Hi and happy holiday week! You might be headed out on the trails this weekend, so I thought you'd enjoy this story from the archives about what makes Boise's trail system so special. Also, please don't light the hills ablaze with a firework this weekend.

Listen to me read on today's podcast. Have a fun long weekend!

The history of the foothills

If I asked you to pick your absolute favorite place in Boise, what would you say?

Tough question, I know.

I think mine is going down Americana Boulevard. I’m usually on my bike riding from the bench down to the Greenbelt or downtown, and the view of the valley from here just never gets old. In any season, at any time of the day, this spot will give you a view of the Boise Foothills that takes your breath away – in the best way.

Known to most as “the foothills” and mistaken for mountains by visitors and valley newbies, the 80,000+ acres of rolling, high desert hills that make up the Boise Front Range are unquestionably one of the best parts of our city.

It’s so rare for a city to have an environment like our foothills, you know? Few places have an expansive area that protects the natural environment and offers recreation opportunities simultaneously – especially in such close proximity to its metro center. After all, you can get from downtown Boise to a trail in just a few minutes, depending on your mode of transportation.

Much of the year, the foothills are brown and dry. If you only saw them once, you might not be that impressed. But as residents of Boise, we know better.

We see the foothills’ swift and subtle shift from brown to gleaming green, knowing this is the great spring signal.

We know the bliss of a summer morning in the foothills, racing the sun rising over the ridge before it heats up the high desert below.

We’ve been on an autumn afternoon hike, surprised by a small stand of Aspens tucked away in a narrow canyon, its round leaves quaking quietly as they turn brilliant shades of orange, red, and yellow.

We know the striking sight of snow-coated foothills, each spine and finger outlined by stark white winter.

The Boise Foothills are a special place to many in Boise, and have been for a long time.

A sacred place

The Boise Valley was home to the Shoshone, Bannock, and Northern Paiute Tribes, as well as other traveling tribes, before white settlers began descending upon the area – first as explorers and trappers, then in large numbers with the discovery of gold in 1862.

The valley was said to be a peaceful gathering place for tribes at the end of summer when salmon runs filled the Boise River, and was used as a winter home due to the area’s mild cold season.

The areas of Eagle Rock and Table Rock were and still are of utmost importance to Indigenous Peoples. Tribes would gather in the foothills “where an outcropping of rocks jets out and touches the sky.” At that time, there were geothermal hot springs here that ran out of the earth into small creeks, forming bathing pools that were frequented by tribes for spiritual and healing purposes, and eventually by Oregon Trail travelers.

Today, Table Rock is adorned with a massive glowing cross – the principal symbol of the Christian religion. The cross itself has had a controversial history, but even more important and controversial is the spirits of Indigenous ancestors that remain in the earth of the Eagle Rock and Table Rock. The area was a major burial site for tribes long before Euro-Americans set foot on the continent.

In 1893, The Idaho Statesman reported that prisoners working near the Old Pen had dug up remains and cultural artifacts of an Indigenous person. Tribes had tried to stop development and destruction in the area for years. In 1990, a century after the uncovering at the Old Pen, the Castle Rock Housing Development was proposed to build 100 homes directly upon sacred burial sites. Tribal members of Fort Hall and Duck Valley reservations joined forces with Boise’s East End Neighborhood Association to fight the development. The groups were ultimately successful and the houses were not built.

In 2019, the area was renamed to honor its Indigenous history. Castle Rock Reserve was renamed to Chief Eagle Eye Reserve or Ige Dai Teviwa, and the park area was renamed Eagle Rock Park or Pava Kweena Teppi. More than 3,000 native plants were also reintroduced to the site at this time to signify healing and its spiritual significance.

The area’s namesake is Chief Eagle Eye. He was the leader of a peaceful tribe of Weiser Shoshone. In 1878, he refused to relocate the tribe to a reservation and continued living in the mountains of Southwest Idaho for two decades. He died in 1896 and is buried on top of Timber Butte outside of Emmett.

Every summer, members of regional tribes come to Pava Kweena Teppi (Eagle Rock Park) to honor their ancestors, the sacred land, and to share culture, stories, and food. Return of the Boise Valley People happened last month.

You can read more about the past and present of the Eagle Rock area here.

A critical habitat

As with most urban areas, animals were amongst the first inhabitants of the Boise Valley. For centuries, mule deer and elk migrated from the high mountain elevations down to the Boise Valley to winter. Dozens of migratory birds also made the Boise Valley their winter home on their journey to warmer weather down south.

As development and human activity has pushed animals away from the valley floor, many species have adapted to living in the foothills. This has not necessarily been an easy and good transition for animals. Just look at the differences between the Boise River and Foothills… some big differences eh?

Alas, today more than 300 different animal species live in the Boise Front. The area is managed by the Boise River Wildlife Management Area, which protects areas for wintering big game animals as well as native and migratory birds.

The foothills and areas around Lucky Peak and Arrowrock Reservoir are home to many mammal critters, such as mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, coyotes, red fox, yellow-bellied marmot, and Eastern fox squirrel – to name a few. Bears live in the foothills too, but usually they stay up higher near Bogus Basin and Stack Rock.

More than 50 species of birds live in the foothills – some just for a season while others are permanent residents. In the Military Reserve, you can see California Quail, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Red-tailed Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird, and Lazuli Bunting.

