For the week of May 21 - 27, 2003

Mountain trails slowly open to hikers, bikers

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

As spring continues to tease the Wood River Valley with cycles of cool and warm temperatures, several area trails are slowly beginning to open to hikers and mountain bikers.

Lane’s and Sunnyside Trails in Adam’s Gulch opened this week, as well as Corral Creek Trail, which connects Trail Creek Cabin with its namesake drainage via a tumbling, mellow single-track. The Mahoney Loop in Greenhorn Gulch also opened this week, said Ketchum District Recreation Specialist Chuck Lovely.

Closer to Stanley, Nip and Tuck and Stanley Creek are open, but most of the region’s bike riding and hiking are still to the south.

Carbonate Mountain, Colorado Gulch, Quigley Canyon, Sun Peak, Muldoon road, Democrat Gulch, Picabo Desert Road, Dinosaur Road and Slaughterhouse Canyon are riding well. In general, trails north of Ketchum are still closed, and Galena Summit is still coated with 60 inches of snow.

According to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area’s May 13 recreation report, summer camping is just around the corner, though limited site camping is currently available.

The SNRA visitor center resumed regular hours May 17. It is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Redfish Lake visitor center will open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Monday May 23 to May 26 and will resume regular summer hours on June 13.

The Redfish Lake visitor center is celebrating its 40^th year of service.

Up coming activities at the center include:

• Saturday Bird Walks, May 24 and May 31, at 9 a.m. Meet at the Stanley Lake Creek overlook, 5.25 miles west of Stanley.
  
   
• Flower walk on Thursday, May 29, 9:30 a.m. Meet at Stanley Lake Road information board, 5 miles west of Stanley.
  
   
• Wolves in Idaho, evening campfire program, 8 p.m. Saturday, May 24, at the Redfish Amphitheater.

Campgrounds that should be open for Memorial Day, include Murdock and Caribou, North Fork, Wood River and Boulder View Alturas Inlet, North Shore and Smokey Bear Outlet, Glacier View, Point, Mountain View, Chinook Bay and Sunny Gulch, Salmon River, Mormon Bend, Upper O’Brien, Whiskey Flats and Holman, Stanley Lake and Stanley Lake Inlet.

Grandjean campgrounds that should be open by the end of May: Iron Creek, Elk Creek, Sheep Trail and Trap Creek

Campgrounds that should be open by mid-June: Pettit Lake, Redfish Inlet, Sockeye and Mount Heyburn, Riverside and Lower O’Brien, and Lake View.

Picnic, Day Use and Boat Ramps that should be open by Memorial Day: Wood River Picnic Area, Alturas Lake Picnic Area AandB, Alturas Inlet Day Use Area, Sandy Beach Boat Ramp, Outlet Day Use Area, North Shore Picnic Area and Point Day Use Area.

 

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