Highly recommend the new Brundage to Bear Basin Trail - Awesome addition to the McCall trail network!

The B2BB trail winds through beautiful open mountain meadows 

Hi all,

I had the privilege of riding the new Brundage to Bear Basin Trail last Saturday, and I must tell you that it's an AWESOME addition to the McCall trail network! 

Hats off to the Central Idaho Mountain Biking Association, which partnered with the Payette National Forest and Brundage Mountain Resort to permit and build the trail. 

A post from CIMBA credited the following funding partners: 

• One Track Mind Foundation 
• Albertson's Foundation
• Recreational Trails Program grant via Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation
• IMBA Dig-In Grant 
• Idaho Community Grants
• City of McCall Local Option Tax
• Individual Donations
• Several Large Donors & Receipts from past Idaho Gives Campaigns through CIMBA

Pretty awesome community support! 

CIMBA is a really active mountain bike club, based in McCall. They've shown amazing leadership over the years to add significant new trails to the McCall trail network, such as the Bear Basin network of trails for all abilities, Jug Mountain Ranch trails and the extension of the Payette Rim trail out to North Beach on the west side of Payette Lake. 

Last weekend, I wanted to finish demolishing our deck at our cabin in McCall. My son Quinn and I made fast work of that with our chainsaw on Friday. So that left Saturday free to ride the Brundage to Bear Basin Trail (B2BB). 

Passing by Temptation ski slope on Growler 

I had planned on taking the Bluebird quad to the top of Brundage, but learned that morning that the chairlift was down until further notice (a new part is on order). So I had Wendy drop me off at the base area, and I climbed Growler to the top. Growler is a sweet singletrack trail that climbs Brundage at a pretty moderate grade for most of the climb. Very rideable. There are a few heinous, steep-ass sections in the dark trees with deep roots thrown in for sport. But that's the way trails can be in McCall! Get used to it! 

Passing by 45th and Temptation in the summer makes me smile because in the winter I'm usually flying down those groomers at top speed. 

You hit the B2BB junction on the southern shoulder of Brundage where Growler meets the Lakeview Vista trail. And then you're off and running! 

I had no idea what to expect - just that it was 6.5 miles downhill with 1,700-feet of vertical descent. Pretty quick, I encountered some tricky rock features and a rock wall that I walked, but then the trail weaved down an open mountainside full of wildflowers for several miles, and that was glorious. I stopped to snap some pics of the views where you could see the Little Lake, Payette Lake, Long Valley to the south, New Meadows and Seven Devils to the west. Similar to the views you get skiing at Brundage, but different. 

The open mountain meadows seemed to last quite a while and then you enter the forest and ride through a long series of switchbacks - seemingly a million well-sculpted, fun banked corners that you'll find on Berm and Ernie at JMR and Bogus Basin, and the Around the Mountain Trail at BB or the West Drain at Bear Basin. As I rode through all of those banked corners, it felt like the ATM trail x 10 because of the 6.5 miles of entertaining singletrack. 

After those initial challenging rock sections, the rock features on the trail were set up in a way that they flowed with the trail - you could needed to coast or cruise over the top of them with the downhill momentum.  

The trail contractors did a great job, I thought. The dirt surface was really buffed for the first year of use. But I'm one of the first ones to ride it! After the Bluebird chair gets cranking, it's going to get a lot more use! 

B2BB finally descends into Ditch Witch in the Bear Basin trail system, and it's well-signed as you transition into the BB trails. Ditch Witch is very narrow and climbs at a steep pitch out of a dark hole in the forest but you just grind it out and pop out on Polar Express. I headed east from there toward Bear Basin Road since I had to pedal back to my cabin. 

Wendy went off to hike Granite Mountain with Huck while I did my ride.

All in all, I thought it was a great new trail! My arms were worked from all of the braking and banked corners and such, but those features make for entertaining riding while you're cruising through the mountains. 

I've got a pretty good feeling for the McCall trails as the author of the Mountain Biking in McCall (now only available as an ebook). My first edition of that book came out in 1995. I love all of the trails around the McCall area, but if there's any weakness in the system, there needs to be more trail options close to town. 

The B2BB trail does a nifty job of tying together the popular Bear Basin trail system with Brundage Mountain trails. Now you can do some pretty amazing rides from McCall incorporating those trails. You'll have multiple options to choose from as to how you reach the top of B2BB. It's really up to you and your riding friends as to how far you go! 

Strava tracks. 16 miles from Brundo to McCall. 1,200 feet of climbing, gotta be close to 2,500 feet of descent.     

Don't forget the Boise Twilight Criterium on Saturday in downtown Boise! 
- SS