I have seen Graham on the map along the western edge of the Sawtooths and my curiosity finally got the best of me, so we decided to take our DRZ's and make the run in.....

Drove to Edna Crk which is just past Moores Crk Summit...proceeded in about 5 miles to the junction of Rd 312, which takes you into Graham. Figured that was a good starting point.

For once I finally remembered the camera so I could share the ride.......they say a picture is worth a thousand words!





















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After a quick detour to Jackson Peak Lookout and a juant down Jackson Peak trail.....our trip brought us safely into Graham, which is nothing more than an old Forest Service Guard Station and airstrip. The road proceeded past the airstrip to a campground called Johnson Crk...the bridge into graham has been washed out for sometime so upkeep of the campground is all but nonexistant. The road ended right at the edge of Johnson Crk and Horse Heavan trail started directly across the creek. Horse Heaven connects Graham with Deer Park and also spurs off to a few lakes. We were hoping to run into the lakes to wet a line or two but the trail has not been cleared for some time??? Might be worth a trip back with the saw?

Total mileage for the day was 70 miles.....

Great Pictures, a good set of pictures is priceless.

Be careful crossing Johnson Creek right there. Watched two bikes water out right there. There is a great ride from Barber Flats up to the lookout - Swanhome i think - and then down into Graham on the Horse Heavan trail. It probably needs work for sure, some friends of mine spent the night a few years ago halfway up due to down logs getting the better of them. Did you continue on the other way into Atlanta? You can go from Atlanta to Alexander Flats then up and over to Barber Flats then back out to the highway at Rabbit Creek just above Idaho City. Makes a good day out of riding, especially if you leave from Boise.

moto931 said:

Thanks for the info and heads up...Took a hard look at Johnson Crk...crossing would have been easy about 3/4 across...and then it gets a little deeper and swift...probably would have walked it across to be safe!

Water crossings don't bother me other than watering out is a serious PIA!

I was hoping to run up Horse Heaven to lodge Pole... and then over to lodge pole and warrior lakes.... and out Swanholm. First time in this particuliar area and I had read online that Horse Heaven was a bit neglected.

Not familiar with Alexander Fats??? I will have to check that one out on the map......my (riding) time in the Atlanta/Trinity's area is limited, so I want to go back and explore the area some more, but first I think I'm going to look into a rack with saw mount to deal with the deadfall on the less traveled trails.

:thumbsup:

Neat ride! Those photos are very shocking to me. It has been 25 years since I have been down there and have been contemplating a ride down there. I use to hunt there when I was a teenager. It looks like the fires really did a number on it. Is there anything left of the old mining town? How long did it take you to complete the ride?

We were out for about six hours, but this also included a few side trips.

There was one small burn about half way in....pretty fresh, possibly last year, otherwise the burn that went through Graham was sometime ago. No sign of any town that I noticed? Just the old guard station and grass airstrip....we did not snoop around the cabin too much...might have been some old foundations in the grass we did not see?

you shouldnt post those....makes me want to move to Idaho all that much more

vsekvsek said:

LOL:lol: ....My bad!

Nice pictures. Looks like a great area.

I see the horse heaven sign. We didn't have gas to go up that way when I was out there a couple days ago. Did you ride grand mountain at all (comes out the other side of the road from horse heaven a couple miles to the south). If you did, did you notice any freshly cut deadfall? I heard that velosapiens guy cleared almost all of that trail 2 weeks ago, and it looks like the trail rangers or someone finished up the last couple trees on the ridge.

llamaface said:

No, not from the Graham side....We hiked in about 300 yds and came across deadfall that appeared to have been down awhile. No visible recent tracks either....

....."I heard that velosapiens guy cleared almost all of that trail 2 weeks ago"..... Good job Velo:thumbsup:

We were hoping to run up Horse Heaven/Lodgepole to the lakes and then loop out past Swanholm......but didn't feel like carrying the bikes over tree's...been there, done that!

Sounds like TVTMA still works these trails?

obrianmcc said:

There are a number of folks around here that carry chainsaws in the early summer, and the idaho parks and rec trail rangers also clear an awful lot (supported by your $10 ohv sticker). Many of the folks are tvtma members but some of the ridge-riders are also known to do a little work in the area. i heard horse heaven was cleared from the other side a few weeks ago but apparently they didn't get to lodgepole, or gave up, or something. if there's a ton of stuff down, sometimes folks will only clear the the worst ones, that don't have a sustainable way around or over. I was running low on bar oil when i worked on grand mountain, so i left a few easy ride-arounds and ride-overs so i wouldn't be screwed if i ran out and then came to something that i couldn't get through without cutting.

Join us (tvtma) on a ride weekend some time. i know there's a campout at barber flats next month. if horse heaven still needs work then, i'll probably try to do some.

I am interested in TVTMA. Do they have alot of different skill levels in the club? Always great to meet up with folks of common interest. When is the Barber Flats camp out and how do you get hooked up with TVTMA?

oldxr500rider said:

Yes, all different skills, but generally a love of riding and camping and stuff. pm sent.