Corrals on Tuesday, we went whitewater rafting on Cabarton Wednesday, and capped things off with a catered dinner Thursday night. Friday was an open day for lake activities and beach time, and then folks departed on Saturday.  

First and foremost, the McCall location has it all -- big Payette Lake right there front and center, Ponderosa State Park so close by, top-flight lodging at Shore Lodge, the Payette National Forest all around town, Bear Basin Trails 5 minutes from town, the Payette River down the valley, lift-served activities at Brundage Mountain, great trails and shuttles at Jug Mountain Ranch, ditto at Tamarack, Paul's Market and Ridley's -- both big grocery stores -- plus, excellent outdoor stores, restaurants, shops, ice skating, and many rental properties for lodging.

So, I had confidence that McCall would blow people away with its stunningly beautiful scenery and amenities. We set up a full week for the reunion, July 27-Aug. 1. I encouraged family members to come for the whole time ... and almost everyone did. They all flew into the Boise airport, rented cars and zipped to McCall. We did try to car-pool to the maximum extent possible with our fleet of vehicles.   

Kathy Damon, R.I., Sandra Coonen, Andora, Kathy Stuebner, my sister,
Bryn Stuebner, Mountain View, CA, in the big log cabin in Luck's Point.  

Key things to pin down early: 

1. Rent a lakefront home or several lakefront homes six months in advance or more. I knew my cousins from Rhode Island, Los Angeles, France and Andora would want beach-front access. My Mom rented a beautiful lakefront home a stone's throw from Ponderosa Park. We got lucky on another place, renting a large log cabin in Luck's Point, which had private beachfront space and a boat slip for our use 24/7. The more reasonably priced homes go fast! Expect to pay $500/night or more for lakefront. Check with InIdaho.com and vrbo.com for options. 

18-foot Bayliner from RBK Power Sports Rentals rocks! 

2. Rent a power/ski/tube/surf boat that you can use 24/7. Having a powerboat at your disposal with lakefront property and a dock is positively LIVING LARGE in McCall. I tried to rent local in McCall but the vendors up there wouldn't let me keep the boat overnight. So I kept looking and found RBK Power Sports Rentals in Nampa. They have a nice 18-foot Bayliner with a 4.3-liter inboard/outboard engine for $250 a day. I put a 50% deposit down on the boat in the spring, and paid the balance when I picked it up on July 27. I towed the boat to McCall with my truck. Very smooth ride. We had so much fun on that boat -- tubing, water skiing and touring around the lake. 

3. Book early at Shore Lodge for the July time period, which is super high summer season. My aunt and uncle stayed there, plus my brother Jim and his wife, Bryn, stayed there to enjoy some alone time on the week of their anniversary. Getting a tee time was tough for my aunt and uncle but they did play one day on the Whitetail course and loved it. They also enjoyed playing golf at Jug Mountain Ranch.

Group shot in a tall-grass meadow 

Chloe, Peter, Drew, Liz, Tristan and Bridget  

Riding into the meadow 

4. Horseback riding with Yahoo Corrals. We had a large group, thinking initially that we'd have as many as 29 people going on the horseback ride. As it turned out, we had 20. I booked our trip early, and they didn't require a down payment. That was cool since everyone in our group would pay their way on the ride. It was $110/person for a 4-hour horseback ride plus BBQ dinner. Great value for the cost! 

And boy, they took us on a sporting horseback ride! We started at Yahoo Corrals on the west side of Warren Wagon Road, and rode right out onto trails from there. We rode up some steep uphills and downhills, requiring you to lean way forward on the saddle on the uphills or putting all the weight on the stirrups on the downhills. I was so proud of my son, Drew ... it was his first horseback ride and he rode like a champion for 4 hours! Half way through, we rode into a gorgeous mountain meadow and took pics of the group on horseback. Very cool! 

In retrospect, I thought a 2-hour ride would have been plenty, but I didn't want to short my sister, Kathy, Wendy, or my niece, Liz, all of whom love to ride! My only complaint with Yahoo Corrals is that they didn't provide optional beer/wine with dinner. We had to zip back to town to take care of that! No biggie! We were mighty thirsty after the ride! 

