Three kid-friendly pre-winter hikes - Browns Canyon, Eagle Island Park, Polecat Gulch

Browns Canyon in the winter sun ... not much light in the canyon! 

We took Huck to Browns Canyon when he was a puppy

Drew did great on the Browns Canyon hike 

Redrock canyon, sagebrush and aspens 

Hmmm, where do we go now? 

Hiking the two-track back to the trailhead out in the open Owyhee country

Hi all,

These semi-cloudy cold days with temperatures in the low 40s don't seem all that appealing for outdoor recreation -- at least on the surface. But actually, once you get moving on a hike, a run or a bike ride, you'll warm up inside and enjoy your outing.

It is important to dress properly in layers and bring a warm hat and gloves/mittens so you stay comfortable, and peel layers as necessary as you warm up inside.

For this week's outdoor tip, I'm recommending three kid-friendly hikes -- Brown's Canyon in the Owyhees, Eagle Island State Park and Polecat Gulch in the Boise Foothills. Get the kids dressed up in appropriate clothes and take them out to explore the great outdoors in SW Idaho. Pack a lunch, snacks and bring plenty of water.

Remember that there's a "Cold Moon," a full moon that's supposed to appear 10%+ larger than normal this weekend, peaking on Saturday night/Sunday morning. It's supposed to appear as a full moon three days in a row -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That'll be a treat or maybe the coyotes will make too much noise and keep you up all night ...

For these outings, try to get out on Friday or Saturday morning. That's when the weather will be best. There's a 50 percent chance of rain on Saturday afternoon and Sunday in the valley. Just FYI. Most of these trips would be doable with a good rain coat.

1. Brown's Canyon Overland Tour, Owyhee Front, near Oreana. Distance: 5.2 miles. Difficulty: Moderate. Travel time: 3+ hours. This is an interesting hike in the sagebrush and rocks of the Owyhee Front until you come across Brown's Canyon, a hidden jewel. In my Owyhee Canyonlands guidebook, I detail a hike inside the slot canyons of Brown's Canyon, and a hike that goes around the slot canyon (thereby avoiding cold, deep-water pools) but you can still see it from above.

How to get there: Take I-84 East to Simco Road. Turn south on the highway to Grand View. Turn right on Idaho 78 in Grandview and head for the tiny old town of Oreana. There's a sign on the highway for a left-hand turn into town near MP 43. Make a note of your odometer. Drive down the hill straight into town, go past the old church (2.25 miles from the highway) and go straight on the Oreana Loop Road until it takes a hard left. Make the corner and take an immediate right on Alder Creek Road. Follow the bumpy dirt road six miles to a signed right-hand turnoff for BLM Road 700. Proceed down the grade to an old corral at a two-way junction. Park. The hike starts here.

The Hike: Go west on BLM Road 700 and climb a moderate grade over to a bluff that overlooks Browns Canyon. At mile 1.4, bear right on a two-track and drop down to the Browns Creek draw. This is a pretty area that's full of shrubs and aspens. The first slot canyon with blondish rock begins at mile 1.7. Cross over to the left side of the draw, as you go downstream, and walk overland through the blond rocks staying above the canyon. You'll break out into an open sage flat at mile 2.0. When the next slot canyon begins, climb up the slope to the left until you reach the top of the rim, and then hike along the rim as close as you feel comfortable to check out the slot canyon as you move along. In a half mile, the canyon breaks open by a draw, and you'll need to lose elevation. Hike into the bottom of the gully and climb back on top of the rim. There's a nice overlook when you reach the top again at mile 3. Continue on the left side of the canyon until you come to the dirt road crossing, and then turn right onto the dirt road at mile 3.6.  Follow the road to mile 4.0 at a two-way junction. Turn right again at a fence gate, and follow the two-track road (BLM Road #710)  back to the trailhead. Feel free to explore Antelope Springs along the way. It's another tight canyon.  

2. Eagle Island State Park - There's a nice 5-mile hike in the park that I detailed in Boise Trail Guide: 90 Hiking and Running Routes Close to Home. This particular hike tours both channels of the Boise River while also cruising around the outskirts of the park. You could easily do a shorter route in the park by just touring the North Channel of the Boise River. Start from the parking area by the pond and circumnavigate the park. I did the hike in a counter-clockwise direction. See the GPS tracks on the map below.

