Description
Tucked in the high desert south of Boise near Flagstaff Butte in Ada County, Higby Cave (likely the intended “Higgle Cave”) is a historic lava tube for curious adventure motorcycle riders.
This roughly 1,100-foot cave with 10–16 ft ceilings once drew spelunkers, but the entrance area and surrounding public lands within 1,000 feet were permanently closed to vehicle access and public use in 2010 for resource protection. Dual-sport and ADV riders can view the remote desert setting from nearby maintained gravel roads off routes between Boise and Mountain Home. Respect all closures, stay on open BLM roads, pack in/pack out, and enjoy the surrounding high-desert scenery from a safe distance.
More Information
Coordinates: 43.295418, -116.132334
Elevation: 3270 ft
Difficulty: 3
What to Expect:
Check In
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14 Check-Ins
Second attempt after being stopped by federal constabulary when we tried to ride Orchard Access in from the Potato Hotel. Take Pleasant Valley Rd south from the airport about 23 miles to Patch Rd, and turn north. You'll see a BLM sign telling you to stay a minimum of 1000 feet from the cave about 1.25 miles down the two-track.
Rode the power lines, from Pleasant Valley Rd, to Standifer Rd. Dry as a bone. Got lost, then I found it!
Riding through the desert south of Boise was awesome. With all the military training in the area, I had to stop and ask myself a few times "am I supposed to be here?". Although the cave was closed, it was a good spot to stop and eat a sandwich.
Planned a route to take me from Higby Cave to the Potato Hotel, little did I know there was an active military base in between the two. Whoops!
I did the same thing! I was able to get to the potato by way of the railroad tracks
Last stop of the day. Looks like it may have been a 3 if I went past the sign.
Didn't go in sign said it was closed. Some rocks hiding in the grass from the gravel road.
I don't go into caves - I had a small accident years ago so now I avoid caves.
Group Ride today....Stop #1. This bears another trip out there to check out the actual cave which is off the road a ways. We took the photos by the sign and boogied to the next stop.
This was the first stop for our Poker run, lead by the fearless Alec Chattaway. It was a great ride that went off without a hitch. Our first stop was Higby cave. The path was closed so we took a picture at the entrance.
I opted to get a photo of the Guard gate sign since this site can't be accessed.
There's a road to the cave, but there's a sign saying keep out so I figure this would be good enough.
This one confused me. Came across the desert from Guffey Bridge and ended up on the firing range for the air force base. Made me wonder if it was okay to be here or not. Then finally got to the cave area and hit a sign saying it has been closed to the public for over 15 years. Not sure if I did it wrong but that's as far as this one went. Then had to back track 16 miles to get around the base to get back to the freeway.
The Nat'l Guard range roads are public and I've ridden them a lot. There's a road from down around Swan Falls that goes along the west side of the training range and gets you to Grand View. There's a spur off that road (Baja Road) that gets you back to the loop that goes around the training range. The National Guard patrols the road so make sure to stay on it. You can see some cool stuff out there one weekend a month and two weeks out of the year. 🙂