The lower Hulls Gulch area has some of the best birding in Boise. You can find hundreds of bird species here. Many of us bird nerds love to see the nesting Great Horned Owls by the Foothills Learning Center, but you can also find Starlings, Sandhill Crane, Red-winged Blackbird, Tundra Swan, American Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel and many more out in the Hulls gulch area.

A variety of reptiles call the foothills home too. The Western Rattlesnake, Gophersnakes, Terrestrial Garter Snake, Western Fence Lizard, Sagebrush Lizard, Western Toad, and Pacific Chorus Frog all live in the foothills, though their habitats vary.

Last but certainly not least, the foothills is home to a variety of native and rare plants. Aase’s onion is an extremely rare plant that grows only in Southwest Idaho and no where else in the world!

If you've been admiring the baby sunflowers in the foothills, those are actually Arrowleaf balsamroot. It’s a member of the sunflower fam, so you aren’t totally wrong. The plant is completely edible and was harvested by Indigenous Peoples.

Idaho’s state flower, Syringa, grows in the foothills. The shrub typically blossoms in June and its flowers smell like orange blossom. It’s usually found in rocky habitats.

At least five kinds of Biscuitroot are found in the foothills. A member of the carrot and parsley family, most biscuitroot species have yellow flowers and like clay soil. This is also an edible plant that was used by Indigenous peoples.

You can find more about rare and interesting plants in Boise on the Ridge to Rivers website and from the Idaho Native Plant Society.

An urban refuge

The system of trails and protected natural areas that we enjoy in the foothills today was a long time in the making, and we owe it to the Boise residents before us that saw it for what it was and took the steps to protect the land.

For much of the early 1900s, the foothills were used for grazing sheep and cattle, which was destructive to the natural habitat. By the late 1940s and 1950s, developers had become increasingly interested in subdividing the land for residential development. These early developments were incredibly destructive – carving, slicing, and flattening lots to build homes.

Then, nature took foothills development into its own hands.

In August 1959, a fire raged through 9,000 acres across the foothills. Right on its heels, the first of three torrential rain storms poured onto the barren foothills, sending water gushing down its crevices and toward the small city below. Hundreds of homes and yards were soon caked in mud. Then came the following two storms, flooding homes and streets from the foothills to the valley floor in what is known as “The Big Mud Bath of 1959.”

After the big mud bath, perceptions of the foothills shifted. While some locals wanted to continue to develop the foothills as a prime residential region, others recognized that the foothills were not necessarily suitable for living and, what’s more, the area was already home to many animals and plants that were suffering at the hands of humans.

At this time, the population of Boise was surging and city officials were looking for places to build housing (sound familiar?). In 1960, the population of Boise was 49,000. By 1970 it had grown to 76,000 and by 1980 there were 117,000 people living in the Boise Valley.

It was in the late 1980s that citizens of Boise took the future of the foothills into their own hands. A group called the Boise Front Coalition came up with a concept for a trail system that would support recreation, connect neighborhoods, and protect and restore habitat in the Boise Front.

A group of trail users and concerned citizens got together and mapped out a possible trail system, connecting existing motorized BLM trails while identifying additional possible routes that could be maintained and sustained for years to come. This was the beginning of what is now the Ridge to Rivers trail system.

In 1992, Ridge to Rivers was officially formed as a partnership between the City of Boise, Ada County, the Bureau of Land Management Four Rivers Field Office, the Boise National Forest and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The partnership exists under a Memorandum of Understanding, stating its intent “to maximize cooperation and coordination amongst the several Agencies to efficiently manage public land resources in the Foothills.” The first permanent staff member for Ridge to Rivers was hired that same year and the dream of a multi-use trail system was officially on its way to becoming reality.

At the beginning, the goal was to build a 90-mile trail system over the next decade. In 1993, Camel’s Back and Lower Hulls Gulch reserves were dedicated to open space.

The system grew from 12 miles of existing motorized trails to 90 miles of multi-use trails by 2000.

In 2001, Boise citizens voted to pass the Foothills Serial Levy, which dedicated $10 million to protect 10,300 acres of open space around Camel’s Back and the Military Reserve. By 2003, Ridge to Rivers had grown to 100 miles of multi-use trails and added three permanent staff and two seasonal staff to maintain the trails. Two more reserves, Polecat and Noble, were dedicated that same year.

In 2006, the trails in the Shafer Butte area were added to the system and the Military Reserve expanded to include Hawkins property, allowing the lower and upper foothills trails to connect. In 2010, Stack Rock Reserve was dedicated.

In 2015, the Ridge to Rivers system had grown to 180 miles of trails with four permanent staff and four and a half seasonal staff members. (I couldn’t figure out how the half staff member worked out haha.) Boise voters once again passed a levy to support clean water and protect open space in areas like the Boise Foothills and Boise River.

In 2016, the trail system had grown to 190 miles.

Now in 2024, Ridge to Rivers encompasses over 210 miles of multi-use trails that connect more than 85,000 acres of land. And it’s growing every year.

Sometime this week take a minute to look out over the foothills or get out on the dirt, and think about what we have here in Boise. Ridge to Rivers trail system is incredible. It's an absolutely amazing resource that all of us are free to use.

For that, we are forever grateful.

Thanks for reading!

With love from Boise,

-Marissa

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