Plan a fall trip to Priest Lake, and go camping, boating, SUP'ing, fishing, biking or hiking!

Riding the shady Lakeshore Trail on a warm summer day at Priest Lake. 

Hi all, 

It's no secret that Priest Lake is one of Idaho's crown jewels, nestled in the Idaho Panhandle. A recent trip to Priest Lake reminded me what a truly special place it is! For one thing, it's a BIG lake! Almost 20 miles long and 4.4 miles wide, with lots of coves and bays. Just a gorgeous place to be.

I went swimming, mountain biking and fishing on this particular trip, which was mainly a work trip. The boating is fantastic on the lake, and a newly deepened Thorofare channel provides clear and easy access for SUPs, kayaks, canoes and power boats to Upper Priest Lake.

The Thorofare Channel provides an intimate experience on the way to Upper Priest Lake.

But my oh my, Priest Lake has definitely been discovered! I couldn't believe how booked all of the lodging properties were at Priest Lake when I inquired in mid-June about 2 nights in late July. Nothing. Zilch. Everything was booked solid through Labor Day weekend. 

This September or October would be a great time to plan a road trip to Priest Lake. Try to reserve a spot at Beaver Creek Campground, book a spot at one of the State Park units on the east side of the lake, or reserve a cabin/room at Hill's Resort or Elkin's Resort. Beaver Creek CG provides excellent access to the Thorofare channel, as does the Lionhead unit of Priest Lake State Park. However, it looks like only on the Indian Creek unit of the park will be open this fall because of road construction.

Some things I'd recommend doing while you're visiting Priest Lake: 

• Go mountain biking on the Lake Shore Trail. It's a 7-mile intermediate ride along the west shoreline of Priest Lake to the northern end of the lake. The singletrack trail winds through the dark shadowy cedar forests above the lakeshore and then drops down to the lake, where you can take a swim, and then climbs again into the trees. The trail is pretty smooth with some roots and rocks. Super fun! 
• At the end of the Lake Shore Trail, you can keep going on the Priest Lake Navigation Trail, a singletrack which continues in a northerly direction and connects to Upper Priest Lake. The Navigation trail runs for about 5 miles to a dead-end at Upper Priest. Turn around, and retrace your tracks to the trailhead. Take your time and enjoy it! It's just so unusual to be able to ride along the shore of a beautiful lake, without it being a suffer fest like so many other Idaho mountain trails!

  

  The newly deepened Thorofare channel is popular with all kinds of boaters.
  

  
  
  
• Paddle or SUP the Thorofare to Upper Priest Lake. It's only about 2.5 miles to the upper lake.  
  

A kayaker comes equipped to go fishing at the tip of the new Breakwater feature.

Priest Lake Flickr page shows the Breakwater feature prior to the lake refilling this spring.

• Go boating on Priest Lake. For folks who have their own power boat or sail boat, it's a big lake to explore! With 80 miles of shoreline, the lake also has many sandy beach type areas where you can pull up, hang out and go swimming or whatever.  

  

  Craig Hill of Hill's Resort tows a waterskier on an early morning sheet of glass on Priest Lake.
  

  
  
• Stay at Hill's Resort or Elkin's Resorts and live it up a little! Both provide comfortable lodging,  outdoor dining and boat access to the lake. Hill's also has golf. 
• Bring your fishing pole. Priest Lake has a mix of warm water and cold water fish species that you can catch including cutthroat trout, small mouth bass and lake trout. Thanks to IDFG for the information. 

  

  Upper Priest River Trail (courtesy Dave 'n Kathy's Vagabond Blog)
  

  
  
  
• Hike or bike the Upper Priest River Trail - This is a 16-mile out-and-back trip or 20 miles total to a natural waterfall and pool at the Canadian border. The Upper Priest River Trail is also the northern-most section of the Idaho Centennial Trail. It's a super cool hike/ride through cedars and rotting old-growth trees on the ground that have blondish lichens growing on them. Sometimes I thought I was seeing a grizzly out of the corner of my eye when I rode that trail. 

That ought to keep you busy for a while! Have fun!
- SS

Summer vacation is on the wane! Two weekends left before school starts!

Steve backpacking in the Red Mountain Lakes area.

Hi all,

Sad but true, summer vacation is on the wane! There are only two weekends left before Boise Schools start up on Monday, Aug. 19. How have you done on your summer outdoor punch list?

Taking a look back at my many recommendations for summer, let's review your options for what to do!  

