The March 2013 Wandering Wheels ride took us from Mountain Home, Idaho to Bonneville Point along the Main Oregon Trail. The trail is easy to find traveling north from Mountain Home on Canyon Creek Road thanks to frequent signage. Once on the trail the surface is nicely graded hard dirt and parts of it could be challenging in wet conditions. The tourist traveling east or west between Mountain Home and Boise needs to be prepared for some sharp climbs, and there is no place to get water for over 40 miles. Camping on BLM land is permitted but there is private land interspersed with BLM so it’s a good idea to get a Surface Management Status map from the Idaho Bureau of Land Management or from the US Geological Survey beforehand.
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3 replies on “Bike Trekking on the Oregon Trail”
I guess I didn’t realize the was any suitable touring route from Mountain Home to Boise besides Interstate 84. Is this route suitable for a fully loaded touring bike with drops and no suspension? Is the surface washboardy? It would be great to utilize this route for a Boise-Stanley-Hailey-Boise loop.
Thanks for any additional info!
Marc,
The surface was actually pretty smooth when we did it with no loose gravel sections. Definitely suitable for a loaded touring bike even though there are some ups and downs. A person could even camp on the BLM sections even though there is no place to get water so you would have to make sure to carry enough.
Thanks for the info. I love doing loops especially driveway to driveway loops with no vehicle involved. I’ll have to include this route in a Central Idaho ride. Happy travels by bike!