Keep voting for your favorite Boise hike, and here’s what to know about your top picks
Last week we asked Idaho Statesman readers to let us know what their favorite Boise Foothills hiking trail is — after all, there are over 210 miles of hiking trails right on Boise’s doorstep.
After a week of voting, here are the top-voted foothills trails as of Tuesday afternoon, where they are and what to know about them. In the poll below, you can continue voting for your favorite hike and see what others enjoy. Trail length, elevation gain, time to complete and difficulty are courtesy of AllTrails.
This story will occasionally be updated with updated rankings and trail information based on further voting, so keep on voting, and we’ll bring you more information about Boise’s best hikes.
You can also vote and see how many people plan on participating in the Boise Trails Challenge, which begins on June 15 and challenges people to hike over 170 miles of unique trails within a month.
1. Freddy’s Stack Rock Trail
Area: Bogus National Forest, just off Bogus Basin Road
Length: 11.7 miles
Elevation gain: 1,351 feet
Average time to complete: 4 hours and 45 minutes
Difficulty: Hard
Dogs: Controlled dogs off-leash
2. Polecat Loop
Area: Polecat Gulch Reserve, north of Collister Drive in Northwest Boise
Length: 5.8 miles
Elevation gain: 767 feet
Average time to complete: 2 hours and 27 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs: Allowed on-leash
3. Table Rock Trail
Area: Table Rock, trail accessible via the parking lot at the Old Idaho Penitentiary and Idaho Botanical Garden
Length: 3.7 miles
Elevation gain: 879 feet
Average time to complete: 1 hour and 59 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs: Controlled dogs off-leash
4. Around The Mountain
Area: Bogus Basin, trail accessible from the Bogus Basin Recreation Area and Ski Resort parking
Length: 9.8 miles
Elevation gain: 1,410 feet
Average time to complete: 4 hours and 16 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs: Controlled dogs off-leash
5. Five Mile Gulch, Watchman and Three Bears Loop
Area: Rocky Canyon, north of the East End
Length: 6 miles
Elevation gain: 1,033 feet
Average time to complete: 2 hours and 48 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs: Controlled dogs off-leash
This story was originally published June 14, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
