April 24 Weekend Trail Report

It took a little longer than expected, but by yesterday afternoon the sun finally came out to begin drying up the rain that we have received over the past couple of days. Early in the morning, a majority of the trails were heavily saturated and very soggy making them unfit for use. But, by the late afternoon, many of the sandiest condition trails appeared to be dry enough to begin hiking, running, and riding in select locations throughout the Lower Foothills. The good news moving forward into the weekend is that there doesn’t appear to any more rain events forecast in the near term. This should allow for all of the trails to continue with that drying progression in hopes that perhaps some of the trail locations beyond the sandy and all-weather trails might be in better shape towards the end of the weekend.

One thing to pay attention to, however, is that temperatures appear to be staying relatively cool at night and will be staying mild throughout the day. This may be enough to lengthen that drying process a bit so that you will still be finding soggy conditions and standing water in the Lower Foothills to begin the weekend. As always, please use good muddy trail etiquette and choose to turn around if you are moving off trail to avoid those wet sections of trail. Trails in the mid to upper elevations of the trail system will likely be wet much longer, as it does appear that we did get another round of measurable snowfall below the Boise Ridge. If nothing else, this may be one last good opportunity to get the skins out and do a few more turns up at higher elevations where we have received plenty of snowfall over the past week and a half!

The Trail Crew and volunteers continue to be out working to repair some of the rutting and damage caused by the recent rainstorms as we finish up the week. Much of the impacts appear to be concentrated in sandier locations where the sand was quicker to erode with the fast-moving water. As the weekend goes on, if you are still finding significant ruts and impacts to a specific trail, feel free to follow up with a comment sharing this information. Our staff will try to address these areas as the trails continue to dry and the weather continues to improve as this spring moves on.

Use the Wet and Winter Weather Trail list and the Ridge to Rivers Interactive Map to plan your adventures. 

Enjoy what should be a pleasant end to this week and the beginning of another beautiful summer weekend here in the Boise Foothills!