Mountain Biking Boise

Rating:
Summary: Too many roads...
Review: First, let me say the Stuebner book is also a bad guide for the Boise area but for different reasons. Basically, there's no great guide for the Boise area.

OK, now this guide book will more or less get a rider close to some good trails. That is a good thing and also the reason I'm awarding 2 stars rather than 1. The author mentions in the preface that he understand many users may not like the number of roads he advocates using to create loops. He's not kidding. More than 50% of the suggested tread in this book is paved surface.

The author focuses on documenting actual loops for the rider rather than out-and-back trails. Great. Except... There's 100+ miles of trails in the Boise area, maybe as much as 150 miles. There's no good reason to ride roads on a MTB in the Boise area with all of these trails.

The maps and elevation profiles are better than the Stuebner book but that's not saying much. This book is only slightly better. The maps routinely leave out misc trails that connect to the main loop that the author is trying to document. Imagine riding a trail that has 5 left turns within a 2 miles stretch and trying simply guess which left turn is proper without any indicators on the authors map or text. A simple "take the 3rd left" would have been great.

I'm a new rider to the Boise area and I need to say, these hills are tough. I wanted a decent book to help me understand how tough a trail would be without getting myself in over my head. This book is pretty much worthless in that regard. There are 40 rides in the book and I'd guess only 5 of those rides are completely on dirt. Who wants to ride a 28 pound MTB around the roads? So I have the 2 Boise area guidebooks and the only thing I learned was where the big trailheads are. I have spent many a frustraing day lost in back country.

If a person wants a better resource, goto www.ridgetorivers.org

The map that is available through Ridge to Rivers is not a complete trail guide but it is acurate and more or less easy to use. It's $5 and it's worth 2x the cost of both Boise area MTB guidebooks. It's also available at most local bike shops and the REI.

Maybe you can find this book at half.com for $1, that's about all it's worth.