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05 – Pickles Butte Overlook

From Idaho Climbing Guide:

Pickles Butte is the highest point in Canyon County. Consequently, this peak is on a lot of peakbaggers’ lists. There are exceptional views of the Owyhee Mountains from the summit. The butte is located southwest of Nampa on land owned by the county. The county landfill is located on the butte’s North Slopes. A paved road leads to the landfill and a rough 4WD road leads the remaining distance to the summit. Use Google maps for driving directions. USGS Givens Hot Springs

More Information


Coordinates: 43.490480, -116.715877
Elevation: 3061 ft
Difficulty: 2
What to Expect: No info

[reblex id=’779′]

Check In

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Check-Ins are Closed for the 2025 Challenge.

37 Check-Ins

November 23, 2025 8:40 am
Bike: F800 GSA
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Rode to this site on April 13. It was my first time up there. Beautiful day for a ride to get the season started.

Check-in photo
November 3, 2025 7:57 pm
Bike: Husky 901e
Difficulty: 1 / 5

Stopped at the OHV area today.

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October 10, 2025 4:01 pm
Bike: Tenere 700
Difficulty: 2 / 5

I ignored the road closed sign to ride out onto the Butte and to the overlook. The landfill nearby seems to be pretty busy. Not sure why they put up the road closed sign...

Check-in photoCheck-in photo
September 19, 2025 12:43 pm
Bike: Klr650
Difficulty: 2 / 5

One of my favorite places. I fly RC sailplanes here so pretty familiar with the butte. I rode around awhile then went up the west side. On the way out decided to try the east road up. I stalled about 3/4 of the way up, but managed to get the bike upright and going again. I think the west side is a 2 but the east side is likely a 3? I’m not experienced enough to say!

September 1, 2025 11:58 am
Bike: KLR650
Difficulty: 3 / 5

Tricky to get to. Google took me to the dirt bike trails. Found you have to go around to Missouri to the landfill entrance. Continue past and follow the dirt trail. I didn't know there was a trail around to the left to get up, so I took the steep one straight ahead, very sketchy for me, lol!

Check-in photo
July 26, 2025 6:08 pm
Bike: GSA
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Never been here before. Beautiful, hot summery Saturday.

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July 9, 2025 11:05 pm
Bike: Tenere 700
Difficulty: 3 / 5

Ditto Mrs. Dunn's comments

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July 5, 2025 10:34 pm
Bike: XT250
Difficulty: 3 / 5

We came in from the north, off of Deer Flat road, passing an OHV park to come to a fence. It looked like we could take some level 3 dirt bike trails if we wanted to make it all the way to the butte from there, but I'm not a level 3 rider so we snapped a photo from the fence.

Check-in photo
June 29, 2025 8:45 pm
Bike: BMW1250ADV
Difficulty: 3 / 5

Came in from the south. The last pitch was steep and loose enough on the beast that I bumped it to a 3. The western route may be more benign. Otherwise an oddly busy area with garbage trucks and giant guns blazing from the shooting range.

Check-in photo
May 31, 2025 10:28 pm
Bike: F650GS
Difficulty: 2 / 5

If heading in from the south side near the range, there's a kind of hidden dirt track near the fence. Take that and once over the hill, take the obvious gray gravel track.

Check-in photo
May 30, 2025 10:26 am
Bike: Triumph Tiger 900 RP
Difficulty: 3 / 5

Was more of a challenge than I could muster on the new bike with street tires, had to walk the last 100 feet or so. A little too steep and loose.

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May 24, 2025 2:21 pm
Bike: T7
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Nice view of OHV park.

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May 8, 2025 9:55 am
Bike: Husqvarna 701LR
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Caught this site with Alex Crane, along with good taco's. Agree with others that this is a level 2 difficulty.

Check-in photo
May 7, 2025 12:36 pm
Bike: KLX 300
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Tiger still has street tires so gave the KLX some love. Rocky and rutted road if you go up the dump side it’s kinda steep and loose but not too bad.

