Tackle the vast options of hiking and biking in God’s Country
If you like to hike or ride a mountain bike, the Payette River Mountains region has so many options it’ll
make your head spin —at least for a moment. But our Top 10 lists will get you started with a batch of the
local favorites, and then you can decide what you’d like to explore from there.
Brundage Mountain, Tamarack Resort and Ponderosa State Park all have excellent trail systems, then there are hundreds of miles of national forest trails to explore. No matter how long you stay in the area during the summer, we guarantee you will not exhaust the nearly endless possibilities.
Brundage’s lift-served trails cover approximately 15
miles. Everyone’s favorite is to hike or ride downhill on Elk Trail, a serpent-like singletrack that cruises
across the mountain and into pine, fir and aspen trees on each side before cutting across the ski slopes toward
the bottom of the hill.
Tamarack has built more than 35 miles of IMBA trails (International Mountain Biking Association). Tamarack’s trails start with 12-plus miles of twisting hiking and biking singletrack trails in Foothills Park. The trails take folks on a tour around the Osprey Meadows golf course and into pine, fir, aspen and tamarack forests on the lower flank of West Mountain.
TOP 10 MUST-DO HIKES
- DUCK LAKE TRAIL, 1 MILE, EASY
- RAINBOW LAKE, 3 MILES, EASY TO MODERATE.
- LILY MARSH TRAIL IN PONDEROSA STATE PARK, 2 MILES ROUND-TRIP, EASY.
- KESTREL-CREEKSONG-PELICAN LOOP AT TAMARACK RESORT, 4.5 MILES, MODERATE.
- BLUE LAKE, .25 MILE, EASY.
- BOULDER LAKE, 4 MILES, EASY TO MODERATE.
- RAPID RIVER TRAIL, 8 MILES, MODERATE TO STRENUOUS.
- COUNCIL MOUNTAIN SUMMITGRANITE CREEK LOOP, 7 MILES, MODERATE TO STRENUOUS.
- LIFT-SERVED HIKE TO LONE TREE PEAK FROM TAMARACK SUMMIT, 4 MILES ROUND-TRIP, MODERATE.
- LIFT-SERVED HIKE TO SERGEANT'S MOUNTAIN FROM BRUNDAGE MOUNTAIN SUMMIT, 4 MILES ROUND-TRIP, MODERATE.
Jump on Tamarack’s lifts and you’ll find some cool skyline-ridge type of hiking opportunities from the 7,800-foot Tamarack Summit and out to the south to 7,835- foot Lone Tree peak, or out to the north to Falls Pinnacle Rock, overlooking Tamarack Falls.
Mountain bikers should look for cutting-edge lift-served downhill trails such as Super G that offer optional rock- and stump-launching pads in strategic locations. Tamarack also has a full-on jump park and a Challenge Park, a technical and skills-building riding course. If you’d like to go on a guided mountain bike or hiking adventure, Tamarack has a guided program set up just for your custom needs.
At Ponderosa State Park, several shorter hiking- only trails (less than 3 miles total) provide a glimpse of tall-grass marsh areas and lilypads. Longer trails such as the Huckleberry Trail are available to hikers and bikers. “The Huck,” as locals call it, cruises over to the lesser-traveled east side of Payette Lake and winds through dark pockets of heavy timber before emerging near the apex of the park peninsula at Osprey Point. Here you must climb to the point overlook, and enjoy fetching views of Payette Lake and the surrounding mountains in all directions.
The local ranger district offices at the Boise National Forest near Cascade and the Payette National Forest near McCall can offer further suggestions for local hikes.
INFORMATION ON HIKING & BIKING
