The expansive Ridge to Rivers trail system in Boise, Idaho, already boasts 220 miles of singletrack trails. “It’s a very popular amenity,” said David Gordon, Ridge to Rivers Division Superintendent for the City of Boise. “It brings a lot of people here to live. It’s increasing [the] number of people here just to spend time on the trails, actually.”
The vast majority of the Ridge to Rivers trails are multi-use, with 60% of the trail traffic on foot and 40% on mountain bikes. The higher up the mountainside you go, the higher the percentage of bike traffic.
Gordon wasn’t joking when he said the trails are popular: Ridge to Rivers receives 3 million visitor days per year. Despite the massive popularity of the trails, a downhill-only mountain bike-specific trail has never been built in the Ridge to Rivers network… until now.
The new directional bike-only trail is being applauded by bikers and hikers alike
Ridge to Rivers currently offers one trail designated for bike-only downhill traffic, but it wasn’t built or designed with that use in mind. “The trail itself, when it was designed and constructed, was a multi-use trail,” said Gordon. While it’s mostly downhill, it has some uphill in it, too. “We repurposed it about four years ago now and built a parallel trail, and moved all the foot traffic onto that trail — no bikes on that one — and repurposed this with some jumps [and] a lot more banked corners.”
To find true purpose-built downhill trails, Boise residents have had to drive up to the Bogus Basin Gravity Park.
The new Sideshow trail that’s currently under construction will be entirely different from anything else in the Ridge to Rivers network. Sideshow is being designed and built as a downhill-only bike-only trail. Despite the bike designation, hikers are applauding the new trail construction as well.
“It was well supported by cyclists, obviously, but also by non-cyclists, because they saw the benefit,” said Gordon. “If you’re putting a trail like that in a fairly busy area, you’re going to pull a lot of downhill riders away from the multi-use trails, and they’ll choose the downhill trail by default.”
This traffic diversion naturally makes nearby multi-use trails less busy for hikers, creating a win-win for everybody.
Where will Sideshow be located?
Sideshow is currently under construction in the mid-foothills area of the mountain. The new trail will end on the existing Bob’s trail, and can be incorporated into a much longer descent through the trail system. While it can easily be incorporated into a pedal-driven loop, Gordon thinks many riders will choose to shuttle the trail.
“Most folks, I think, will shuttle it where it ends. They’ll take about a quarter-mile, two-track gravel road up to a dirt road, [and] once they hit that, it’s a mile up the dirt road, and then they could start it again if they wanted to lap it.”
Gordon mentioned there’s a good parking area at the top of the trail, but not at the bottom.
What features will riders find on the trail?
The new downhill trail will measure 1.7 miles long and will drop roughly 450 feet of vertical.
While the trail is purpose-built for mountain bikers, Gordon doesn’t want to call it a “flow trail,” even if that might be the most accurate description. “It’ll have tabletops, rollers, big bank turns, hopefully a rhythm section. So more stuff that’s constructed into the design of the trail,” said Gordon.
The flow trail-style features will fit well on the wide-open sagebrush-filled hillside where Sideshow is being built. Gordon noted that there isn’t much rock on the hillside, but “if we encounter some rock in the construction, then we’ll incorporate it.”
While the main trail line will be rated intermediate, advanced riders will find optional features to keep them entertained. “We’re hoping to put some more expert-level sides on some of the jumps so that you can hit different parts of the width of the trail and get a different experience.” Gordon also noted that the trail will be wide enough to accommodate adaptive mountain bikes.
When will Sideshow be ready to ride?
Integrated Trail LAB out of Bozeman, MT, is already hard at work digging on the mountainside. $150,000 has been budgeted by the City of Boise for Sideshow’s construction.
Gordon said that the trail will be finished and ready to ride by “early summer,” intentionally hedging his bets on the timeline. However, he anticipates construction wrapping up sometime in early June.
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