Focus On: Early Summer in Sun Valley
Continuing with our “Focus On” series is Sun Valley; where we start our summer high-country season, and believe you should too! Sun Valley in the early summer is just about perfect with moderate temps (sometimes getting into the 80’s, but typically you’re looking at 60-70’s) empty trails and perfect conditions. The wildflowers are popping, everything is green and we’re getting high… in the mountains, that is!
What should you expect in Sun Valley? Big rides, and loooong flowy descents with views that go on forever. That said, you should definitely put in lots of training miles before joining us in late June. Even though the terrain in Sun Valley is on the “more mellow” side in terms of tech, the rides here always have a way of beating you down over the course of a long day. We’ll mix things up with a couple of shuttles, point to points, loops, and maybe even finish at a couple of our favorite bars in town for post-ride beers. Take a look below to get a more in-depth look, so you can decide if this trip is for you:
Technical Level: Intermediate
Fitness Level: Intermediate +
Expected Itinerary (lots of options here!)
Ride Day 1: Oregon Gulch P2P w/ Shuttle. We’ll start our trip with a shuttle about 15 miles north of town to a drop point at the bottom of Oregon Gulch, where we’ll gradually head back to town via a series of loops and connector trails. This is the perfect first-day ride with some gradually longer climbs (but never too steep) and some killer descents to get you used to the bikes and the terrain. We’ll even let you pick the post-ride bar at the end of the day… Lefty’s or Grumpy’s?
Day 2: Castle Creek to Red Warrior to Warm Springs. Yep, another shuttle… today’s ride is a true backcountry experience where we’ll hit a long 7+ mile downhill that few people ride. The route starts with a 20-25 minute climb on Osberg Ridge before heading over to Castle Creek, which is one of our favorite raw, rugged descents anywhere. Once we hit Warm Springs Road, we have our biggest climb of the day up to the top of Red Warrior (about 5 miles), but it’s totally worth the effort since RW is always a customer fave: 5 miles and over 2000′ of ripping tech and flow! All told we’ll knock out about 21-22 miles with 2500′ of climbing and another 5000’+ of descent.
Day 3: We’re going to start with another shuttle ride, and this one is to the start of Osberg Ridge. Osberg’s all the way back to town is an absolute classic, but we’re going to mix it up a bit with a detour over to the top of Oregon Gulch (Edge of the World). Expect long climbs, huge views, incredible singletrack, and some rugged backcountry riding. Today’s ride will clock in around 24 miles with about 2800′ of climbing (and 6000′ of descending).
Day 4: We’re going to treat you to one of our favorite “short loops” anywhere… just south of town in Greenhorn Gulch. Greenhorn-Imperial is an incredible 11 mile, 2000′ loop that is the perfect topper for an incredible trip. If you’re feeling good on today’s ride and want a little more, we’re happy to add some climbing and descending to make it closer to 15 miles with 3000′ of climbing/descending.
Expected Weather: Sun Valley in early summer is absolutely perfect, with highs in the 70s and typically minimal chances for rain. Occasionally we’ll get a “heat wave” coming through that will push higher elevations close to 80*, but that’s fairly rare. If it does rain, it’s a passing shower/storm and not something that lasts all day.
Final Word: To us, Sun Valley is the epitome of “high country epic” riding. You’ll be wiped out at the end of each day, but honestly- we can’t think of many places we’d rather spend all day in the mountains. The rides will be big and long, but the descents are truly epic and we’ll have the trails to ourselves. Make sure you train for this one, as we’ll be in the saddle for 20+ miles every day with options to lengthen rides and push even harder.. and farther into the rugged backcountry of the Idaho mountains.