1. Float a river (day trip) - we're blessed with so many options here, but have you floated the Boise River? How about the Payette River -- there's the Main Payette, South Fork Payette or Cabarton run on the North Fork. Check with Cascade Raft, Idaho Whitewater Unlimited, Bear Valley or the Payette River Company about guided trips. The Payette's calmer sections are great for stand-up paddle boarding (SUP), sit-on-top kayaking and canoeing.

Float a river! This is on the Cabarton stretch of the Payette River. 

2. Climb a mountain - The pinnacle is to climb Mount Borah, but there are so many other options in Idaho, with dozens of peaks over 10,000 feet and 8 peaks over 12,000 feet. See Idaho mountain expert Tom Lopez's list of recommended mountain peaks. McCall mountain expert John Platt also has an extensive list of peaks and mountains that he's climbed.

3. Ride the ski lift to the top of Bogus Basin, Brundage Mountain or Sun Valley and go hiking or biking from there. Bogus is going to give away a free season pass to whoever is the 100,000th person to ride the mountain coaster this weekend. Sounds like a reason to go! Brundage recently opened a new intermediate-level mountain bike trail. They've also got Emily Tipton playing Friday night as part of the TGIF concert series and a Caribbean dinner planned. Hope the Netheker fire burning near Burgdorf doesn't create a lot of smoke! #prayforburgdorf!

4. Take your kids fishing - See the list of Idaho Fish and Game's Family Fishing Waters to find some great recommendations close to home.

Go hiking in the Sawtooths (photo courtesy Michael Lanza/The Big Outside)

5. Go backpacking in the Sawtooths, White Clouds, Pioneers or Big Lost Mountain Range. See Michael Lanza's recommended hikes in the Sawtooths in his blog, the Big Outside. See a recommended major loop in the White Clouds in Backpacker mag. For a great hike in the Pioneers, see my blog post about hiking Broad Canyon. For the Big Lost range, see this overview in Summit Post.com. 

6. Sleep under the stars in a dark sky venue like Bear Valley, the Owyhee Canyonlands or outside of Stanley.

Catch a trout on the Middle Fork Salmon River. 

7. Fly into the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and go fly-fishing for native cutthroat trout. Air taxi services in Boise, Cascade or McCall can take you into the Middle Fork in less than an hour. All fishing is catch and release.

8. Go mountain biking on a classic loop trail like Fisher-Williams in the White Clouds, Loon Lake north of McCall or Around the Mountain at Bogus Basin. 

Climbing up a short hill to finish the Fisher-Williams Loop (courtesy Salsa cycles)

9. Go SUP'ing, boating or swimming in a refreshing, natural Idaho mountain lake like Payette Lake, Redfish Lake, or Priest Lake.

10. Go see an outdoor concert! See a summer roundup in the Idaho Statesman for a full rundown of outdoor concerts planned in the summer of 2019.

For further enrichment on Idaho bucket list trips, see an Idaho bucket list post from Boise State radio, and a post that I did listing another 30 bucket list trips that they didn't cover.
- SS

Here's at least 25 last-minute outdoorsy destinations for Labor Day weekend

Folks could go camping in Stolle Meadows and look for spawning salmon 

Just a faint bit of smoke haze at the top of Brundage today. Beautiful temperature up there! 

Hi all, 

Labor Day weekend is upon us, the typical last weekend of camping in the summer season, so I'm dishing up some last-minute tips for the three-day weekend. 

Before we get into the camping ideas, both Bogus Basin and Brundage Mountain have some fun stuff going on this weekend. 

Mountain bikers ride the Deer Point lift FREE on Friday! On Saturday, Sept. 1, marks the final segment of Music on the Mountain at Bogus Basin for the summer, highlighted by the Aldape Bootstompers and Jeff Crosby. The event feature live music throughout the afternoon in the nicely andscaped base area outside of the Simplot Lodge from noon to 6 p.m. Fun Zone activities, including summer tubing, bungee trampoline, gem panning, and climbing wall, will operate from 11 am to 7 pm., and so will the Deer Point Chairlift.

Bear Valley is a nice off-the-beaten-path spot for camping these days. 

On Friday night, Aug. 31,  Brundage is hosting a free concert with Jeff Crosby and the Refugees. The seafood boil is sold out, but other dinner food will be available during the concert. The Bluebird quad will be running from 10 am to 5 pm Friday through Monday. I saw it running today, but I rode up from McCall! 

