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| Riding on the front side of the Owyhee Mountains. (Courtesy Boise ATV Trail Riders) |
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| It might be the desert, but there are many streams that flow in the spring, fall and winter.
(Courtesy Boise ATV Trail Riders) |
Hi all,
We've just added two new rides to the
www.stayontrails.com web site, which now features 41 ATV and motorbike rides on our
where-to-ride page. Each ride has a detailed description and map, and some have photos and video.
All of the rides come recommended from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and local OHV clubs.
The latest additions to the ride list -- two rides in the Owyhee Mountains -- come from the
Treasure Valley Trail Machine Association (TVTMA). Many thanks to club officers Steve Frisbie and Mark Weaver for providing the base maps and details about these rides.
TVTMA has a fun run each spring, typically in May. Watch their
web site for the timing and details on next year's ride. The two rides featured on stayontrails.com came from the 2010 Fun Runs.
The
ATV Fun Run course is approximately 30 miles long. Here's the
trip map. The ride starts and finishes by the Chalky Butte Trailhead in the Owyhee Front, near Hemingway Butte.
The
Motorbike Fun Run course is 27.5 miles long. Here's the
trip map. The ride starts and finishes by the Diamond Basin Corrals Trailhead, accessed from the road to Silver City near Murphy.
Both of these rides are meant to provide an introduction to riding OHVs on the front side of the Owyhee Mountains. These are literally hundreds miles of trails in the front side of the Owyhees, and several different trailheads to use, including Rabbit Creek, Chalky Butte, Fossil Butte and Kane Springs.
To see a big-picture view of the trails in the Owyhee Front, check out the
BLM map.
The best time to ride these trails is in the fall, winter and spring. So when you're itching to get out on a ride, and the trails are still snowbound in your neck of the woods, consider traveling to the Owyhees to get an early start on your riding season in the springtime. You can camp at the trailheads, or you could stay in
Nampa or
Boise.
Beyond the rides we offer on stayontrails.com, be sure to check out
IDPR's interactive trail site for OHV riders to research new trails to check out statewide.
In other Idaho OHV news, the BLM Challis Field Office, in partnership with the Great Basin Institute and IDPR, won the
2012 Coalition for Recreational Trails Award for the Lombard Trail Project, located in
Land of the Yankee Fork State Park. This is great news, and a very deserving project. Thanks to the Boise ATV Trail Riders for providing a write up on the award.
Here's a
YouTube video of the Lombard Trail -- it's open to motorbikes and ATVs, and it takes you from the state park entrance area south of Challis to the mountains high above the valley and connects to the mines around the ghost town of Bayhorse nearby. It's a super-cool ride.
Save the date: The annual
Ride to Bayhorse ATV event in Challis is set for Aug. 17-19 this year. See this link for more details. Here's a chance to experience the Lombard Trail, Bayhorse, Land of the Yankee Fork State Park, and tons of other motorbike and ATV trails in the vicinity.
Have fun and ride safe!
- SS
