Riding bikes and playing in the leaves: two of the giddiest joys of childhood that, when combined, make fall the best season for mountain biking. (It’s just science.)
Throughout Idaho, the cooler weather, smaller crowds and perfect autumn dirt set the stage for a final victory lap before winter. But it’s the fall colors that seal the deal: the golden slopes of western larch and the yellow and orange corridors of aspen trees.
Below are fall mountain biking recommendations for key riding regions throughout the state. Practice your leafy skids and get ready to feel like a kid again.
1. Sandpoint
The signature cedar forests of northern Idaho shade most of Sandpoint’s expansive—and growing—trail system. But in autumn, larch is the star as this deciduous conifer lays down a carpet of gold needles on the tread. Connecting the trail network of Schweitzer to the town, the Schweitzer Basin descends more than 4,000 vertical feet to valley bottom ecosystems. The trails—High Point to Sidewinder to the Lower Basin DH is a prime route pick—provide a highlight reel of hues, from the gold of larch and hardwoods to the rosy blush of huckleberry shrubs and the yellow of ferns. And they come with an added bonus — spectacular views of Lake Pend Oreille from the top of the trail.
2. Boise
The City of Trees lives up to its name late in the fall, when the shrubs and cottonwoods of the Boise Foothills complement the vibrant trees lining the streets of the historic neighborhoods. Of the approximately 200 miles of singletrack in the Foothills trail system, the nine miles that descend Freddy’s Stack Rock and Sweet Connie provide one of the best combos of high-speed fun and peak autumn color for top-notch Boise mountain biking. Beginning near the top of Bogus Basin Road, Freddy’s curls around shrubs and rock formations before dropping into the stacked, swooping curves of Sweet Connie. Canyon and creek bed foliage flash by, while nearly the whole way, views of Boise’s trees far below angle for attention.
3. Pocatello
Pocatello’s biking bona fides may be hiding in plain sight, but its fall colors are right out in the open. The folded foothills of the Bannock Range west of town, where most of the area’s trails lie, put on one of the best fall color shows in Idaho. The City Creek Trail System, on a low bench of land just west of downtown, encompasses some of the area’s best and most easily accessible fall mountain biking. The City Creek trail snakes alongside the namesake creek under a canopy of red and orange — meanwhile, aspens and maples mingle on the Grove–Bowling Ball Loop, where leaves pile in big drifts and invite extensive drifting turns through the curling path. Time your ride right, and the views will include the snow-capped peaks of the Portneuf Range to the east.
4. Teton Valley
September is when the Tetons have serious competition for scenic bragging rights, as the peaks on the edge of eastern Idaho’s border with Wyoming appear to sit on a throne of orange and yellow foliage. Even after Grand Targhee Bike Park’s chairlifts stop spinning for the season—capped with the early-September celebration of bikes that is the Wydaho Rendezvous, so named for the cross-border cultural connection of the region (the bike park sits in Wyoming but is only accessible through Idaho)—riders can still pedal the resort’s trails. The vast aspen groves of the Rick’s Basin trails, such as Perma-Grin and Quakie Ridge, provide new photo opportunities at every turn.
5. Sun Valley
Autumn in the Sun Valley area might mean a slower pace in town, but riders can still find a heart-quickening pace on the trails. Some 400 miles of singletrack wind across the Wood River Valley, and the five-mile Fox Creek Loop, ten minutes north of Ketchum, makes a fine entry to the area’s shoulder-season possibilities. From a trailhead immediately off State Highway 75, the popular trail crosses and climbs above the Big Wood River. Views from the top of the loop encompass aspens capped by the snowclad Sawtooth Range. A fast descent through fall colors follows, finished with a riverside return through the cottonwoods. Combine this loop with the popular four-mile Chocolate Gulch Loop for even more sensational Sun Valley mountain biking with fall colors and fast dirt.
6. McCall
Although it’s perhaps more commonly considered a lake town in the summer, the brisk autumn temperatures will remind riders that McCall is a mountain town, too. And so will the excellent McCall mountain biking. Just north of downtown, the Bear Basin trail network encompasses a handful of stacked loops that allow for quick-hit rides on flow trails framed by fall colors. The six-mile shuttle-accessed descent of the Payette Rim Trail ends nearby, and Brundage Mountain Resort will soon have single track connecting its trails to Bear Basin. The resort’s motto is “the best snow in Idaho,” but the trails give the area a claim for the best dirt, too. Bonus: no lines for post-ride ice cream or beer in downtown McCall.
Feature image credited to Aaron Theisen.
Aaron Theisen is an outdoors writer and photographer whose work has appeared in Freehub, Mountain Flyer, Powder, Backpacker and elsewhere. His passions are the big peaks and small towns of the Northern Rockies. When he’s not searching for obscure trails or sampling the region’s dive bars, Aaron can be found mountain biking and skiing around his hometown of Spokane, Washington.
Published on September 26, 2023
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