Now, on to the camping ideas and other Labor Day ideas ... the weather looks stellar camping, hiking and biking this Labor Day weekend, with daytime highs in the 80s in the Boise Valley, and the 70s in Stanley, Sun Valley and McCall.

• Close to home, you could work on the Boise Foothills Trail Challenge, essentially work on riding all of the trails in the Ridge to Rivers trail system in one month. People are doing the challenge in memory of Jason Delgodilla, one of the founders of Boisetrails.com, who died earlier this year.  
• Also close to home, hike Mt. Kepros or Mt. Cervidae, both part of the Boise Grand Slam Peaks. 
• Cascade area - Stolle Meadows and Landmark are my favorite camping areas in this neck of the woods. There are tons of primitive car-camping spots in both locations, east of Cascade, off the Warm Lake Highway. Plus, there are hot springs in the vicinity. FYI: There should be salmon spawning in Stolle Meadows this weekend. Take Forest Service Road #427 to Stolle Meadows. Once there, you can take the road south up to a trailhead for Rice Lake and Rice Peak. Nice and easy hike up to Rice Peak, and you can explore ridge tops from there ...  

  

  Lick Creek area in the Payette National Forest 

• McCall area - Camping, hiking and backpacking in the Lick Creek area NE of McCall should be fabulous. Some of the nice mountain lakes up there include Box, Snowslide, Duck, Hum, Enos and Thirty-three lakes. Pick up a Payette National Forest map or a McCall Adventure Map to get the details for access. Also, check my blog from earlier this summer on five easy-to-access kid-friendly mountain lakes in the McCall area. 

  

  Stanley Lake 

• Stanley area - I'm sure the Stanley area will be hopping with lots of campers at Stanley Lake, Redfish Lake, Pettit Lake and points along the Salmon River. Backpacking in the White Clouds should be dandy, particularly from the East Fork side, being a three-day weekend and all. Don't forget the Marsh Creek Trail as another potential destination ... great hiking and fly fishing spot. Hike up to the junction of Bear Valley and Marsh Creeks, and there's a huge glory hole right there. 

  

  North and Middle Forks of the Boise River ... car-camping mecca 

• Idaho City area - The North and Middle Forks of the Boise River work great for car camping. See my post from last week.  

If you're staying in town, I'm hearing that some people will be taking in the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, going on from Thursday through Sunday. There are supposed to be more than 5,000 balloon launches.

Also, Labor Day weekend is chock full of big sales at your favorite outdoor retailers in the Boise area, places like Idaho Mountain Touring, George's Cycles, Boise REI, Greenwood's, McU Sports, Alpenglow Mountain Sport, Idaho River Sports, and Shu's Idaho Running Company, all have some fantastic clothing and gear on sale right now. Great deals! Go get 'em! 

- SS

Stueby's last-minute camping and river-floating tips for Labor Day weekend

Stay cool! Go boating on the Cabarton reach of the Payette River! 

How about a spin around Redfish Lake? 

Sit on top kayaks are a perfect choice for the weekend ... 

Lick Creek Summit area, Payette National Forest ... near McCall.

Hi all, 

Labor Day weekend is upon us, the typical last weekend of camping in the summer season, so I'm dishing up some last-minute tips for the three-day weekend. 

Before we get into the camping ideas, both Bogus Basin and Brundage Mountain have some fun stuff going on this weekend. 

This Saturday, Sept. 2, marks the final Music on the Mountain at Bogus Basin for the summer. The event, sponsored by 10 Barrel Brewing Co., will feature live music throughout the afternoon in the newly landscaped base area outside of the Simplot Lodge. Fun Zone activities, including summer tubing, bungee trampoline, gem panning, and climbing wall, will operate from 11 am to 7 pm., and so will the Deer Point Chairlift. Single ride tickets are $15 and a full-day pass is $30. Get up there early in the morning, do a hike or a bike ride, and then kick back in the afternoon and enjoy some live music. 

The music lineup is as follows: 

1:00 – 2:45 pm Sono Fuego

3:00 – 4:45 pm Hot Pursuit

5:00 – 7:00 pm Voice of Reason

At Brundage, the Bluebird Chair will be running from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Thursday through Monday. Lift fees are $15 for one ride, and $35 for a full day. 

On Friday night, Sept. 1st, Brundage is hosting a Dinner and Music event, featuring the Emily Stanton Band, a Soul R&B artist. The event starts at 6 p.m. They're serving a cajun crawfish boil for dinner. The event costs $25 each. 

