Trails in Idaho

riv3rbanks · Sep 27, 2018

I'm planning a hunt in Idaho this fall and see a lot of different trails in the unit I'm looking to hunt. The trails I have questions about are the Jeep trails and nonmotorized trails. I'm assuming a Jeep trail is just a poorly maintained dirt road with a high probability of washed out areas and rough terrain. The nonmotorized trails seem to be for backpackers. My questions are can you park on the sides of roads and hike in on the trails or do you have to find designated trail heads for parking? I should add that I will be setting up a base camp after hiking in a couple miles. Are vehicles mostly safe from assholes in Idaho? I would hate to get back to the truck to find it gone or vandilized.

HowaHunter · Sep 27, 2018

Check out the motorized vehicle use maps for the forest you are looking at hunting. These maps will tell you if the jeep trails are currently open-avoid the open roads as you probably know- some are in excellent shape some are very very rough. We have a huge mix of roads that remain open all season or close during the fall, winter and spring. You can park anywhere off the side of the road and hike to wherever so long as it is public ground. You don't have to park at a trailhead at all. Good luck.

cowboy · Sep 27, 2018

riv3rbanks said:
I should add that I will be setting up a base camp after hiking in a couple miles. Are vehicles mostly safe from assholes in Idaho? I would hate to get back to the truck to find it gone or vandilized.

With that kind of attitude I'm sure you're going to get a lot of local Idaho help. I will say that Idaho has way less assholes than Texas does.

Jim/Wa · Sep 27, 2018

Seems like a reasonable concern. All it takes is 1 A-hole to ruin your trip. It's something I think about every time I walk away from my truck. I've never had problems in ID and you don't see broken glass in obvious trail head parking lots like I see all the time here in WA and OR. I'm sure it happens though.

smarandr · Sep 27, 2018

cowboy said:
With that kind of attitude I'm sure you're going to get a lot of local Idaho help. I will say that Idaho has way less assholes than Texas does.

Only because we have less people overall. Most the assholes I meet are home grown.

BackofBeyond · Sep 27, 2018

Good luck.

Very few trails have large parking areas at the trailhead, so feel free to pull off the side of the road as far as possible, and hike in. The only vehicles I've ever seen get vandalized were ones parked blocking a road. Didn't help that both had California plates.

riv3rbanks · Sep 28, 2018

cowboy said:
With that kind of attitude I'm sure you're going to get a lot of local Idaho help. I will say that Idaho has way less assholes than Texas does.

I didn’t mean it like people from Idaho are assholes. I just know from experience that wherever you go there is a slight chance you run into an asshole. Doesn’t happen a lot, but it happens. I’m just trying to get a feel for how hunters are treated in Idaho overall. I meant no disrespect. My apologies if it came off that way.

riv3rbanks · Sep 28, 2018

Backofbeyond said:
Good luck.

Very few trails have large parking areas at the trailhead, so feel free to pull off the side of the road as far as possible, and hike in. The only vehicles I've ever seen get vandalized were ones parked blocking a road. Didn't help that both had California plates.

Thanks for the info.

riv3rbanks · Sep 28, 2018

HowaHunter said:
Check out the motorized vehicle use maps for the forest you are looking at hunting. These maps will tell you if the jeep trails are currently open-avoid the open roads as you probably know- some are in excellent shape some are very very rough. We have a huge mix of roads that remain open all season or close during the fall, winter and spring. You can park anywhere off the side of the road and hike to wherever so long as it is public ground. You don't have to park at a trailhead at all. Good luck.

Sounds good. Thanks for the info.

Trails in Idaho

riv3rbanks

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