Check-in photo
May 7, 2025 8:34 am
Bike: R1200GS
Difficulty: 3 / 5

FE701LR went for a ride yesterday, and after getting some tacos at Muy Buenos (highly recommend) we headed to pickles butte. Many folks rate this as a 2, but remember, you should be able to do a 2 in a mini van. This was more of an easy 3. You can handle it on a big bike, just take your time. I've also attached the way we got in. There may be an easier way, but this this wasn't too bad. Plenty of rocks and a bit of sand, but doable

Check-in photoCheck-in photo
May 4, 2025 10:36 am
Bike: Tiger 800
Difficulty: 2 / 5

It was windy. That coupled with the trash blowing around made this my least favorite place to go.

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May 1, 2025 8:04 am
Bike: 1250GSA
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Didn't know this was here, I spent a bit of time riding around.

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April 27, 2025 6:28 pm
Bike: 12' Yamaha Super Tenere
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Came from the south side and wandered around a bit before heading to the GPS cords.

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April 27, 2025 1:38 pm
Bike: 990A
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Good view, Keep head down due to shooting range.

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April 26, 2025 6:34 pm
Bike: KTM 890
Difficulty: 2 / 5

lot to see from up here

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April 26, 2025 8:40 am
Bike: 500
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Wow what a view

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April 22, 2025 4:09 pm
Bike: KLR 650

One of my favorite places to just go and chill out. There is usually a nice breeze coming up the slope, and its a popular spot for paragliders and hang gliders to launch just west of the highest point and use the ridge lift to gain altitude.

Check-in photo
April 21, 2025 5:57 pm
Bike: Royal Enfield Himalayan
Difficulty: 2 / 5

A little late to post, but I went a couple of weekends ago with my stepdad. Going up the east side, I had my first dump on the bike ever! Learned a lot about large loose rock on a steep incline and how to and not to approach it. This was our first stop of six challenge spots.

Check-in photoCheck-in photo
April 20, 2025 3:24 pm
Bike: TW200
Difficulty: 2 / 5

The road next to the shooting range is open. It is a bumpy ride if you go to the edge of the overlook. I think I hit all the rocks. My little stowaway/joyrider did great holding on to my sleeve. Saw one bull snake and a few dirt bikes on the trails. Left on the road next to the dump.

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April 18, 2025 7:54 pm
Bike: DR650
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Came in from the dump. Just one hill.

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April 16, 2025 9:57 pm
Bike: BMW R1200GSA
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Couple fun little trails to practice off road skills. Decent view from the top

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April 13, 2025 8:11 pm
Bike: 2024 Yamaha Tenere 700
Difficulty: 2 / 5

We went through the more difficult entrance and encountered some soft, sandy, and rocky terrain. Some steep hills but otherwise a fun ride to the top. It was very windy for most of our trip today.

Check-in photo
April 10, 2025 6:49 pm
Bike: 890R
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Came in from Missouri Ave. A little rocky, but not bad. Nice view, but very windy

Check-in photo
April 8, 2025 8:29 am
Bike: KMT 890
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Access is from the South side east of the shooting range. This would be hard if it's muddy but dry I call it a 2. Great view from here.

Check-in photo
April 7, 2025 1:34 pm
Bike: V-Strom
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Dill not sweet....a little soft in spots too.

Check-in photoCheck-in photo
April 7, 2025 9:04 am
Bike: 2003 Suzuki DR650
Difficulty: 2 / 5

I entered the OHV park from Missouri Ave, snapped a few pictures from the Butte, and exited on the Dear Flat Rd side.

Check-in photoCheck-in photo
April 6, 2025 7:40 pm
Bike: 690 EnduroR
Difficulty: 1 / 5

An easy ride right to the ORV Park, a fun place to ride trails, or explore grass fields. Plenty of hillclimbs to hone those skills.