Now, on to the camping ideas and other Labor Day ideas ... since it's going to be warm in Boise this weekend, with temperatures in the high 90s Saturday and Sunday and maybe 100 degrees on Monday, it would be nice to cool off at higher elevations in the national forest! You might even want to go paddling or boating on a lake or a river!

Cabarton run on the Payette River as it flows below the Rainbow Bridge ID 55

• Float Cabarton on the Payette River one more time - The flow is 1,500 cfs, which is the typical summertime flow on the North Fork of the Payette River. Get a group of friends together or hire an outfitter and go float Cabarton, the best day trip in SW Idaho. It's got a little whitewater, swimming in the flatwater sections, and great lunch spots along the way. 
• Float the Boise River, Swirly Canyon on the South Fork Payette, or the Main Payette. There's only a few more days of raftable flows on the South Fork Payette Canyon and Staircase runs, so it'd be good to nail those runs before the flows go away. These are Class 4 runs best done with outfitters or experienced boaters. See my guide, Paddling the Payette for information and waterproof maps. If you run the Main Payette, use caution at Go Left, and scout it from the highway on the way to the put-in. Lots of rafts are flipping in there.
  
  

• Cascade area - Stolle Meadows and Landmark are my favorite camping areas in this neck of the woods. There are tons of primitive car-camping spots in both locations, east of Cascade, off the Warm Lake Highway. Plus, there are hot springs in the vicinity. The main road to Stolle Meadows #474 is closed due to a bridge washout, but you can take the Warm Lake cutoff #427 to the meadows. Once there, you can take the road south up to a trailhead for Rice Lake and Rice Peak. Nice and easy hike up to Rice Peak, and you can explore ridge tops from there ... In the Landmark area, there's a little-known mountain bike loop from the McClure Trail to the Buck Creek Trail ... it's kind of obscure, so not sure how much downfall is on the trail. 

  

  Lick Creek area in the Payette National Forest 

• McCall area - Camping, hiking and backpacking in the Lick Creek area NE of McCall should be fabulous. Some of the nice mountain lakes up there include Box, Snowslide, Duck, Hum, Enos and Thirty-three lakes. Pick up a Payette National Forest map or a McCall Adventure Map to get the details for access. Also, check my blog from earlier this summer on five easy-to-access kid-friendly mountain lakes in the McCall area. 

  

  Stanley Lake 

• Stanley area - I'm sure the Stanley area will be hopping with lots of campers at Stanley Lake, Redfish Lake, Pettit Lake and points along the Salmon River. Backpacking in the White Clouds should be dandy, particularly from the East Fork side, being a three-day weekend and all. Don't forget the Marsh Creek Trail as another potential destination ... great hiking and fly fishing spot. Hike up to the junction of Bear Valley and Marsh Creeks, and there's a huge glory hole right there. 

  

  North and Middle Forks of the Boise River ... car-camping mecca 

• Idaho City area - The North and Middle Forks of the Boise River work great for car camping. See my post from last week.  
• Salmon River beaches - Should be fab upstream of Riggins. Pick your spot, bring your rafts and kayaks, and your volleyball and bocce ball sets. Get there early! The prime beaches will be taken early. 

If you're staying in town, I'm hearing that some people will be taking in the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, going on from Thursday through Sunday. There are supposed to be more than 5,000 balloon launches.

Also, Labor Day weekend is chock full of big sales at your favorite outdoor retailers in the Boise area, places like Idaho Mountain Touring, George's Cycles, Boise REI, Greenwood's, McU Sports, Alpenglow Mountain Sport, Idaho River Sports, and Shu's Idaho Running Company, all have some fantastic clothing and gear on sale right now. Great deals! Go get 'em! 
- SS

Whoa baby! Here comes the heat! Here are 12 tips on how to stay cool in SW Idaho

Redfish Lake always will cool you off. Hard to get a campsite sometimes, tho ... 

Lucky Peak will be busy ... 

Salmon River beach scene! Can't beat it! 

Climb a mountain peak in the rooftop of Idaho! Wendy at the top
of Beaver Dam Peak in the Payette National Forest  

Go rafting on the Payette River! 

Hi all,

Here come triple-digit temperatures in the next week, and the long-range forecast calls for continued hot and dry weather.

