
15 – Atlanta
Atlanta is a living ghost town that was founded in 1864 as a gold mining community. In 1863, gold was discovered in Atlanta, and the area has since experienced gold rushes, busts, fires, and engineering feats. According to the town’s Facebook page, Southerners named it after a supposed Confederate victory in 1864 over Union general William Sherman in Atlanta, Georgia.
To get to Atlanta from Boise, you can take Highway 21 east to the Middle Fork Boise River Road, which follows the river up and ends in Atlanta. From the south, you can travel Featherville and take either James Creek or Phifer Creek roads from the ghost town of Rocky Bar.
Beaver Lodge in Atlanta offers comfortable cabins near Sawtooth National Forest and the middle fork of the Boise River.
More Information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta,_Idaho
Coordinates: 43.80238, -115.12925
Elevation: 5400 ft
Difficulty: 2
What to Expect: No info
Check In
Please read before attempting challenge site or checking in:
Use the form below to check in. Check in’s must include a photo of you or your bike, at the challenge site, with the 2024 bandanna. To check in, all participants must be registered IAMC Challenge Members. Be sure to leave a description about the ride, and share any road conditions as snow, water, or obstacles. Please provide any other information that might help future visitors navigate to this site safely. Replying or commenting on another persons Check In is encouraged, but take care not to create your own Check In on accident.
The stated ride difficulty is just an estimate. By rating the ride difficulty in your experience according to this scale you can help future riders stay safe. You, and you alone are responsible for the safety of your ride. While we do our best to accurately convey the challenge level for each site, it is up to you to make sure you have the skills needed to reach each destination. If you feel the trail exceeds your skill level please turn around immediately.
NOTE: We have been having some issues uploading images. We are working on this. If you are having trouble, try resizing your images to less than 1280×1280 pixels and keep files sizes down to a minimum. If the problem persists, please reach out on the Forums under “Website Tips and Questions.” This should just be a temporary issue as we get the tech figured out. Thank you.
Love it
big loop to get this one.
We rode in from Rocky Bar which lived up to it’s name. Very scenic ride. Enjoyed a double cheeseburger at the Beaver Lodge and a dip in the natural hot springs up the road. Rode out along the Middle Fork.
Great burger at the Beaver lodge. Two routes from Rockybar are eiter steep and stony but spectacular views.. or a lot of very soft gravel. Would rate this a 3.
I was camping near Featherville this past weekend, so I brought my DR and picked up a couple challenge sites. The road from Rocky Bar up and over to Atlanta was easy, fun, and beautiful.
Very smokey today! Nice early morning ride to Atlanta.
Came up here on James Creek Rd. First time here, cool little town.
Road through Pine, Rocky Bar then up to Atlanta and came back down the middle fork road
and over Arrow rock. Nice ride but smoky.
Stop 2 of 3 today…been awhile since I’d been to Atlanta too. What an interesting town! Lots of photo ops…..I liked the Fisk and the Veltex signs so here you go. Plus the obligatory giant Atlanta sign when you enter the town.
I rode today with Alex Crane on a 340-mile loop that saw temps as low as 52 degrees and as high as 104 degrees. Fun ride on what I call “fast gravel”. Atlanta is a cool little town.
We hit up Atlanta after Rocky Bar. The road between is a bit harder at maybe a 2.5, but doable on a big bike. It was a great stretch. After Atlanta we headed towards Idaho City, which is an easy 2. Coming in from the south isn’t a lot harder, and less traffic.
It’s July 4th, and I figured Middle Fork Rd would be a zoo. So, I slabbed it to Featherville and got sites 14 and 15 from the south. The run from Featherville to Rocky Bar is a graded dirt highway — James Creek Rd, from Rocky Bar to Atlanta, not so much.
James Creek was “graded” in the past week, so it was all loose dirt with fist-sized rocks on top. It’s not difficult, but you’ll want a solid skid plate mounted because your front tire will launch a barrage of projectiles toward your engine for 11 miles.
The road gets relatively narrow around some of the numerous blind turns. On my trip, I was lucky not to encounter any power-sliding side-by-sides or other 4-wheel hazards in the corners. YMMV.
FYI, Beaver Lodge opens for food at 10:00 a.m.
The road from Rocky Bar to Atlanta was nice
Great ride in via Hwy 21 and W Fork Boise Road. Road after Twin Springs is currently in great condition and has minimal washboard. Watch for occasional rock fall on the road. Great weather, no dust, and no traffic!
I was starving when I got there – smoky chicken sandwich did the trick.
Long dusty ride, but the burger was worth it 🙂