Lower Boise Foothills trails finally open for hiking and biking! 3 hikes/rides to explore!

A bearded Steve at the summit of Shane's Trail on an April mountain bike ride.

Hi all, 

With the dramatic turn from winter to spring weather for a couple of choice days last weekend - featuring high temperatures in the mid-70s - the trails in the lower Boise Foothills dried up and now they're ready for hiking, biking and trail-running. Finally! 

In many years, the trails in the Boise Foothills have dried up in late February to early March, but because of the long, cold snowy and icy winter we had in 2022-23, spring is coming late! 

And that's OK! 

Boy, it felt great to get out and ride my mountain bike on Saturday morning! It was still on the cool side, but when I saw that Ridge to Rivers had given the lower trails the green light, I was ready! I rode from Camelsback Park to Crestline and Sidewinder and took Red Cliffs back. The trails were bone-dry the whole way. 

I saw hikers, mountain bikers and runners everywhere. As the day got warmer, I have a feeling that the trails got even more busy! 

Central Ridge trail in Military Reserve

Man, it felt good to climb, get my lungs and heart pumping in the red zone, and enjoy another one of my favorite gravity sports on the way down!  

Remember that it's only mid-April, and we'll be subject to more rain and even some snow.  Pay attention to the Ridge to Rivers trail reports on Facebook if you're in doubt. 

For my outdoor tip of the week, I'm recommending three hiking and biking loops in the foothills. After a snowy surprise Thursday morning, it's supposed to be a really nice weekend Friday-Sunday with High Pressure aloft, mostly clear skies and warmer temps each day through Sunday. High temps are 56 degrees on Friday, 65 Saturday and 75 on Sunday. Now we're talking! 

And then the weather goes to hell on Monday-Tuesday of next week. So get out and enjoy it this weekend when you can!

Sharing the trails respectfully with others is important in the foothills. Thank you! 

Before we get into the rides/hikes, a couple of reminders: 

1. Be a good trail ambassador! "Be Kind" when you're out using the trails, share the trails respectfully with others, and smile and say "hi" when you pass by people. A little bit of courtesy goes a long way! 

2. If you're mountain biking, remember that all uphill traffic has the right of way. If you're coming down and you see people coming up, stop, step off the trail and let them pass by, no matter if they're walking, running or biking.

3. If you come up behind someone and need to pass, say something like "coming up" and let them know you're coming so they can step off the trail for you to pass.  

4. Polecat Gulch is changing back to counter-clockwise direction this year. You'll see the signage out there. I preferred riding it clockwise, but oh well. I do like how the one-way direction on Polecat has reduced conflicts and, no doubt, collisions. It's a tight, narrow singletrack in places on steep side-hills without much in the way of sight lines. The one-way trails are safer. 

5. Stay off muddy trails. I already covered that above, but I'm saying it again. If things are wet, go for a road ride or ride the Greenbelt. 

Now for the recommended hikes/rides: 

1. Best for hiking: Kestrel-Red Cliffs Loop -  Camelsback - Kestrel-Crestline-Red Cliffs Loop - Distance: 5 miles. Rated moderate for hikers and runners. Rated intermediate for biking. Hiking time, 2-2.5 hours; Running time: 55 minutes; Biking time: 45 minutes. This is a popular loop with hikers, runners and bikers. Start at Camelsback Park off of Heron and 13th Street in North Boise. Head over to the trailhead in the east side of the park, and follow Owl's Roost Trail on the right by the ponds. Follow Owl's Roost to the Foothills Learning Center area. Turn right at the junction with Kestrel, and climb Kestrel to Crestline, it's about .6 miles of continuous climbing. Turn left onto Crestline, climb a short abrupt hill, and then watch for a left-hand junction with Red Cliffs in less than a half mile. Turn left onto Red Cliffs and enjoy a fun descent for over a mile back to Hulls Gulch. Follow Hulls back toward the Foothills Learning Center, cross 8th Street, and take Chickadee Ridge back to Camelsback Park.

Map of Kestrel-Red Cliffs loop from Steve's book, "Boise Trail Guide" 

2. Best for hiking or biking: Jumpin' Jeepers Figure-8 Loop - 6.75 miles. Rated moderate with strenuous sections. Rated intermediate for biking. Hiking time, 2.5-3 hours; running time, 1:20; riding time, 1:10. This is one of my favorite rides in Military Reserve that connects to Shane's Trail. It's an equally nice run or hike. The name comes from the Boise Police Dept. shooting range at the end of Mountain Cove Road. The unexpected blast from a gun might cause you to jump out of your skin! (It's an archery range now, thank goodness!). 

To start, go to the main trailhead on Mountain Cove Road, after the sharp right-hand corner. Take the Toll Road Trail #27A to #20 Ridge Crest and climb to the top of the hill. Turn right on Central Ridge Trail and climb at a moderate pace to Shane's Junction. Take Shane's #26A to the left, and climb to the top of Shane's. You've climbed 1,000 feet over 3+ miles. Give your puppy a drink and a snack. Descend Shane's for less than a mile, turn right on the Shane's Loop and return to the Central Ridge-Bucktail-Shane's jct. Take Bucktail downhill and enjoy the big GS turns as you wind across a big downhill on a large flat. Bucktail drops into the Central Ridge alternative trail. Go right and then left on that and it'll take you back to the trailhead. It's a great view of Idaho's Capital City as you cruise downhill on that sagebrush slope to the trailhead.

Map of Jumpin' Jeepers Figure 8 Loop from Steve's book, "Boise Trail Guide"

3. Best for hiking or biking: Polecat Gulch Loop - NW Foothills. 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!

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.

Huck's about to take flight on a windy spring day in the Boise Foothills.

There you have it! 

A couple of other things going on this weekend: 

• Spring skiing at Bogus Basin. Lift tickets are available online if you don't have a season pass. 
• Rivers are rising, if you haven't noticed! Experienced kayakers and surfers are enjoying the play waves at the Boise Whitewater Park and the Payette River would be fun, too. The South Fork and Main Payette are definitely running at boatable levels and rising! 

- SS