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Boise, Idaho 2017

hike Willow creek ridge trail, east of Boise, Idaho - part 6

Our Crazy Post Retirement Wanderings Hiking and Triking


hike Willow creek ridge trail, east of Boise, Idaho - part 6

Willow creek ridge trail is located in the national forest about 25miles northeast of Boise in the hills along a forest road and very much off the beaten path if you like a little solitude with your hike.

The trail climbs from the creek up the ridges between rock formations winding from ridge to ridge to the summit, and is very scenic.

The trail was designed to be a mountain bike or motorcycle trail, and thus there are parts that are quite steep for a hiker, but in all other regards, is very suitable for hiking. When Pearl and I hiked this trail we didn't see anybody, although there was one other car at the trailhead when we arrived, but was gone when we got back.

When we hiked this trail it was a warm day, in the high 60's to low 70's with a little breeze, and mostly cloudy, but intermittantly the full sun making it feel like the upper 80's except for the cooling effects of the wind chill. The humidity was moderately high so it felt pretty hot, and I sweated quite a bit hiking along, and Pearl was hot too as you can see from the pictures.

The trail doesn't have any cliffs or steep ravines or other things that might put off someone afraid of heights, although there was a steep hill along the trail for a little ways near the beginning, but it's not much. For my personal preferences, I prefer the large vertical variations in elevation. But the rock formations make it very scenic.

All in all, except for the warm temperature, it was a very pleasant hike, I would recommend it to anybody who likes a scenic hike, and a nice short walk in nature. I also imagine it would be nice for a motorcyclist or mountain bike rider.

I would recommend days when the temperature is below 70F, because there is no shade on the hike whatsoever, so in the sun, it is constantly about 20F hotter than the air temperature.

On hotter days, one needs to get out at 6AM, and get back by 10AM, or go out at 5PM and make it a night hike with headlamps and flashlights.

I didn't hike the trail that instead of the ridge, goes along the creek, so I don't know about that trail, but I suspect it's a pretty trail too, in different ways, but with less of a breeze I suppose.

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