(February 19, 2019 / Author: Tim Bondy) This August 28, 2018, adventure started just south of Bald Mountain and east of Mud Flat Road in the Owyhee Mountains of southwestern Idaho. The fire roads I rode tracked mainly east-southeast out to “90 Foot Hole.” This is truly a desolate location except for ranchers and cowboys.
Coordinates & Link to featured image: 42.6600838, -116.2991333 at https://photos.app.goo.gl/ASp46piBvijWCxCEA
Snow Creek / 90 Foot Hole Mountain Road Ride Trip Report Basic/Stats
- Adventure Date: 28 Aug 2018
- Consider Doing it Again?: Maybe
- Trailhead: 42.707623, -116.366002
- Turn-Around Point or Furthest Out Point: 42.683601, -116.274865
- 7.5 Topo Maps: Snow Creek
- Land Ownership: This ride contains some private property that can easily be avoided. No fences were encountered except on those private property parcels. The rest was mostly BLM lands but I believe there was a small section of State land involved in this ride.
- Mileage: 18.6 miles
- +Vertical Feet: 1,668 feet
- Avg Slope from Google Earth Vertical Profile of the GPX File: 3.1%
- Google Photo Album Link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/oc7GKafNCbfLVMQg6
- Google Earth KMZ: Mud Flat Ride Refined (local file only)
- GPX File Name: 20180828-123324.gpx (local file only)
Summary of Ride: This cattle country ride was rather easy for me even after an extended period of inactivity. My trailhead was smeared with both new and old cow poop. From there, the road heads uphill rather steeply to a crest a little over a one-half mile away. Then the route is downhill or flat with some uphill climbs. The return trip was a lot more strenuous as uphill riding became the norm.
“What goes down, must come back up when riding an out-and-back route 🙂 ” ~ Words of wisdom from Tim Bondy
The 90 Foot Hole is basically a gash in the desert that is long and narrow. It’s not a feature or curiosity that I’d ever seek out again. However, I might consider riding out in this direction again. It’s a safe and sane ride with the possibility of exploring other short-stint doubletracks.
The adventure was about 3.5 hours and I did some wandering during this 19-mile ride. It about a 1.5 hour drive to from home to the trailhead shown in the coordinates above. Mud Flat Road has been severely “washboarded” since at least early July 2018 and was rougher than a cobb on this Aug. 28 adventure.
“Part of the ride “directly” borders the Little Jacks Creek Wilderness and that’s a plus.” ~ Tim Bondy
Originally published elsewhere on September 6, 2018
Sincerely,
~ signed ~
Tim Bondy – Freelance Writer