Mesa Falls/Bear Gulch/Warm River Railroad Trail

Level of Difficulty: 3-Advanced beginner, the only challenge for a beginner is the soft trail on the old railroad bed.

Elevations: 5344 ft to 7703 feet.

Starting Point Coordinates: N44°09.033', W111°17.159'

Length of Trail: 64 miles

Approximate time: 5 hours

Date of Ride: August 4, 2006

For MapSend Data Click Here

For GoogleEarth Data Click Here

 

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This is a map to Ashton, ID. From Ashton, proceed East on SR-47, 12.8 miles to the Bear Gulch Parking lot. The image below shows the route in the blue line. Click the map tothe left for point to point directions.

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Elevation Profile:

This is an overview of the entire ride. The ride began at Bear Gulch Parking lot.

This is a closer look where the pictures were taken. From the parking lot we proceeded SW of the parking lot down a short trail to the Henry's Fork River. I didn't take any pictures down there, but it is a beautiful spot.

After coming back up the trail we took another trail on the North side of the parking lot, under SR-47 through a large culvert joining the Warm River Rail Trail, heading North. No motorized vehicles are allow south towards the Warm River Campground. The first thing you encounter is an old railway tunnel a couple hundred yards long pictured below. We road up the Warm River Rail Trail about 5 miles and decided to see the Mesa Falls before going further north. After Mesa Falls we went north on SR-47 about .9 miles and then turned right on what the map calls Warm River Road. We stopped at Pole Ride Campground and then ended up going about 12 miles from SR 47 on a gravel road where we turned right on to Baker Draw Road. This is a paved road that takes you up about a 1000 feet on some switch backs. (fun street bike road.) We went about 9 miles until it came to Fish Creek Rd. which is also a paved highway. (That is when it is nice to have dual sport machines.) We then headed south on Fish Creek Rd 22 miles to Warm River Campground. From there we jumped on SR-47 and headed north the final 3.5 miles to Bear Gulch. 

This was a different ride with over half of the ride on paved highway, but a beautiful route none the less. That is what happens when you say, "I wonder where this road goes?"

Pic 1 - Entrance to the Tunnel

Pic 2 - Just after proceeding through the tunnel I took this picture of the warm River.

Pic 3 - Here is a close up of the same stream.

Pic 4 - Over looking the lower Mesa Falls.

Pic 5 - Looking over the rail at the Mesa Falls.

Pic 6 - Another view of the Mesa Falls.

Summary: As the route stands, it is a good ride for dual sport machines. There are many options if you don't want to ride on pavement, but much of the Warm River Rail-Trail is sparsely populated long pines with out much shade or cover (at least the south end where we were riding.) It is a four wheeler trail with a fair amount of traffic and a loose gravel surface. If you haven't seen Mesa Falls it is worth going out of the way to see. There is a visitor center also.

This page was last modified: August 30, 2007