Bogus Basin Outing

Contributor: Cody Feuz
Activity Type: Mountain Biking Level of Difficulty: Blue
Mountain Range or Region: Boise Front State: ID Country: USA
The Adventure:
Over the past few years, the trails at Bogus Basin have continued to progress and improve. This ride takes you from the base lodge to the top of Chair 3, (Superior lift). With the exception of the upper part of the Tempest trail from the junction with the Face trail, it is a basic loop. It is fairly short, but you could make a couple of laps using the Elk Meadows trail on the back side and probably get a 13 – 15 mile ride in. I have included that loop in the GPS data. My wife and I did the Elk Meadows loop as a hike last summer.

My friend, Rich and I made this ride on the last Saturday in June. The conditions were great, and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of mountain bikers and hikers on the trail. In addition, we encountered a party riding horses and mules up on the face trail in a steep area that I call the Last Chance Chute in the winter. It was a little bit of a traffic jam for a few minutes. The two of us were travelling uphill and there were a couple of mules and three or four horses travelling down the trail. They were followed by another pair of mountain bikers. The lead guy was on a mule and was leading a mule with no rider. As she went by us, the mule got spooked as she passed Rich and she jumped off the trail and went down the steep slope about 30 feet. I put my mule handling skills in action and got down to her and retrieved her for the grateful owner – (I really did handle mules and horses in a previous life as a youngster growing up on a guest ranch/outfitting business).

Back to the actual mountain bike ride. Although we rode the face trail on the uphill segment, it would be a great downhill if there wasn’t a lot of traffic to contend with. I’m pretty sure if you did this on a weekday, you’d have it all to yourself! We did the Tempest downhill. The upper part is pretty cool with some nice technical little rock features, but the lower part has too many tight switchbacks for my liking. If I did this ride again, I’d probably reverse it. Here are some video highlights of the ride that feature The Face trail, Tempest, Sunshine and Shindig:

Getting There:
Take Bogus Basin Road from Boise all the way to the base of the resort. Please be careful on Bogus Basin Road in the spring/summer/fall. This is a VERY popular road biking route! The trailhead for the Deer Point trail (91) is right past the beginner lift. If you reverse the ride, you would head east on the Bogus Creek trail, (really a service road), past the lodge and under the triple chair.

Things to do in the summer at Bogus:
Bogus Basin offers a summer BBQ on the weekends. Selection isn’t big, but the food is good and it is fun to have a bite after a good mountain bike ride or hike.
In addition to mountain biking, there is great hiking and camping options in and around Bogus Basin.
On July 29th, 2012 Bogus as their annual Lift Served Mountain Bike day. Go here for more information: Bogus Basin BIG MOUNTAIN ROUNDUP. I wish they would offer lift served mountain biking more than once a summer, and they really need a good DH course to go with it, but it is a fun time. Looks like this year’s event is going to have a bunch of other activities!

Final thoughts:
When it is approaching 100 degrees in Boise, these rides are an excellent option. You can still ride during the middle of the day and not worry about heat stroke. I love the Boise Foothills rides, but Bogus Basin offers more alpine like scenery and climate and it is only ½ hour from town – just watch out for the mules.

Here is the downloadable GPS data for the Bogus Basin Trails that we rode, (also includes the hike from 2011). You can also find other Boise area rides on the Boise Foothills Mountain Biking page.