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42 – High Valley Guard Station

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Coordinates: 44.21263, -116.15307
Elevation: 4879 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.

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19 Check Ins
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jsk83687

Easy ride up to the guard station.

What bike did you take?
Husky 901e
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
20241027_125016
JRATZ

Came in form Smiths Ferry

What bike did you take?
KTM 500
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
High-Valley-RS
Alex Crane

Great ride today, although a little smoky. I came in from the south through Banks. This is a solid 2.5 in difficulty. If you want to approach from Smiths Ferry it’s a bit easier. Both ways this is doable on an adventure bike. I recommend doing the whole loop clockwise.

What bike did you take?
R1200GS
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
ShaneV

Fun ride up past banks and around down to Emmet. Very smokey however. Couldn’t see much of the view.

What bike did you take?
Africa Twin
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
Untitled-design-2024-07-29T075744.262
Trent01

Hot day 104 in the valley.
nice ride, cooler in High Valley.

What bike did you take?
GSA 1200
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
IMG_8071
FW190Pilot

Justin Wilke we must have just missed each other! Hot day indeed!! As far as the site goes, I have to say that I’m a little saddened that places like this one aren’t staffed anymore. Hell, it’s hard enough nowadays to find a Ranger District Office open and staffed anymore.

What bike did you take?
KTM 690 Enduro R
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
IMG_3082
IMG_3086
Justin Wilke

Last stop on a long, hot day. I went from Smiths Ferry over and down into Ola.

What bike did you take?
DR650
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
42-–-High-Valley-Guard-Station
silverspurs

Stopped by High Valley on the way home from my place in Donnelly today…

What bike did you take?
Yamaha 1200 xtz
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
042-High-Valley
englund

Came in from Ola.

What bike did you take?
DR650
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
1
42-High-Valley-Guard-Station
chatty

Bit dusty last few miles and very hot today.

What bike did you take?
F650GS
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
highvalley1
highvalley2
Robert

First stop on my day ride through Sweet and Ola, Garden Valley, Lowman and Idaho City. Fun ride but a lot of logging trucks to avoid all the way from Ola to Couger Mt. lodge.

What bike did you take?
KTM 890 R
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
20240605_High-Valley-Guard-Station
Boltupright

Perfect big bike loop. Boise to Smiths Ferry, Climb up and over the hill and backtrack to High Valley. Check’in then drop down to Sweet, then Emmett, then Boise. Great Sunday morning loop.

What bike did you take?
BMW 1250 ADV
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
High-Valley-Guard-Station-resized
Tumbleweed208

Nice ride from Eagle up through Sweet on Dry Buck to the challenge site. When you map your route you might see there is a Dry Buck trail and Dry Buck Rd up near the challenge site which can be confusing as both seem to connect to the destination. The Dry Creek Rd (marked in Red) passes through private property so you will want to avoid that and stick to the Dry Creek trail. See screen shot for reference. There were some very large mosquitos at the guard station location.

What bike did you take?
2022 KTM 500 EXCF
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
1
highvalleyiamc
drybuck
Dusty1

Really easy ride coming up from Sweet via dry buck road. Threatening thunderstorms forced us to do an out and back and not get to explore much more, I’ll be back to explore trails.

What bike did you take?
CRF450L
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
1
20240528_174635
NjD

Beautiful ride from Paddock Dam to High Valley via the Ola side. Perfect weather and there was no snow to contend with. Nice to ride among the pines and some cooler weather. Dropped over to Smiths Ferry and rode slab home to end a ~250 mile day.

What bike did you take?
KTM 890R
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
fullsizeoutput_4db9
BB445

Nice weather to High Valley Guard Station. Came in from the Ola side, road was dry, with a few mud ruts and usual washboard starting to form up. Headed south to go over Dry Buck Summit but turned around about a mile after the Guard Station after chatting with a couple people riding horses. They indicated the road was still impassible. I was pressed for time and riding solo so I decided not to continue. Turned around and rode N to Smiths Ferry. High Valley Road (NF644) to Smiths Ferry was in good shape with only a couple of small patches of snow remaining with car tracks through them.

What bike did you take?
890R
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
HghVllyGuardStaSelfie
Dan Huff

Getting up in the fir and pine forest today was very nice. There is still snow along the hillside and edges of the road but the road is clear of snow, although it is a bit soft slick, and muddy in places with fair size ruts. I got out of there quickly when it started raining.

What bike did you take?
KTM 890 R
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
High-Valley
Nerdy Biker

Beautiful and smelled so good with all the flowers and pines. Road was dry and no snow.

What bike did you take?
Africa Twin
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
High-Valley-RS
Jason

Road is clear of all snow from the Ola side. Great ride and good weather

What bike did you take?
KTM 790 ADV
Ride Difficulty (1 to 5)
2
IMG_0026