Think you can hike over 170 miles in a month? This Boise challenge invites you to try
Think you can walk or bike 171 miles of trails in one month? The Boise Trails Challenge invites you to attempt just that.
Starting on Friday, June 17, and running through July 17 — exactly one month — Idahoans can take to the Boise Foothills and begin working their way through the 92 designated trails that are part of the challenge.
From trails next to downtown Boise in the Military Reserve to routes that take you deep into Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, the challenge will have hikers and bikers climbing around 36,000 total feet of elevation from start to finish.
The registration fee is $50, and all participants will receive a pair of Boise Trails socks, a carabiner and a sticker, and further rewards are on offer for those who finish the challenge. The registration price will increase to $55 after June 17.
When signing up, participants will be asked to choose whether they want just to hike the trails or have the opportunity to use a bike.
Participants will then be asked to link their Strava account to their Boise Trails Challenge account. Strava is an app that uses GPS to track physical exercise and will sync with Boise Trails to help users track which trails they have completed.
A leaderboard on Boise Trails’ website will then update twice daily to let participants know where they rank against other people participating in the challenge.
History of the challenge
The first Boise Trails Challenge took place in 2018 following the death of Jason Delgadillo, an avid hiker and biker.
But the idea of the challenge was born a year earlier in 2017 when Delgadillo and some friends decided to try to hike every trail on the Ridge to Rivers map within a month. Delgadillo was instrumental in the idea of having a GPS track their progress rather than doing it manually, which led to the eventual creation of the Boise Trails Challenge.
Delgadillo died in a mountain biking accident in May 2018, and the first official Boise Trails Challenge took place soon after in Jason’s honor, according to the challenge’s website.
Delgadillo also helped create Boise Trails, a website similar to Ridge to Rivers which maps trails in the Foothills and provides updates and news about trails in the area.
“Jason’s passion of the Boise trails and his mountain biking can roll over into people like myself,” Kayla Sande, a Boise Trails participant, said in a part-complete documentary about the challenge called “Boise Trails Challenge - The Film.”
The funds raised from people embarking on the challenge will be put toward continuing production of the documentary about Delgadillo and the challenge.
Money will also go toward prizes for the winners, and to pay for permits from the City of Boise, Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, as well as to compensate the Boise Trails team for the time spent working on their website. Some funds will be used to add additional features for future challenges.
This year some of the money will also be donated to Ridge to Rivers and the Southwest Idaho Mountain Bike Association to reinvest in trails. Additional donations can also be given via PayPal and debit or credit card on the challenge’s website.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the name of Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 3:15 PM.
