(June 16th, 2012) A beautiful weather forecast and a hankering to get out of town led to this ATV trip. Google Earth showed me the “virtual way” to a little visited place only about 20 air miles from Mountain Home, Idaho. It was up to me to research the legality of getting there on my Arctic Cat ATV. All the info I found said heading up National Forest Service Trail #612 near Wilson Flats / Granite Mountain would be okay…
The ATV Trip Review
- Parking on the north side of Anderson Ranch Reservoir, I unloaded the machine and headed up to Wilson Flat on NFS Trail #606. Addie the Plott Hound was loaded in the dog cage on the back of the ATV that she is truly getting quite used to riding on now. Even though I’ve been up this steep and slippery road with a shear cliff on a number of occasions, it still gets the blood moving just looking down 500 feet into the valley below.
 |
| From ATV Ride to Trail 612 near Wilson Flat in Idaho |
- Once up on “the flat” the road gets easier to negotiate but is still rougher than a cobb in places. We continued west on NFS Trail 606 towards our destination. I had to stop along Elk Creek to let the dog get a drink and explore the area for awhile. After all, “it’s about the journey and not the destination”, right? With Addie filled up on water, we continued heading west towards Granite Mountain.
- Hanging a right onto NFS Trail 611 led to a rougher and less traveled section of this area. I doubt my speed ever topped 10mph and most times it was in the 5 mph range. Not because of the roughness but the beauty and exploration value made slow speeds seem more logical and enjoyable. We came upon a downed tree across the trail at one point and not wanting to cut the trip short, I used my considerable weight to move the thing off the trail.
 |
| From ATV Ride to Trail 612 near Wilson Flat in Idaho |
- At the intersection of NFS Trails 611 & 612 we continued on 611 until it deadended. NFS 611 ends in a deeply forested spot and was quite cool and dark. Seems like a great place to camp sometime. It might also be a good spot to try for a hike to the summit of the 6,800 foot tall Granite Mountain? Who knows, maybe someday?????
Video of Ride on NFS Trail 612
- With Addie leading the way, we headed back down NFS Trail 611 and made a left on NFS 612 and our planned destination. NFS Trail 612 is quite rough as it crosses a streambed a few times making an early season trip up this road unadvisable. But on this day, there wasn’t any water at all to be found along the trail.
- This trail deadends in a semi-open area that provides some grand views out towards Little Camas Reservoir and up towards the side flanks of Granite Mountain. We had lunch at this spot and headed back via a new route. Below you can see our whole GPS Track.
Interactive Map of Entire ATV Ride
View Larger Map
Comments
I hoped you enjoyed this article and it will encourage you to get out to explore Idaho either on foot, horseback or on an ATV/motorcycle. You certainly won’t regret the experience.
Thanks,