Here are 12 recommendations on how to stay cool:

• Start super early if you'd like to go hiking, biking or trail-running in the Boise Foothills. That means get out before 7 a.m. 
• Go to Bogus Basin and start your hiking, trail-running or biking trip up there. It should be 15 degrees cooler. Hike or ride the Around the Mountain Trail, Eastside or Sweet Connie. Don't forget that Bogus is running the Deer Point Chairlift on weekends, and they also have food and beverage services and live music.  
• Float the Boise River - Finally!!! Put on plenty of sunscreen, wear a big goofy hat, and float the Boise River with your friends and family. See info. at Ada County Parks & Waterways. Take your time, hang out by the water and stay cool. 
• Find a hidey-hole along the Boise River, set up your lawn chair, take a swim and hang out in the shade. 
• Go swimming, tubing or water-skiing at Lucky Peak, Arrowrock or Anderson Ranch. 
• Go swimming or SUP'ing at a local park or pond. See Boise Parks & Recreation for ideas close to home. 
• Hire a guide, rent a boat or take your own boat and go float the Payette River. The Main Payette River from Banks to Beehive Bend is best for those breaking into the sport. If you'd like to crank up the adrenaline meter and float the South Fork, put a bunch of friends together and hire a guided service. Bear Valley, Cascade Raft and Kayak, and Idaho Whitewater Unlimited all provide quality guided trips on the Payette River. See my post from two weeks ago about 10 SUP and kayak trips on the Payette River. 
• Go camping, fishing, swimming, water-skiing or SUP'ing at Lake Cascade State Park in Cascade or Donnelly.
• Go swimming, tubing, surfing or water-skiing on Payette Lake. Find a place to stay overnight in McCall or go camping in the Payette National Forest. 
• Go camping, fishing, swimming or SUP'ing at Redfish Lake or Stanley Lake in the Sawtooths. Go to recreation.gov to make reservations.   
• Drive to Riggins and hang out on a big beach on the Salmon River. Go swimming, camping and fishing. Get there early. There will be competition for the primo camping spots.  Bring your shade tarp. 
• Backpack or day hike into a high mountain lake and stay cool in the alpine forest environment. See my blog about five of my favorite kid-friendly hikes near Stanley and McCall for ideas. 

Bonus: Paddle to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls or do loops at Thousand Springs State Park in pure spring water at Ritter Island. See my post about those trips for Southern Idaho Tourism. 

There you have it! Have fun!
- SS 

Go north to Idaho's lakes country to get out of the smoke & go boating, hiking or biking

Priest Lake under a full moon

Hi all,

I think it's safe to say that people are getting really tired of the smoke-filled Boise Valley, and this weekend, they'll be looking for ways to find some clean air. In my mind, this is a perfect excuse to head north to the Idaho Panhandle, where there are a bounty of recreation opportunities to enjoy, and the air is clear, so I've heard from locals in Coeur d'Alene.

You might groan and think, gawd, that's just too far to go! And I'd come back and say, hey, it's not that far, and you've got only a week or so before the kids have to head back to school. Why not take a few days and go somewhere like Priest Lake, where you can hang out on the beach, even camp by the beach,  and go boating on the lake, canoeing in Upper Priest Lake, mountain biking through giant cedar groves or hiking in the Selkirk Mountains. Or, pick up a Panhandle National Forests map and go on a waterfall tour.

Here's one of my previous blogs that details all of the great camping, mountain biking and canoeing opportunities in the Priest Lake area. Wendy and I went mountain biking on the Lakeshore Trail along main Priest Lake, and rode the Navigation Trail to Upper Priest Lake and cruised along the shoreline. We also canoed from our beach campsite at Beaver Creek Campground, paddled up the channel between main Priest and Upper Priest, and toured the upper lake for the day. Pete Zimowsky from the Statesman wrote a very thorough report about that paddling trip in today's paper.

Another more challenging mountain biking ride near Priest Lake is the Upper Priest River Trail. It's 20.4 miles out and back, all singletrack, and you'll end up at a waterfall and swimming hole at the Idaho-British Columbia border, a perfect place to cool off. This one is featured in my book Mountain Biking Idaho. It's one of my all-time favorite rides. The cedar trees are gigantic.  