Check-in photo
April 6, 2025 4:04 pm
Bike: Kawasaki KLX 300
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Had a fun adventure today with Ride-n-hike today! We took a few wrong turns heading to the Butte from the main parking lots (where my kiddos were riding) and ended up on some sandy trails! I took my Scrambler 1200XE on the first adventure on the hardest terrain I’ve taken it on, and managed to keep it up. We regrouped, I switched to my son’s Kawasaki KLX 300, checked some maps again and decided to head out to the main road and entered the trail to the Butte from the Dump entrance. It looks like there are multiple ways to get up there depending on your skill/comfort level.

Trail was a mix of sand, dirt, gravel and lava rock. We took the winding trail to the left of the first Butte and worked our way up to both sides of the Butte. It was very pretty up there!

I’d agree that it was a 2 rating. A few ruts and bumps on the dirt section and some rocks in the pathway but doable.

Will upload some video on my YouTube channel. Exploring Like A Mother since I’m not sure how to add video and picture here!

https://youtu.be/E8-ItYnPV_0

Check-in photo
April 6, 2025 2:22 pm
Bike: Himalayan 450
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Great ride today with ExploringLikeAMother. We both challenged ourselves on a few spots off the primary route but kept the bikes upright (barely)!

Check-in photo
April 6, 2025 10:11 am
Bike: DR650
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Neat overlook! I definitely recommend approaching from the South road if you're in the mood for an easier path.

Check-in photo
April 5, 2025 9:16 pm
Bike: BMW R1250GSA
Difficulty: 2 / 5

Heard about Pickle Butte for a long time... never been there.....box checked. Interesting OHV park on the north side of it. Good shooting range on the south side of it. What more could a guy want? (I know, I know, don't answer that!!). The point where the pin is isn't the highest point, but like chillyphilly said, the highest point has the best view of the dump (ha!).

Check-in photoCheck-in photo
April 5, 2025 6:39 pm
Bike: 2012 Ducati Monster 1100 Evo
Difficulty: 2 / 5

I can’t say I have ever been to this summit or even knew it existed. The easiest access we found was from the south side next to the shooting range. The access from the landfill (east) side looked a little rougher, but doable.

There are two lookout points which “Y” at the highest part of the butte. The west side is more picturesque, with the north overlooking Lake Lowell and the south the Owyhees. The east overlook towers over the landfill, so if you’re into that type of backdrop, I guess that is the place to go. 🤷‍♂️

Check-in photo
Check-Ins are Closed for the 2025 Challenge.

37 thoughts on “05 – Pickles Butte Overlook”

  1. Rode to this site on April 13. It was my first time up there. Beautiful day for a ride to get the season started.

  2. I ignored the road closed sign to ride out onto the Butte and to the overlook. The landfill nearby seems to be pretty busy. Not sure why they put up the road closed sign…

  3. One of my favorite places. I fly RC sailplanes here so pretty familiar with the butte. I rode around awhile then went up the west side. On the way out decided to try the east road up. I stalled about 3/4 of the way up, but managed to get the bike upright and going again. I think the west side is a 2 but the east side is likely a 3? I’m not experienced enough to say!

  4. Tricky to get to. Google took me to the dirt bike trails. Found you have to go around to Missouri to the landfill entrance. Continue past and follow the dirt trail. I didn’t know there was a trail around to the left to get up, so I took the steep one straight ahead, very sketchy for me, lol!

  5. We came in from the north, off of Deer Flat road, passing an OHV park to come to a fence. It looked like we could take some level 3 dirt bike trails if we wanted to make it all the way to the butte from there, but I’m not a level 3 rider so we snapped a photo from the fence.

  6. Came in from the south. The last pitch was steep and loose enough on the beast that I bumped it to a 3. The western route may be more benign. Otherwise an oddly busy area with garbage trucks and giant guns blazing from the shooting range.

  7. If heading in from the south side near the range, there’s a kind of hidden dirt track near the fence. Take that and once over the hill, take the obvious gray gravel track.

  8. Was more of a challenge than I could muster on the new bike with street tires, had to walk the last 100 feet or so. A little too steep and loose.

