ID Hot Springs Main Map - Road closure due to construction. May 18 - early Sept.

[So Cal Joe]

Any local or recent riders know if the construction crews are there over the weekends?

[CMajernik]

The construction is still happening. I spoke to the USFS project manager and he says it will be done in early September.

The contractors are hauling rock from along FR 227 west of Worswick Hotsprings to the Bowns Project Area. Full daytime closures on the FR 227  between Five Points (intersection of FR 094 and FR 227) through the “narrows” to Worswick Hotsprings will occur at that time on weekdays only.

[So Cal Joe]

Thank you for the update. I've been delaying my trip with the hope that they would be done in August as scheduled but it doesn't look that way.  Thank you for the map too!

[Jeebs]

Any updates on the closure? We're planning to ride the southern route counter-clockwise starting next Friday at Ketchum, which would put us through the closure area on Labor Day weekend. I emailed the FS supervisor and he said the work was likely going to continue into September, but he didn't provide any details. Is it strictly a daytime closure as shown on the above map, or is it a permanent closure? I'd be fine waiting until after 6 if that's all it takes.

I'm also looking at detours that don't put us through Fairfield. One option is Trail 091 (Boardman Creek) up to FS 010. This would put us back at FS 227 near Five Points Campground, but to avoid the Worswick closure area we'd have to buckwhack up to FS 471D/471 and ride back to FS 227. Any thoughts on this detour? Would be 32 miles with 4000' vertical up, 3500' vertical down (compared with 12 miles and 650' vert on the main route).

[Jeebs]

I got some clarification from the FS. Worswick closure area is not in effect, and Bowns area is closed with little enforcement presence after hours or on weekends.

[So Cal Joe]

I am in McCall as I write this going ccw. I spoke to a couple the other day in Stanley who just went through the construction on the weekend (ccw also)and said it was basically finished. They said it was no problem to get thru on a weekend so I think you would be fine if you clear it by Monday.

There is another road closure to be aware of and that is 474 out of warm lake to e. Fork road is closed to traffic from 7-4 on weekdays. They are patching sections of road.

They are pretty much finished south of poverty flats CG . I entered after 4pm by coincidence from the warm lake side as the trucks were leaving for the day.

[So Cal Joe]

@jeebs did you make it through the construction zone?

[Jeebs]

We sure did. The road was supposed to officially open at 6pm on Friday prior to the Labor Day weekend... we arrived around 3:30PM and they only had a few hundred feet of grading to finish.  We were waved through without any issue and I enjoyed a freshly watered virgin road to myself.

The entire trip was amazing. The climbs are huge and the sun was hot, but the rewards were plenty. I soaked in 14 hot springs in total. Each night concluded with a hot spring or shower before bed, which was sooooo nice after a sweaty ride. We did the southern loop counter-clockwise from Ketchum in 8 days with one layover day in Atlanta, which I would highly recommend. We took James Creek out of Atlanta rather than the single track option, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The grade was too steep to ride in places, but it's short and sweet. We topped out in the early morning 2 hours after leaving Atlanta. On the last day we rode 93 miles out all the way back to Ketchum. One of the highlights was descending Dollarhide Summit in the dark, and stopping in a well-lit deer camp to fix a flat. A group of drunken bow hunters hooked us up with Coors Light and a hot bowl of shrimp fettuccine Alfredo. I'll be back next year for the northern loop.

[So Cal Joe]

That Coors sounds perfect, I soo wished I was offered a cold beer on my trip. I heard back from the FS and as you say he said the road is open.

How was the Air? Part of the reason I cut my trip short was the smoke, it was soo bad. I'm all set to go back this week to finish (CCW - Ketchum to McCall) but I can't see how the air has gotten better, at least on the northern section.  I'm leaning towards going back in May or June.

Thanks for the response

[Jeebs]

A small fire blew up the day we left Atlanta and we had some smoke that morning, but otherwise the air was great. It seemed to clear out just as we started and stayed good the entire week.

[ChasA]

Sorry if this is posted elsewhere. Does anyone have an update on the route between Featherville and Ketchum? Has the road been mostly repaired to eliminate the slide and flood-induced hike-a-bike section?

[So Cal Joe]

I believe it is. I sent an email to the one provided on the website in the link in this thread back in Aug 2020 and he confirmed that construction had been completed.

[ChasA]

Thank you