Empowering The Bicycle Traveler

Wandering Wheels in the Snake River Canyon 2016

On a map the roads show as thin red lines forming a network resembling blood vessels and capillaries. Or the tributaries to a river. Between Swan Falls Dam and Celebration Park on the south side of the river there is a gap with no red lines. Since a few of the dozen or so other riders here have ridden this route before we know there is a way through.

Crossing over Swan Falls Dam we head upriver a few hundred yards before taking a sharp right hand turn to reverse direction and begin climbing. The surface is generally gravel and/or sand but on a few of the steeper sections larger boulders are exposed and overlain with other, melon sized boulders. These sections most of us walk while pushing the bikes. Then the road smooths out and descends again toward the river. It is nice, fast double track here.
Snake River
Flow
The road-less gap on the map is an area where the canyon walls slope rapidly down to the river. The trail winds up and down and through vehicle sized boulders and the trees and brush that grow along the river. Here everyone pushes and carries their bikes. Then the trail drops steeply back down to the river and ties back into a gravel road which we follow all the way to Guffey Bridge which crosses the river to Celebration State Park. We have ridden about 12 miles at this point. The trail on the north side of the river from Celebration Park back to the dam is mostly level with some sections of deep, loose sand and some rocky sections. Riders with 3″ wide or wider tires should be able to ride everything without much trouble.

Bike photo

29+ = 3″ tires….31’r!

bike

26+ Surly Troll with Rabbit Hole rims and 3″ tires.

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The blood. Sky King came into this rock hard with the left tip of her bars and went over the slope by her left foot. She was holding onto a piece of sagebrush to keep from falling into the river, like a cartoon character.

This loop is just about 25 miles and it is less than an hour’s drive from Boise so it makes an easy day trip. We stopped often to tour through the old stone buildings and to look at petroglyphs. The visitor center at Celebration Park is a resource to learn about the geology and history of this country and is worth a stop.

3 comments… add one
  • Randy Stillman February 24, 2016, 7:17 pm

    Nice blog. Good detail of the area. I didn’t realize that you could get across the dam at Swan Falls. On foot or bicycle only I assume?

    Thanks!
    Randy

    Reply
    • Bike Hermit® February 25, 2016, 12:14 pm

      Randy,
      Yes, only on foot or bicycle can one cross Swan Falls dam

      Reply
  • Steve Moore March 24, 2016, 10:27 am

    Nice article! I really like your coverage of local rides. I wondered about the route south of the river after looking at the map. The geology and melon gravels are really great. Always looking for a good bike adventure!

    Reply

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