Getting there: Take State Street west of Eagle Road to a signed turnoff for Eagle Island State Park. There is a park entrance fee unless you have a statewide season pass via your vehicle registration. I always buy that pass ... it's a real bargain!

3. Polecat Gulch - Hike a 3-mile loop around Polecat Gulch in the NW Foothills of Boise. The loop takes about 1.5 hours, depending on walking speed. The hike described takes you on a tour of the finger ridges on the Polecat Loop Trail in sage and grassland habitat. You might see mule deer on this hike or even the albino deer! I rate this hike easy to moderate. Trailhead is at the north end of N. Collister, off of Hill Road. Go north on Collister to the trailhead parking area and rest room at the end of the road.

Hike up the main Polecat trail up the bottom of the draw to Quick Draw Trail, climb Quick Draw to the Doe Ridge trail. Go to the top of Doe Ridge (enjoy the views of NW Boise) and follow that trail over to the north side of the Polecat Trail complex. Turn right on to the Polecat Loop trail above the Cartwright Road trailhead and follow the loop trail along a steep hillside above the Terteling Ranch and Cartwright Road. Follow the trail as it wraps around the mountain and then drops back to the Quick Draw-Polecat junction. Go left or down-canyon on the Polecat Trail to return to the trailhead.

Have a great weekend! - SS

Five must-do mountain bike rides for the Fall; Weekend weather looks fab!

Nice light on Sweet Connie (courtesy MTB Project) 

Cool stock pond that you'll see riding the new trails that connect to Sweet Connie
in Daniels and Dry Creek over to Hidden Springs 

Back of Beyond Three Fingers! Gorgeous scenery up-canyon! 

Back of Beyond Three Fingers ... 

Paul Hilding rides through the red rocks 

Hi all,

I wrote about five high-elevation hikes suitable for the fall recently, so this week I'm dishing up five must-do mountain bike rides for the fall. The mountains are becoming colorful with the huckleberry bushes and other shrubs turning deep red, and yellow and orange quaking aspen waving in the breeze.

Several of these rides are "levy specials," meaning the rides are possible because of the $10 million foothills open space levy that Boise voters passed back in 2001. Boise Parks & Recreation staff did a masterful job of stretching those dollars and selecting the best open space areas for acquisition, including some of the trails that I'll describe.

A new $10 million open space levy is on the Nov. 3 ballot, as I wrote last week. Thanks to everyone who came to our party last week. We raised more than $4,000 for the campaign. Consumed the big keg full of tasty craft beer, too! Thanks Highlands Hollow! Go to the official Boise Water and Open Space levy campaign site to endorse the campaign and find out how you can help.

Most of these rides are featured in Mountain Biking in Boise, available at most bike shops. It's available as an ebook on my web site and individual digital rides go for 99 cents each.

Now, the rides!

1. Sweet Connie from the top, levy special - With the new trails just opened up in Northwest Boise, it's possible to ride Sweet Connie from Stack Rock all the way to Hidden Springs and Cartwright Road. Rated: Advanced; Mileage: 15-20; 2,500-foot descent. Sorry, I don't have a full GPS map of this ride ... only the lower portion. Here's a link to a map on MTB project showing Sweet Connie coming down the foothills to the pullout on Bogus Basin Road. For the full enchilada, take Eastside from the left-side pullout on Bogus Basin Road about 12 miles from Boise, and ride out to Stack Rock. At Stack Rock junction, bear left to peel off on Sweet Connie down the foothills. Ride about 5 miles to the junction with the new trails in Daniels Creek and Dry Creek. Turn hard right where Sweet Connie heads over to Bogus Basin Road, and follow the new trail over to a big stock pond and then snakes down through sagebrush and rocks to Cartwright Road and Hidden Springs area. A shuttle will be necessary to fetch your rig at the Eastside Trailhead. This video of Eastside to Sweet Connie gives you an idea of what to expect in the upper end.

Map of new trails in Daniels Creek and Dry Creek that connect to Sweet Connie
The short route from Polecat to Hidden Springs is about 10 miles. 

