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| Three Bears # 26   | 
| Location: Idaho, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 43.62812°N / 116.16621°W Trail Type: Cross Country, Mountain, Cyclocross County: Ada Technical Difficulty: Hard Aerobic Difficulty: Hard Layout: Point to Point Elevation Gain: 1650 ft / 503 m Length: 5.0 Mi / 8.1 Km
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| Page By: BeDrinkable Created/Edited: Mar 16, 2010 / Mar 16, 2010 Object ID: 275391 Hits: 778 Loading... Page Score: 88.79% - 10 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Overview  This is a nice place to rest and watch wildlife.
Three Bears is one of the premier trails of the wonderful Boise Front Ridge to Rivers Trail system. Unlike some of its neighbors, this is not a trail that exposes you to a lot of variety. It is a climbing trail, pure and simple. From the base at Military Reserve Park, the trails winds a bit before finding its legs and heading up a ridge toward the main Ridge Road. There are several gnarly rock climbs and sagebrush as far as the eye can see. The wide open country allows for views in any direction and the occasional deer or elk will spook nearby. In the summer the exposure is enough to send the toughest hardman scrambling for what little shade is to be found!
 The trail continuing to the ridge.
The trail is a point-to-point layout, but the interconnected system makes it easy to create loops. It begins at Military Reserve and ends at the junction of Watchman and the Freestone Ridge Trail. You can go all the way to the ridge on Freestone, but this trail is open to motorcycles which makes for tough travelling! Watchman makes a great completion to the loop as it meanders through small aspen groves and brings you back to Rocky Canyon.Trail DescriptionAs noted above, this trail goes up (and up). The first mile does wind around a bit before beginning the climb in earnest, but once it does there is little relief. A few sections of loose rocky climbs up the technical requirements to *hard*.
The most difficult section. It's looser than it looks. |
Details:
Mile 1: meanders through pasture and you'll pass several junctions. Just keep following the signs.
Mile 2: climb begins. Still a couple junctions ahead.
Mile 3 - 4: technical sections. At 2.5 you'll reach the first serious climb, which is loose sand. At approximately 3 miles is the most technical section, consisting of loose rock and sand. If you do not scout your line ahead of time, you will most likely walk this section.
Mile 4.25: here is the cutoff junction leading you down to Rocky Canyon. If you do not feel like continuing the climb today, take this trail.
Mile 5: junction with Watchman. The motorcycle trail lies ahead.Getting ThereThe trail is accessed from Military Reserve Park. From downtown Boise, head up Broadway, past Warm Springs and up Shaw Mountain Road. At the fire station turn left. There is ample parking here and further up toward the trailhead. The trail itself begins just past the gun range. At the upper parking area a trail map is posted, so it is hard to get lost. If you haven't been to the area before, carrying a map is not a bad idea.
You can also access this trail from the top at either the junction with Watchman or from Rocky Canyon, just below the 5 Mile trailhead.When to Bike  March snow makes the trail a bit muddy. LinksMountain Biking Idaho gives a decent overview of some of the trails.
The Ridge to Rivers site has much useful information, including an online trail map (although the hard copy is always more up-to-date).
SWIMBA is the go-to source for all information related to the area's mountain biking. Check it out if you're going to be in the area!
Or you always head over to Steady Grind's great pages for more info. Images |
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