Several other possibilities in the Idaho Panhandle:

The Taft Tunnel (courtesy Spokesman Review)

• Ride the Route of the Hiawatha, a cool, gravel rail-trail that can be accessed from Wallace if you're taking the I-90 or from St. Maries, if you're driving up through Idaho. There are a whole series of dark tunnels and railroad trestles on the trail. Distance is 14 miles up, 14 miles back. There's a shuttle available if you don't want to ride uphill. Be sure to bring a bright light! (Camping headlamps are worthless). This ride is written up in Mountain Biking Idaho. Here's an informative video about the whole experience. 
• Ride the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes anywhere between Wallace and Heyburn State Park. If you're driving up through Idaho, access the trail from the west side at Heyburn, and cruise on the paved trail to Harrison for ice cream and continue along Lake Coeur d'Alene and then the Coeur d'Alene River, enjoy the scenery and all of the bird life along the way. 



The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes 

• Pick up a copy of  Mountain Biking Idaho and check out some outstanding rides in the Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint areas. Canfield Butte next to Coeur d'Alene has a ton of singletrack trails to explore, and Farragut State Park also has some great trails, one of them right next to Lake Pend Oreille. In the Sandpoint area, you can ride a twisty singletrack (more than 40 switchbacks!) to the top of Gold Hill, cruise around Schweitzer Mountain Ski Area, or try a long expert ride like the Bernard Peak Loop (18.5 miles, 2,650 feet of vertical gain/loss.) 

If you go up north, I recommend taking I-84 to Tri-Cities, Wash., Highway 395 to I-90, and then you're home free, in Ritzville, Wash., just an hour from Spokane, and 1.5 hours from Coeur d'Alene. This route is at least an hour faster than driving through Idaho (I've done it in 6+ hours). Save time by driving part of the way in the evening, and the rest in the morning, and then you'll have for an outing the first afternoon. 

If you'd rather stay closer to home, head up to McCall and go beaching, camping, hiking, biking and boating. Here's a blog I wrote recently with 10 reasons to go to McCall. The morel picking season is long over, but you can probably still find some huckleberries.  

If you're stuck in town, don't forget the Tour de Fat event on Saturday in Ann Morrison Park ... The parade starts at 10 a.m. (be sure to dress up in some kind of wacky costume), and then the beer begins to flow ... buy beer and your proceeds go toward the Southwest Idaho Mountain Biking Association (SWIMBA), the Boise Bicycle Project and other great charities.

Have fun!
- SS

Spring a perfect time to visit Leslie Gulch

In the late afternoon, the sun casts a golden glow on the beige and rouge spires that rise dramatically from the gentle sagebrush hills in Leslie Gulch. I always feel like I'm in southern Utah there, and yet, it's really eastern Oregon, just 1.5 hours from Boise.

Leslie Gulch is an awesome place for hiking honeycomb canyons, fishing or boating on Owyhee Reservoir, and mountain biking on desert two-tracks. It's also a great place to car camp. I've even done a short backpack in a honeycomb canyon ... go get lost in the magical rocks, surround yourself with beauty, bask in the serenity.

For the Tip of the Week, I recommend that you go hiking and camping in Leslie Gulch. My hiking and trail-running book, Boise Trail Guide, suggests a 5.5-mile hike to the summit of the Yellow Jacket peak, a stunningly beautiful rock formation that lords over Leslie Gulch. The peak is about 900 vertical feet from the valley floor. I'll attach a map.

Park at the Juniper Gulch trailhead on the right side of the gulch. Hike uphill on a winding creek bottom for 1 mile, enjoying the volcanic tuff-rock walls and Swiss-cheese-like formations in the canyon. After the canyon opens up, look for a left-hand draw where you can scramble to the top of the ridge, and the top of Yellow Jacket. Return the way you came.

When it's a wet spring, like the one we're experiencing now, many of the dirt roads in the Owyhee Mountains can be impassible One advantage of going to Leslie Gulch is that the roads are heavily graveled and thus, more dependable.

Come prepared for a self-supported camping experience in Leslie Gulch. Bring your tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, kitchen stuff, water, even your own firewood, come equipped for cold weather, and you'll have a great time. There are several vault toilets in the gulch. There also is a great deep-draw boat ramp for launching your craft.

Directions to Leslie Gulch: Take I-84 west to the ID 55 exit in west Nampa. Go south on ID 55 18 miles to Marsing. Drive through Marsing and then watch for a turnoff to U.S. 95 south on the left. Take U.S. 95 south about 16 miles until you come to a BLM sign. Turn right on the gravel road and follow signs to Leslie Gulch. It's 22 miles to this springtime wonderland.

- SS

Thanks to the Malheur Agricultural Experiment Station for their web photos.