5. Finding guides and boats for whitewater rafting. We had 25 people to take rafting, but instead of calling an outfitter, I tried to organize the trip by using my own raft, borrowing more rafts, and persuading my whitewater friends to bring a boat or guide one of them. You have to start early pinning down river guides because they're often busy doing more important trips during the summer 

months. I was fortunate to get Steve Jones, Doug Lawrence and Howard Miller to be our guest guides. Top flight! Wendy and I were the other guides, and it all worked great! The shuttle vehicle situation was too complicated to pull off in one fell swoop, but oh well. Everyone had a great trip on Cabarton. Some of my family had never rafted before. We used all paddle rafts, except Jonesy rowed an oar raft, which are perfect for taking young kids on the river. 

If you don't have your own stuff, try Cascade Raft & Kayak, Bear Valley, Idaho Whitewater Unlimited or Tamarack for booking a Cabarton trip. 

6. Reserve a great spot for a special catered dinner as a grand finale for the guests. We booked a beautiful spot behind the Ponderosa Park Visitor Center. The shelter is shaded. It looks out onto a spacious lawn, large trees and Payette Lake. The cost was about $200.00, very reasonable for a large group. We used Incahoots BBQ as the caterer. They served Tritip and wild salmon, scalloped potatoes, vegetables, salad, and brownies and cobbler for dessert. Yum! 

As the sun set faded into a rouge glow over the distant treetops that evening, my sister Kathy led us all in some wonderful songs with her angelic voice and folk guitar to cap off a memorable evening. 

I must confess that I was unexpectedly emotional as I stood up to give a toast to all of the Stuebner/Damon/Coonen/Salzman relatives that evening. The deep love I have for McCall and everything around it merged with the deep love I have for my family, and I guess it was a little overwhelming. But it was just so cool and gratifying to me that everyone came to McCall, and had such an awesome time. 

Ultimately, at family reunions,it's about the family, renewing bonds and friendships, and catching up on everyone's lives. Quality time! If everyone hadn't shown up, it wouldn't have been the great success that it was. Everyone in my family shows up! And they do it consistently. I love that! 

I'm looking forward to the next reunion! Who knows where it'll be! But I will be there! 

-- SS 

The Mountains beckon! Go biking or hiking in the pine-scented forests of McCall!

Huck cools off in Loon Lake. 

Morgan Hine cruises to Loon Lake on the sweet singletrack ... 

Wendy on the Payette Rim Trail 

Overlook of Payette Lake from the Rim Trail. 

The new Huckleberry Trail comes within 10 feet of the lake at times ... Very cool! 

Hi all,

As the clock turns forward into June, the summer heat has been turning on in the Boise Valley, which in my mind, means it's time to head up to the mountains of McCall to go hiking, biking or boating.

We were up at our cabin in McCall last weekend, and took the kids rafting on the Cabarton section of the North Fork Payette River on Sunday. Then on Monday evening, I rode the new Huckleberry Loop in Ponderosa Park and hung out with the mule deer, which looked nice and tan in their summer coat. On Tuesday mid-morning, I rode the Payette Rim Trail with a friend, and my, it was riding as smooth as ever!

It's SO nice to sniff the cool mountain air while riding the trails and enjoy the wonderful smells and sounds in the deep woods. You look out through the trees to the azure lakes below, and know you could be swimming there on your way home. Plus, the air temp is 15 degrees cooler than it is in Boise!

This week, I'm recommending several hikes and bike rides in the McCall area. June is less busy in McCall than July and August, so it should be possible to find some lodging deals through inIdaho, vrbo or the local hotels. I'm also including a link from Roger Phillips' story in the Statesman today about biking at Brundage Mountain, Tamarack and Jug Mountain Ranch. All of those venues are excellent as well! See my guide, Mountain Biking in McCall for 40 rides in the area.

1. Check out the new Huckleberry Loop trail in Ponderosa State Park. There's a new singletrack trail along the east shoreline of the peninsula that connects to the old Huckleberry hiking and biking trail, and there's another singletrack that takes off from the main beach area and goes north through the huge ponderosa pines to the road to Osprey Point. You pop out on the road just short of the very top. I think the loop is about five miles long in total. It has some steep, technical sections. But overall, I'd rate it strong intermediate as a bike ride. For hiking, I'd rate it moderate. It'd be beautiful to hike it or ride it, whatever your preference might be. Riding time is 1.5 hours. Hiking time is 2+ hours.

Here's a map of the route ...

GPS tracks of the new Huckleberry Loop Trail. There are several variations
that you can enjoy in the southern part of the park on your way out. 