2. Back of Beyond Three Fingers Loop - This is one of my favorite rides in the Owyhees on the Oregon side, near Carlton Canyon and Painted Canyon. The scenery is gorgeous -- you'll see neat canyons, hoo doos and other rock features, similar to what you see at Leslie Gulch. Distance is 22 miles. Rated strong intermediate/advanced. Tread: All two-track roads. Travel time: 3.5-5 hours. Bring plenty of water and a lunch. Getting there: Go to Succor Creek State Park, and continue south 6 miles to an unsigned dirt road on the right at the top of a grade. This is McIntyre Springs Road. Go right and follow the dirt road 3 miles to an unsigned two-track on the left. This is your trailhead. Follow the directions on the map below. The scenery is gorgeous on this ride -- you'll see neat canyons, hoo doos and other rock features. Detailed directions are in my book, the Owyhee Canyonlands - An Outdoor Adventure Guide. Bring a BLM map, topo map and a GPS for best navigation.

Map for Back of Beyond Three Fingers Loop. After
you do the ride, climb to the top of Three Fingers!  

Wendy and Huck take a breather on the Watchman Trail 

3. Ride the Watchman Loop, Levy Special - This is a super sweet ride in the NE Foothills of Boise. When the city purchased the land around Five Mile Creek and Orchard Creek, the Ridge to Rivers crew built Watchman Trail, which provides great view of the foothills and the city, while touring several creek-bottoms. Distance: 10.2 miles. Rated advanced (strong intermediates could do it). Riding time: 2-3 hours. Tread: Dirt road, mostly singletrack once you're off Rocky Canyon Road. Getting there: In east Boise, take Reserve Street to Shaw Mountain Road and then follow that to the top of the hill. Turn left on Rocky Canyon Road and follow that to the end of the pavement. Park. The ride starts here. Ride up Rocky Canyon Road 2.5 miles to the Five Mile Creek Trailhead. Turn left and climb the trail along the nice creek for a mile or so. At mile 3.9, pass the junction to Orchard Gulch. Go straight and climb a steep rocky pitch to the Watchman Junction. Now the trail contours more across the hills for several miles. When the trail descends fast, go left at the Trail #6 junction on Three Bears. Follow Three Bears all the way down Curlew Ridge to Shane's Jct. That downhill is a hoot! Go left at Shane's, return to Rocky Canyon Road, go right and ride back to your vehicle.
 

Watchman Loop map. You can add some singletrack by starting in Military
Reserve and climbing over to Shane's and Rocky Canyon Road. 

4. Corrals-Hard Guy-Dry Creek Loop, Levy Special - This is one of my all-time favorites. It's a tough climb up Hard Guy, but a hoot of a downhill coming down Dry Creek. There's some new bridges up there. Still, it's usually a wet shoes ride. Rated: Advanced. Distance: 22 miles. Travel time: 4-6 hours. Tread: dirt road and mostly singletrack. Vertical gain/descent: 3,513 feet. Connect with Corrals Trail on the right, 1.8 miles up Bogus Basin Road. Proceed on Corrals to the Hard Guy Jct on the left at mile 3.2. Climb Hard Guy to the Boise Ridge Road. It's five miles of tough climbing on singletrack, some of it sandy. Turn left on the ridge road and ride two miles to the Dry Creek junction (mile 10.3). Descend into Dry Creek on the singletrack and enjoy the shady ride in the trees and water crossings. You'll hit Bogus Basin Road at mile 17.7. Ride the pavement back to town. This is a levy special because there's public easement now all the way down Dry Creek thanks to the Grossman Family and the Land Trust for the Treasure Valley.

Lower Dry Creek 

Upper Dry Creek 

Hard Guy-Dry Creek Loop is one of the major primo rides in Boise 

Polecat Loop Trail 

5. Polecat Gulch, Levy Special - Polecat Gulch was one of the first open space aquisitions that the city made after the first levy passed, creating a much-need open space reserve and public trail system in NW Boise. Now there's a public trailhead on the south and north ends of Polecat Reserve. The Polecat Loop is 5.75 miles around the perimeter. Rated: Intermediate. You can mix in some additional loops when you're there to increase the mileage by several miles. Getting there: Take Hill Road west to N. Collister in NW Boise. Go up Collister about a mile or so to the trailhead. Ride up Polecat Gulch, take your first left, and climb up on top of the finger ridges that lord above the gulch. It takes about an hour to follow the Polecat Loop Trail around the reserve and then it's a fun downhill down the gulch to the trailhead.

