We’re really excited about this event and the chance to share the excitement and camaraderie of self-supported riding with friends! In honor of this once-a-year event, Bike Touring News HQ will be CLOSED on Friday, May 31!
Watch this page for updates as the event approaches! Questions? Call, email or stop by the shop!
We hope you’ll join us for the 2019 Featherville Freakout, May 31 – June 2! We want this to be an opportunity for riders of all ages and abilities to get out and sample a little slice of the spectacular riding here in Idaho, so rather than prescribing a route and setting the agenda we’re nailing down a meetup point and encouraging folks to plan their own adventures. You can organize your own ride, invite your friends and tell us all about it at the campground on the South Fork of the Boise River! We’d love to see riders from all across the state come together for a weekend gathering of the bike travel tribe! Here’s how it’s gonna go down:
Our destination will be the Chapparal campground on the South Fork of the Boise – just upstream from the town of Featherville – for Friday and Saturday nights. Nestled in the hills just south of the mighty Sawtooth Mountains, this stretch of road will be familiar to veterans of the Smoke ‘N’ Fire 400 or Idaho Hot Springs MTB Route. There are ample opportunities for day riding, hiking, fishing, hot spring soaking, barstool rodeo, slingshot biathlon or any other outdoor games you want to play!
Route options to Chaparral could range from the seriously strenuous to super relaxed depending on your style and preference. Make it as easy or challenging as you want! No rules, no restrictions. Just get your crew together, draw some lines on a map and come meet us riverside!
Want to host your own ride to the Featherville Freakout? We hope you do! Register your ride with the ACA so that other folks in your area can find it and join in! You can also register as a private event if you’d rather pick and choose your riding companions.
Want to let someone else handle the route planning and join in a ride? Check out the list below. We’ll update this list with more rides as they are added. Click the link to find more information and to register your participation. You’ll get an sweepstakes entry for your trouble! You can also contact the ride leader with any questions you might have.
Featherville Freakout Ride Listing (5/30/19 update)
Departing Boise on Friday – 87 miles, 7,400 ft climbing
Departing Boise on Friday, splitting the route into two days.
Departing Prairie on Saturday – 38 miles, 2,600 ft climbing
Departing Lowman on Friday – 73 miles, 8,640 ft climbing. Cancelled due to excessive snow on route.
5/24/19: Road Closure Update
For those planning to connect through Prairie to Pine, be aware that a road closure is in effect on NF 128, the Prairie-Pine Road. See the closure maps below. You can find more information on the Boise NF’s alerts and closures page via this link. Read the press release here.
The good news is that the closure is limited to motorized vehicles, so bicycles should be fine. The closure may have also already been lifted. The ranger on duty at the Mountain Home ranger district confirmed that the Prairie-Pine road is clear and gave the go-ahead for bike travel. Be aware of forest management activity through this corridor and be safe!
Other Ride Options:
Ride from the Pine boat launch! This is definitely the easiest option with around 15 miles and 800 feet of climbing on mostly-paved roads. No significant climbs, just a gradual uphill at river grade. This is a great option for folks on road touring bikes, new bike travelers or anyone looking for an easier, low-risk option. Last year we had a handful of kids in trailers, on cargo bikes, etc riding from Pine, so this a great family-friendly option.
Ride from the Elk Creek boat launch! This is probably the second-easiest option with 31 miles and 2,300 feet of climbing. The start location doesn’t require a ton of drive time from the Treasure Valley, so this might be a good alternative for folks that want a little more of a ride but don’t want to drive to Prairie. Much more dirt and some sustained climbing here, so consider this an intermediate level ride.
Friday Boise Departure Details:
Want to ride from Boise on Friday? A group will depart Fort Boise/Military Reserve Park (main parking lot between ballfields and Mtn Cove Rd) promptly at 9am and ride to Featherville via this route. Here’s a brief description of the ride to whet your appetite!
Terrain varies from a nasty hike-a-bike out of Lydle Gulch to smooth pavement near Pine. Mostly, we’ll be on maintained dirt roads that will vary from smooth and hardpacked to loose, sandy, rocky and/or washboarded. Any competent dirt touring bike with ~2″ tires will do fine.
This track (more or less) follows the route of the Smoke ‘N’ Fire 400, taking in a variety of southern Idaho landscapes and a moderate amount of climbing – for Idaho that is. We’ll roll eastbound out of town through Lydle Gulch to Black’s Creek Road and follow the tailwater of the South Fork through some stunning scenery.
After climbing out of the South Fork, we’ll pass through the town of Prairie and take advantage of resupply options at the Y-Stop and Prairie Store.
We’ll cruise across the open plain before climbing into the hills south of the Trinity Mountains in the Boise National Forest. Stretch your legs, take in plenty of sustenance and get ready to climb!
[NOTE: A portion of the route takes us through a forest service road closure. See Road Closure Update above for more info.]
We’ll summit the high point of the ride right around 6,000 feet before descending to the Anderson Ranch Reservoir section of the South Fork. The route turns back to the north and passes through the town of Pine. Pine Cafe and Cocktails will tempt us with hot food and cold beverages while the Nitz Pine Store provides convenience store essentials.
Gracious curves heading down toward Pine
From Pine, we’re in the home stretch! FR 114 will carry us along the east bank of the South Fork as we climb at a mellow river grade toward Featherville. 12 miles past Pine, we’ll have arrived!
We expect the 87-mile ride will require 7-8 hours of ride time, so a 9am departure should get us into the campground with plenty of time to make camp, prepare food and maybe even get some fishing in before dark.
Saturday will be a free day with ample opportunity for all kinds of outdoor recreation. We’ll return to Boise on Sunday via the same route or a variation. If you want to ride with us, don’t forget to register your participation here for an entry in the sweepstakes and to join the ranks of bike travelers across the world!
Regardless of your route choice, we hope you’ll join us and thousands of people across the world for the Featherville Freakout, part of Bike Travel Weekend 2018! See you on the South Fork!
#rideloaded #feathervillefreakout #biketravelweekend #biketouringnews
