Thursday, August 20, 2009

Fat Tire Traverse in the Boise Foothills

Trip map (click to enlarge)





Hi all,

This week's outdoor tip of the week is dedicated to a new trail in the Boise Foothills that's called the Fat Tire Traverse. In observance of the Tour de Fat Festival coming up on Saturday, everyone should know that the Fat Tire Traverse was built by Ridge to Rivers with Tour de Fat Festival funds donated to SWIMBA.

So that means it's a smart thing to attend the festival on Saturday, spend money, drink beer and be merry and enjoy the wonderfully wacky festive atmosphere. The dollars you spend at the festival will go toward more new trails in the future. Wa-hoo.

The Fat Tire Traverse is an awesome new trail that opens up a whole world of new loop opportunities. Check out a short YouTube video. It's a critical connector trail that allows people to travel from the central foothills to the Rocky Canyon foothills, and trails above and below. Only your imagination is the limitation now.

The 12-mile route described here climbs Sidewinder via Owls Roost and Kestrel, and then traverses on the Fat Tire Traverse over to Trail #5, and descends the steep ridge down to Military Reserve. Take the Military Reserve connector over to Crestline and then Kestrel and Owls Roost to Camelsback to finish the ride.

You could climb from Sidewinder over to Watchman, or from Watchman over to Sidewinder. You could go from Three Bears over to Sidewinder and vice versa via Trail #6. The list goes on.

Many thanks to Fat Tire Brewing, SWIMBA and Ridge to Rivers for creating this outstanding connector trail.

-SS