30.5K Travel Log by endovereric
124 locations
Buffalo River Campground
I think we went at the perfect time. The mosquitoes weren't too bad. The river was high enough to keep even our canoe moving and the water was nice and warm (for a river). The float went a little fast for some of us so we paddled back upstream and came back down again. We even saw a blue heron land and take off along the shore.
Reply
Tear Drop Lake
We got eaten alive by the mosquitoes and eventually rained out entirely but in between all of that we had a blast! The kids loved the river and my 5 year old who just learned to ride a bike without training wheels went around and around the lake and rode sections of it so many more times. There were so many people there with kayaks but it never felt crowded. We camped a little further in at a spot that was harder to get to but it was pretty great back there. We kind of had a private beach, just without sand. I would definitely come back but with more bugspray.
Reply
Webster's Dam
We took the whole family to finish off our Memorial Day. We started at 7pm with 6 kids ranging from 5 months to 12 years. Of course we carried the 5 month old but all the others walked, including the 3 and 5 year old. We were all fairly tired when we returned to our vehicle at 9:30pm but everybody really enjoyed it and were able to do it just fine. We were pretty cautious of the kids near the dam as the water was running pretty strong. My wife and I liked the whole experience a lot more than we thought we would. We look forward to returning on our mountain bikes and hiking it again in the fall for the fall colors.
Reply
Stinking Springs
I just came down from the ridge to Sidewinder on my mountain bike but that section was easily my favorite part of the ride. The corners had high berms and the rock rolls were almost too much fun. I think there were easier lines that could have been taken around or through them but it was a great bit of tech to add to the ride. I wish I would have continued down this trail rather than cutting off to Sidewinder.
Reply
String Lake
Came here with the family and did the loop hike. The loop itself was beautiful but didn't exactly blow me away. The portage to Leigh Lake really did it for me. The views of Moran towering over Leigh Lake were awesome. Then against everything I thought to be good judgement, we decided to swim in this glacier lake at 6pm. Now I wish we'd had a lot more time to swim there because it was actually about as perfect of a family swimming hole as you can get. My older kids were able to get out and play in the deeper stuff while still being close enough to yell at and my younger kids had tons of room to wade around and the water wasn't too cold at all. String Lake now goes on my favorites list.
Reply
Pintler Falls
Great little short hike. Tons of mosquitos this time but when there's not, there's so much to do. Other times, we've played in the little slow waters on the side, climbed up above the Falls, and even climbed behind the falls. Water was pretty high this time as well.
Reply
Pintler Lake Campground and Picnic Area
I wish more campgrounds were still like this. It's got the basics like fire rings, picnic tables, and a vault toilet but not much else other than a ton of nature. We kayaked, canoes, spotted fish, caught frogs, rode bikes and ATVs, went to the Falls down the road, and just enjoyed being together in camp. The mosquitos were a little heavy but not enough to dampen the mood. What a great camp!
Reply
Fall Creek Falls
Not much of a hike but an awesome view, especially in the fall. It's a great viewpoint for all the colorful trees along the river and the Falls are one of those "Holy Cow, how have I never seen this before?!?!" kind of things. The falls are big and beautiful.
Reply
Yellowstone Branch Line Trail
I can't recommend the first 40 miles of this trail but the last 7 or so were fantastic! The first 40 definitely had their moments and we definitely saw some beautiful scenery but wow, Holy sand!
Reply
Randy's Cow Trail / Ken's Corner
This is a pretty fun section. It's an easy climb and a pretty tight and twisty decent.
Reply
Darby Wind Cave
It was really hot but not so hot as the lowlands, I guess. We took 4 11 year old scouts. It was pretty tough for them. A lot of that may have been the heat. The creek coming out of the cave still had water but not a ton. The waterfall below the cave was just a little more than a good shower. We weren't able to see it from the trail. The wildflowers in the meadow were huge and beautiful and the creek was VERY easy to cross to get into the cave.
Reply
Twin Bridges
The water was a pretty good level for decent swimmers to jump. The rocks below weren't exposed but the sandbar above the bridge was.
Reply
Table Rock / Table Mountain
Snow started somewhere around 9500 feet but it's just little patches of snow across the trail until about 10,000 feet where there are large snow fields to cross. We went up and down the face trail after hearing reports that about 0.5 mile of Huckleberry was covered with snow and downed trees from an avalanche. When we first reached the summit, it was encompassed by a thick cloud and all we saw was white everywhere. Luckily we didn't get the snow and rain that were predicted and though we never saw the Grand, at least the clouds cleared up enough for us to see to the West. My 8 and 10 year old kids wore tennis shoes and had to change socks and use some bread bags and still had cold feet but all in all handled it pretty well.
