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| Old Pen   | 
| Page Type: Area Location: Idaho, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 43.60016°N / 116.1581°W Trail Type: Cross Country, Mountain Season: Spring, Summer, Fall | Page By: Steady Grind Created/Edited: May 6, 2008 / May 13, 2008 Object ID: 266414 Hits: 136 Loading... Page Score: 86.85% - 3 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Ready for a Climb?The Old Pen section of the Boise Foothills is full of great trails. While representing only a fraction of what the foothills have to offer, the Old Pen and Table Rock area provide some of the most technical ridining in the lower foothills and also some of the most grueling climbs in the area.
All of the trails are relatively short...within 5-6 miles...but you can always ride a couple loops and add to your trip. However...if you choose the options with the toughest climbs, one loop might be enough!What is offered?There are three things offered in this area:
1. Steady grind climbs
2. Short steep and loose downhills
3. The most technical riding in the lower foothills
If you take the direct route up from the Old Pen parking area straight up to the top of Table Rock, you will find out if your legs are in good shape or not! Around 1.5 (roughly) miles of straight climbing will be a great test for you legs. There are two sections that are just excruciating (specially at the start of the season!).
The short steep downhill available is the Tram Trail (#14). This is a super fast and loose trail that is bound to make the butt pucker at least once somewhere along the way. A very fun trail, but be aware that there it is a loose trail and its easy to lose control on the rocks.
It turns out that Tram Trail (#14) is a pedestrian only trail. Oops! I totally missed that when I was out riding. I've ridden it twice now. So, apparantly you can't ride down this trail. So....be sure to stay on Table Rock Loop Trail (#16)!!!
The technical riding is in the Rock Garden or the Rock Island Trail (#16A). This short trail is loaded with rock obstacles that range in difficulty from easy to very technical. It is by far the most technical riding in one place in the lower foothills. If you like to challenge yourself, I highly recommend riding this trail...and when you get to the end, turn around and ride it the other way! Some obstacles are more fun in one direction than they are the other.Getting ThereFrom down town Boise, get onto Warm Spring Ave. and follow it East until you see the Old Pen on the north side of the road. Turn right in like you're gonna be a tourist and follow the road to the left around to the back of the Old Pen. This is where the parking is. From there, you have a lot of options...below I've googled mapped out my favorite course to ride! As you can see from the satellite photo, there are many different routes that you can take if you prefer something different.
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