652 Horn Creek Trail is in the Boise National Forest, about 5 miles east of Garden Valley which is well known for its large herds of Elk. Loggers used this trail in the 1900s to get their timber to the mill in Horseshoe Bend. Running this trail in the early hours will reward you with views of the animals that call this forest home. Cougar, bear, elk, deer and maybe a wolf. Even on weekends, you won't see much traffic on this trail so camping near trails end will be quite secluded. If you're more into running water and a toilet, be sure and stay at the Hot Springs Campground for a real hot spring soak, and with the proper planning, you can enjoy the South Fork Payette River with rafting. A short drive south on Alder Creek Road brings you to Placerville, a ghost town from the 1800s. The area and trail offers you all the beauty you'd expect in an Idaho trail.
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Travel north on Highway 55 for 14 miles to Banks and turn right on Banks Lowman Road. Continue east 11.7 miles to Alder Creek Road and turn right. Drive 0.3 miles to South Fork Road and turn left. Drive 0.6 miles to the trailhead for 690 Walsh Creek and turn right. 652 Horn Creek is at Waypoint 5, in 2.6 miles, on your left.
We mapped Mica Dome a few days ago which is a spur off Horn Creek so we welcomed the chance to re-run this great trail. Absolutely beautiful in the springtime. We were here on a Sunday but had the trail to ourselves.
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Dennis Clark was born in Los Angeles in 1942 and after 76 years of living in So Cal he moved to Emmett, Idaho with his wife Patricia, has four adult children with many grand and great grandchildren. He has loved the outdoors since his Cub Scout and Boy Scout days while camping with the family. He's an archer, hunter and fisherman but no longer wishes to harm animals. He has been involved with photography since the 1960's. He became more of a serious hiker in 2010 when he started Geocaching and has hiked the three tallest peaks in So Cal, Mt San Jacinto, Mt San Gorgonio and Mt Baldy, along with most of the lesser peaks in search of caches. Geocaching started his love for the USFS Trail system as he used the trails frequently to get to certain trailheads. He had a 2002 Ford Ranger 2wd and its amazing where that little pickup took him. In 5 years of weekly geocaching he was only stuck once in some Palm Springs sand. His 2016 Wrangler Sport Unlimited was purchased in 2015. He has become quite lazy in the hiking department as he can now drive to most locations. He's looking forward to posting some trails and don't hesitate to ask him for any help you might need.
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