Reply
Old Ranger
Ok. I know a lot of riders that would not have struggled with this but it was stinking tough. We walked maybe 1/4-1/3 of the time and the two really steep climbs were insanely steep. I love this trail though. It makes me want to get in better shape so I can ride more and walk less. There are several climbs and drops but the drop on the East side was pretty hairy. It was all I could do to keep my rear wheel planted. Once you get over the first big hump (going West), there's quite a bit of great flowy singletrack. Some of it is pretty deep and skinny but not too bad. We finished out down Wolverine Canyon which is great. The creek was pretty hard though so we had to carry/push the bike across rather than riding through it. It's totally jumpable though if you pick the right line.
Reply
Bear Gulch
We had a great time and even went all the way down to the creek once. There were only a couple of families there so it was easy enough to share the one run. I imagine it wouldn't take much for it to be too crowded though. We went later in the afternoon so it was pretty icy. It looked like you could probably start much higher up when there's powder.
Reply
Mountain Ranch Bike Park
This gets a 5 rating for what it is. They've really put a lot into this and it's surprising quality. I felt like the trail ratings were a little off. I found the intermediate to be much more difficult than the advanced. On the jump track, the jumps are surprisingly uneven. If you hit all the jumps relatively the same, you'd either come up short on some or huck to flat on others. Once you figure out all the jumps, they're pretty great. The downhill trails were a lot of fun with great flow. I took kids 5-12 years old. All of them loved it, just different parts.
Reply
City Creek
Wow! What a crazy time. We went after it had rained and was beginning to snow. Not soupy mud but pretty slick. I was glad we had rented some ebikes from Bill's Bike and Run in Idaho Falls. That sure made it easier. It was still a little too much mud so it was a one run day. I was super impressed with the trail network though. It totally reminded me of a ski hill without a lift. I will definitely be back when there's better weather.
Reply
Sidewinder Trail
I have to admit, I went because this is the only nearby trail that was in good condition at the time. I really enjoyed it though. It was a little more of a climb than I expected but I also haven't been riding in awhile so that one's probably on me. Both the weather and trail were in great condition though. No dust and no mud, at least until we connected to the Stinking Springs trail. There was a lot of really slippery clay mud there. I expected more of the switchback corners to have better berms for sure. I had to do a lot of braking to make the corners. All in all though, I'd say it was a pretty good trail and I had a great time.
UPDATE 10/11/2019: The berms are much better dug out but the corners are still tight and still warrant more braking than I would like.
Reply
Darby Wind Cave
We took 12 children between the ages of 2 months and 11 years. There were 6 adults, 4 of which carried kids. It seemed like more elevation this time due to the kid carrying part. The water was still really high because of the heavy winter so we weren't able to get into the caves but that also meant there was still water at Darby Creek Falls. That was probably the most enjoyable part of the hike for the kids. The falls underneath the caves were also spectacular though.
Reply
Jefferson County Lake (AKA Rigby Lake)
endovereric
7/6/17 10:09 pmThis place was packed! There were so many people here. The grass above the beach was pretty tightly covered with sportbrellas and canopies. The beach and water were just full of kids. Even with all of that though, it was akin to an uncrowded pool. I only bumped into somebody else like twice. I didn't have to wait to jump off the dock and hardly had to wait to go on the slide. The water could not have been a better temperature. It was cool but not to the point that it makes you shiver, just feels good. The docks were easily my favorite part and it's super deep where they are so you can dive down a long ways without much concern. I was glad we brought inner tubes. They really added to it.
Reply
Monkey Rock
I was very pleasantly surprised how much fun we had. We took 6 kids between the ages of 2 and 15 and everybody had a great time. We just played around the falls (no bridge jumping). The water never got above my chest and had harly any current. In fact, a pretty large portion of it had almost no current. There were probably about 50 people but it didn't feel crowded at all. We were glad we had a float you for the little kids. Then everybody loved it.
Reply
Packsaddle Lake
We made it most of the way up the road in our mini van but it took some creative driving over some of it. About 0.4 miles from the trailhead, the road takes a steep turn uphill and then the road gets really washed out. It's probably not a big deal in a pickup but we just used the parking spot right at that corner. The trail was pretty steep but the switchbacks made it doable and everybody handled it okay. The mosquitoes were horrible at the top of the trail but down by the lake they really weren't too bad. The water wasn't too cold but it was a little lower than expected so you had to make sure you swung out on the rope far enough. I was sad to see the jumping log was gone. I wish we would have thought to bring a float toy. We borrowed one and had a great time floating with the kids out on the lake.
Reply
Mesa Falls
Took the trail down to the Lower Falls for the first time. It's an easy trail for sure and it was fun seeing the falls from so much closer.
Reply
