These are my favorite 2022 hikes that weren’t worthy of an individual blog post.

Sage Hen Nature Trail

This short loop near Sage Hen Creek Campground travels through lush forest to a scenic ravine where the creek cascades down through several small waterfalls before it settles in Sage Hen Reservoir. There are benches along the way, making this a great trail for hikers of all ages and abilities.

Why it didn’t make the blog: The loop is less than a mile and there’s a short window in early spring when the waterfalls are at their best, and this area is sometimes closed for logging operations. When it’s open, I’d recommend combining the Nature Trail with Sage Hen Reservoir Trail for a nice day’s worth of hiking. The reservoir also has great campsites and fishing, and the drive up through Sweet and Ola is beautiful when wildflowers are in bloom.

Loon Lake Loop

This eleven-mile loop in the Payette National Forest traverses stunning scenery from start to finish. When hiking counter-clockwise, you ascend grassy slopes covered in wildflowers, pass meadows crisscrossed by braided streams, and walk among new and old-growth forests before arriving at the sandy shore of Loon Lake. The return leg climbs down the Loon Creek drainage to its intersection with the Secesh River, where you turn upstream and follow its course back trailhead. This route has just about everything you could ask for in a central Idaho trail.

Why it didn’t make the blog: This loop is incredibly well known because of the B-23 Dragon Bomber crash site on the south end of the lake, and has been documented by many other bloggers and trail resources. An entry here would’ve felt like throwing a match on a bonfire. That being said – read the story and go visit the wreckage. We couldn’t see it because the historic late spring rain and snow of 2022 submerged it under chest-deep water.

Summit Lake

This small granite bowl is tucked away near the apex of Lick Creek Summit, a major hydrological boundary near McCall that divides rain and snowfall between the Payette and Salmon Rivers. Summit Lake is likely overlooked due to the plethora of more well known trailheads in the area, but is worth the quick jaunt from Lick Creek Road, especially if you have kids or pets that aren’t ready for a bigger hiking commitment yet. If your hunger for scenic lakes isn’t yet sated, get back in your car, drive another 1.1 miles to the Duck/Hum Lake Trailhead and hike 1.2 miles to Duck Lake for an exceptional two-fer.

Why it didn’t make the blog: The lake is only about 150 yards off the road on an unofficial trail and sometimes dries up at the end of summer. However, the short cross-country hike on granite slabs is doable for most and the lake is extremely scenic when full, It’d be a great place for a hybrid between backpacking and car camping for beginners.

Upper Lava Mountain Trail to Big Buck Lake

I don’t know if anyone is really trying to keep the Trinity Mountains a secret, but every time I tell a fellow Idahoan about them, their response is “I’ve never heard of that.” My go-to explanation is “They’re close enough to see from the summit of Bogus Basin, look like the Sawtooths, and have none of the crowds.” If that doesn’t get you stoked about hiking the Trinities, I don’t know what would. I’d first recommend Rainbow Basin and Smith Creek Lake, the latter of which shares the first 2.5 miles of Upper Lava Mountain Trail with this hike, Big Buck Lake. However, the lake is only accessible by hiking off-trail across rugged terrain and is not recommended for novice hikers.

Why it didn’t make the blog: This seemed like a shoe-in for a blog post until we reached the final saddle before the descent to the lake and the trail completely disappeared. That’s not an automatic disqualifier, but the off-trail hiking was very difficult, requiring steep scrambling, snow crossings in mid-July, and traversing a huge rockfall. If you’re a hardcore hiker and want a lake entirely to yourself, I’d send you here, but you have to DM me for route guidance.

Crooked River Trail

Despite its near obliteration by the 2016 Pioneer Wildfire, the Crooked River is one of my favorite trails in the Boise National Forest. For several miles, it meanders along the flat river, passing prime fishing holes, superb backpacking campgrounds, and stubborn stands of surviving pines, all framed by an explosion of wildflowers and grassy slopes. Come here late in the day in the early summer when the setting sun paints the rocky hillsides gold and you’ll understand my adoration.

Why it didn’t make the blog: Don’t get me wrong – I love the Crooked River and I’ve hiked here three times in the last two years – but it’s not very far off the road, it’s easy, and there isn’t much variety. It’s not quite impressive enough for a full post, but it tops the list for family-friendly, pet-friendly, and easy to drive to. I’m including it here now because you can easily do it in an afternoon with the next trail, Bear Summit.

Bear Summit West

Do you like easy hikes with killer views? This one’s for you. It’s an old timber road, wide enough for several people to walk abreast through the forest to a truly spectacular view of three of the tallest peaks in the Boise Mountains; Wolf Mountain at 8,855 feet, Goat Mountain at 8,813 feet, and Swanholm Peak at 8,737 feet (left to right in the picture). With names like that, you’re practically guaranteed to see wildlife. I hiked this trail alone and was surprised by a massive elk about halfway to the outlook!

Why it didn’t make the blog: Bear Summit West is completely nondescript for 1.7 miles – without knowing that there’s a great view at the end, you’d never expect it. The vista at the end will leave you inspired, but the rest of the trail won’t. As said above, I’d do this, then head down to Crooked River for a nice afternoon of hiking.

Rice Peak Loop

Do you like extremely strenuous hikes with killer views? This one’s for you. Ten miles, over 2,500 feet of gain, and almost no shade will test you, but ultimately you’ll be rewarded with summit vistas of what seems like all of Idaho. A decommissioned fire lookout tower perches atop the 8,603-foot Rice Peak, providing a scenic backdrop for photos. There is also a picturesque lake on the return leg, or you can go for a dip in the nearby Warm Lake when you’re done.

Why it didn’t make the blog: The panorama from Rice Peak’s summit was one of the most breathtaking views we took in this year, but the trail is in very bad shape in several places, and the decommissioned lookout tower is in disrepair and infested with bugs. You’re also forced to hike the last mile of road in each direction because a landslide washed it out a few years ago and the forest service has no plan to fix it.

Stanley Lake to Lady Face Falls

Hikers on this trail are more often headed to Observation Peak or the Trail Creek Lakes, but those looking for a moderately easy hike and interesting destination will love Lady Face Falls, a waterfall on Stanley Lake Creek that’s tucked away into a deep gorge off the main trail. You’ll still get the signature Sawtooth views, specifically of McGown Peak’s fragmented, cutting slopes, as you hike through marshy meadows and sparse forest on the way to an unmarked turnoff for the falls, where you’ll need to navigate a steep hillside descent to view them.

Why it didn’t make the blog: You can’t see the waterfalls from above, and the scramble down the gorge is slippery and dangerous. We found a relatively safe route to the lower falls, but couldn’t get to the main falls comfortably. Had I not been with inexperienced hikes, I might’ve attempted another descent. This is also one of those cases where the AllTrails route doesn’t tell the whole story, leading to several users leaving bad reviews after they couldn’t locate the falls.

Happy Trails y’all! See you in 2023.