Polecat Gulch Loop 

There you have it! Have fun!
- SS  

Try these two hikes/rides close to home: Polecat Gulch and Watchman Loop

Wendy and I ran into Dave Kordiyak on the Polecat Trail,
overlooking the Terteling Ranch. 

Polecat Gulch near Quick Draw junction

There's almost always water for dogs in Five Mile Creek.
These are my boys Quinn and Drew 

New Polecat Gulch Trailhead. Looks pretty snappy! 

Hi all,

I rode the Polecat Gulch Loop on Monday, and I was pleased to see that the City of Boise had completed the new trailhead for Polecast via North Collister off of Hill Road! This will make it much easier to access Polecat Gulch for many people in Northwest Boise. It's also a good reason to talk about the benefits of hiking, running or biking in Polecat Gulch in my outdoor tip of the week.

This week, I'm also going to suggest doing a long hike or ride on the Watchman Loop in NE Boise. The cool weather has been fabulous for foothills recreation this week, and it appears that it will continue this weekend, at least in the mornings. The highs this weekend in Boise are projected to be in the mid-80s in the afternoons.

Both of these hikes/rides are a little off the beaten path because they're not in the Central Foothills where many people go day after day. I'm recommending these hikes/rides close to Boise because the kids are back in school, so it's harder to get out of town for many people. If you can escape, it should be fabulous weather for a high country adventure in McCall, Stanley or Sun Valley.

Let's start with Polecat Gulch. This area was a key new 834-acre open space reserve purchased by the City of Boise in 2002 with funds from the 2001 Foothills Levy. It opened up a great system of trails in an area that had been previously unaccessible because its private land status. The trails in Polecat are more moderate than many in the foothills, so that's another draw. This area also is home to albino mule deer. I've seen them myself!

Polecat Gulch map (click to enlarge)

How to get there: Take Hill Road to N. Collister in NW Boise. Turn north on N. Collister and proceed to the Polecat Trailhead at the end of the road. There is a restroom in the parking lot.

The Polecat Gulch "finger" loop as I call it in my guidebooks, Boise Trail Guide and Mountain Biking in Boise, is approximately 6 miles long. It circumnavigates the whole gulch. I call it a finger loop because the trail snakes around little ridges that extend like a finger from the top of the gulch. It takes about an hour to do the loop on a bike, 1.25 hours for trail-runners, and several hours if you're hiking.

There are shorter loops you can do, too ... For instance, you could hike/ride up the bottom of Polecat Gulch from the N. Collister trailhead, and take QuickDraw to the top of Doe Ridge, and come back via the Polecat Loop trail. That would be about 2.5 miles.

Go visit Polecat from either the N. Collister side or the Cartwright Road trailhead ... you'll like it!



The Watchman Loop is one of the best hikes/rides in Boise IMHO. Starting from the bottom of Rocky Canyon Road, the loop is 10.2 miles long. It takes me a little less than 2 hours to ride it fast. It'd be a much longer trip if you're hiking -- about 4 hours. I rate the mountain bike ride advanced, and I rate the hike strenuous. The route features 1,900 feet of climbing. It's a fairly challenging route, but the views and the countryside you tour make it a four-star experience in my book.

Five Mile - Watchman Loop (click to enlarge)

Directions: Start at the bottom of Rocky Canyon Road at the end of the pavement. Proceed up the dirt road 2.5 miles to the Five Mile Creek Trail on the left. Climb Five Mile to a junction with the Orchard Gulch connector. Go straight and climb the steepest section of the trail for the next quarter-mile. The junction with Watchman comes up after you cross a creek at mile 4.2. The hard part is over!

Watchman Trail contours along Five Mile Creek canyon, offering big views of Rocky Canyon. Then it takes you over to another un-named canyon, and then you zoom downhill to Three Bears and follow Curlew Ridge all the way back to Shane's Summit in Military Reserve. Ignore the right-hand junction with Trail #6 before you hook up with Three Bears.

Bring plenty of water and food and enjoy the day!
--------------------------------
I saw two volunteer opportunities coming up that looked fun and important:
1. Volunteers are needed for Greenbelt surveys to be held later in September. Contact Jerry Pugh, jpugh@cityofboise.org or call 608-7617.
2. Volunteers are needed for bike counts on Boise city streets. The Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance is coordinating the effort. Go to their web site to sign up: www.biketreasurevalley.org

-SS