  9. Caught this site with Alex Crane, along with good taco’s. Agree with others that this is a level 2 difficulty.

  10. Tiger still has street tires so gave the KLX some love. Rocky and rutted road if you go up the dump side it’s kinda steep and loose but not too bad.

  11. FE701LR went for a ride yesterday, and after getting some tacos at Muy Buenos (highly recommend) we headed to pickles butte. Many folks rate this as a 2, but remember, you should be able to do a 2 in a mini van. This was more of an easy 3. You can handle it on a big bike, just take your time. I’ve also attached the way we got in. There may be an easier way, but this this wasn’t too bad. Plenty of rocks and a bit of sand, but doable

  12. It was windy. That coupled with the trash blowing around made this my least favorite place to go.

  13. One of my favorite places to just go and chill out. There is usually a nice breeze coming up the slope, and its a popular spot for paragliders and hang gliders to launch just west of the highest point and use the ridge lift to gain altitude.

  14. A little late to post, but I went a couple of weekends ago with my stepdad. Going up the east side, I had my first dump on the bike ever! Learned a lot about large loose rock on a steep incline and how to and not to approach it. This was our first stop of six challenge spots.

  15. The road next to the shooting range is open. It is a bumpy ride if you go to the edge of the overlook. I think I hit all the rocks. My little stowaway/joyrider did great holding on to my sleeve. Saw one bull snake and a few dirt bikes on the trails. Left on the road next to the dump.

  16. We went through the more difficult entrance and encountered some soft, sandy, and rocky terrain. Some steep hills but otherwise a fun ride to the top. It was very windy for most of our trip today.

  17. Access is from the South side east of the shooting range. This would be hard if it’s muddy but dry I call it a 2. Great view from here.

  18. I entered the OHV park from Missouri Ave, snapped a few pictures from the Butte, and exited on the Dear Flat Rd side.

  19. An easy ride right to the ORV Park, a fun place to ride trails, or explore grass fields. Plenty of hillclimbs to hone those skills.

  20. ExploringLikeAMother

    Had a fun adventure today with Ride-n-hike today! We took a few wrong turns heading to the Butte from the main parking lots (where my kiddos were riding) and ended up on some sandy trails! I took my Scrambler 1200XE on the first adventure on the hardest terrain I’ve taken it on, and managed to keep it up. We regrouped, I switched to my son’s Kawasaki KLX 300, checked some maps again and decided to head out to the main road and entered the trail to the Butte from the Dump entrance. It looks like there are multiple ways to get up there depending on your skill/comfort level.

    Trail was a mix of sand, dirt, gravel and lava rock. We took the winding trail to the left of the first Butte and worked our way up to both sides of the Butte. It was very pretty up there!

    I’d agree that it was a 2 rating. A few ruts and bumps on the dirt section and some rocks in the pathway but doable.

    Will upload some video on my YouTube channel. Exploring Like A Mother since I’m not sure how to add video and picture here!

    https://youtu.be/E8-ItYnPV_0

  21. Great ride today with ExploringLikeAMother. We both challenged ourselves on a few spots off the primary route but kept the bikes upright (barely)!

  22. Neat overlook! I definitely recommend approaching from the South road if you’re in the mood for an easier path.

  23. Heard about Pickle Butte for a long time… never been there…..box checked. Interesting OHV park on the north side of it. Good shooting range on the south side of it. What more could a guy want? (I know, I know, don’t answer that!!). The point where the pin is isn’t the highest point, but like chillyphilly said, the highest point has the best view of the dump (ha!).

  24. I can’t say I have ever been to this summit or even knew it existed. The easiest access we found was from the south side next to the shooting range. The access from the landfill (east) side looked a little rougher, but doable.

    There are two lookout points which “Y” at the highest part of the butte. The west side is more picturesque, with the north overlooking Lake Lowell and the south the Owyhees. The east overlook towers over the landfill, so if you’re into that type of backdrop, I guess that is the place to go. 🤷‍♂️

      1. It was either that or park it at the bottom and hike up, and I don’t like walking that much🤣

    Comments are closed.