2. Ride the Payette Rim Trail. This loop is best done on a bike. You could hike from the bottom end uphill and go out-and-back to avoid hiking on Bear Basin Road. Distance: 10 miles. Difficulty: Strong intermediate. Rocky sections can be walked. Riding time: 1.5-2 hours. Getting to the trailhead: Take ID 55 north of McCall 1.5 miles to Bear Basin Road. Turn right. Go 1.3 miles to a buck fence parking area by the east side of the Bear Basin Trails. Park. The ride starts here. Proceed up Bear Basin Road. Go straight at the four-way junction. Stay on #451. It gets progressively steeper as you go. At mile 3.1, you'll reach the top of the initial grade, and you'll see a red gate and two-track road on the right. Take this road over to the Rim Trail. It's about 1.8 miles on the two-track to the Rim Trail junction on the right. The turn is marked by a rock cairn. The entrance to the singletrack is rocky and technical but it's gets better. Enjoy the Rim Trail as it winds slightly downhill on a bench above Payette Lake. At mile 6.3, you'll come to a creek crossing. I rode it on Tuesday. Gear down for a steep little climb after the creek. Zoom downhill some more for several miles through the grassy forest, aspen and pine trees. Bear right at a Y-junction and climb abruptly for a short section before zooming along some more on the high bench. This route leads to Bear Basin Road. You'll come to one more junction, and turn right to reach the Bear Basin Road trailhead. The singletrack drops out very close to the parking lot.

3. Ride Jug Mountain Ranch.  See the link to Roger's article above for details. JMR has built a new trail with banked corners called "Berm and Ernie." I can't wait to ride that new trail! See the trail map above. As Roger said, they have the coolest shuttle rig anywhere that'll take you to a point where you can do gravity rides on the trails. JMR is dead east of Lake Fork off of ID 55.

Upper Drain is fast and smooth! 

4. Ride Upper Drain at Bear Basin. If you like to cruise on banked corners, the Upper Drain trail is a hoot! The Bear Basin Trails are close to McCall, and they're built for all abilities. Access is via the Bear Basin Trailhead, north of McCall, off of ID 55. The Upper Drain is a little more challenging because of the banked corners, but I've taken kids there, and they do fine. There are multiple ways to reach the Upper Drain, but one way is to take Baby Bear to Sleepy Hollow and then Blue Ridge Loop to a high point in the forest. Take the Shortcut to the left to Polar Express, and then you'll see a sign for Upper Drain. The trail goes for about 1/2 mile before it goes into the winding corners. Half-way down, you'll come to a junction with Grand Traverse. This goes back to the Bear Basin Trailhead. If you're having fun, continue onto Lower Drain. Then take Westy back to the trailhead. Check out this YouTube video of the Upper and Lower Drain.

Loon Lake route (click to enlarge)

5. Ride Loon Lake Loop. This is one of my favorite rides in the whole state. It's a 10-mile loop (short version), with world-class scenery, a lunch stop at Loon Lake, where you can go swimming, and you might even see a moose! This is a strong intermediate to advanced ride. Take Warren Wagon Road 25+ miles, past the turnoff to Burgdorf, to a signed turnoff for Chinook Campground on the right. Proceed to the Secesh River and Loon Lake trailhead. I recommend doing the loop counter-clockwise. Cross the bridge and grind up a granny-gear climb for several miles to an initial summit and then zoom down to a junction (watch out for other trail users). Turn right, cross the creek, and climb again to a big view overlooking Loon Lake. Enjoy the downhill slalom through the burned snags. Ride across the meadow to Loon Lake (mile 4.5). Have lunch and take a swim. Then ride down to the Secesh River. Cross the bridge, and ride 3.5 miles back to the trailhead. This section is technical and rocky in places ... keep the momentum going and let the bike roll through the rocks!
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Don't forget the North Fork Championships are going on Thursday-Saturday. The event is free, and it's totally worth driving up to watch expert kayakers negotiate the mighty North Fork, some of the gnarliest whitewater in the nation. This year there's a BoaterX race with 6 paddlers racing down S-turn rapids all at once. That's tomorrow at 3 p.m. Saturday at 1 p.m. is the big giant slalom event through Jacob's Ladder, the steepest section of the North Fork. Kayakers zip down a steep slide and leap into the river to run the gates in Jake's and Golf Course. It takes phenomenal skill and experience to compete in that event.

Have fun!
- SS