Hiking near Bogus soon? Logging will close road, trails at times
A logging operation in the Boise National Forest meant to improve forest health and mitigate wildfire will intermittently close a portion of Bogus Basin Road and shut down several popular Boise hiking trails for weekday use for more than a month, the U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday.
The project, called the Deer Point Forest Stewardship Project, will close Bogus Basin Road from mile marker 9.8 to the ski area’s paved parking lot from 8 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. on weekdays beginning May 12. The project is expected to conclude June 20. During those times, the road will be closed to vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
The Forest Service said the closures will allow crews to safely cut and haul trees without interference.
The month-long closure will also impact a handful of trails along Bogus Basin Road and at Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area. The trails will be fully closed from 6 a.m. Mondays through 6 p.m. Fridays, but will remain open on weekends.
“As someone who uses trails regularly, I get that these short-term closures can be frustrating,” Bogus Basin General Manager Brad Wilson said in the news release. “However, the long-term advantages of a more fire-resilient forest and safer trails make the temporary inconvenience worthwhile.”
The impacted trails include Freddy’s Stack Rock, Sweet Connie, Eastside, Boise Ridge Road Trail, Eastside, DB Connector, Pat’s, Mr. Big, Ponderosa Pine Overlook and Sinker Creek. Some trail closures may be only partial. The Forest Service news release urged hikers and mountain bikers to check the website for Ridge to Rivers, the Boise trail management agency, for up-to-date closure information before heading to a trail.
Forest health has been a concern in the Boise National Forest and at Bogus Basin area in recent years. The Forest Service has been combating parasitic dwarf mistletoe and devastating bark beetle damage for nearly a decade. Both issues severely impacted the area’s Douglas fir population — in some places near Bogus Basin, as much as 98% of the Douglas firs were infected with dwarf mistletoe, the Forest Service previously told the Statesman.
The infected and dead trees pose a fire hazard as well as a danger to recreators, as they can buckle under the weight of snow and fall. The Forest Service said its focus for the Deer Point project will be primarily to remove Douglas fir trees, leaving more fire-resistant Ponderosa pines, which the agency said are also less susceptible to beetles and mistletoe.
The project is centered about a mile southwest of the ski area, which is partially on leased Forest Service land. The project area is about 1,300 acres and the Forest Service said it’s slated to take four years to complete.
