Greenhorn Gulch

Don't pay attention to the bad reviews here. This is a great trail.

There are about a dozen trails in the Greenhorn Gulch area. The most popular loop is to ride up the Greenhorn trail and return on the Imperial Gulch trail. Neither trail has technical interest - they're old-school cross-country trails. Imperial Gulch is the down-slope side of the loop although not till you reach the summit. There is a large parking area at the trailhead and rest rooms. These trails are very popular with dog walkers.

Trail is steep, narrow and deeply rutted. The complete opposite to Greenhorn Gulch (great trail) with which it connects.

There are about a dozen trails in the Greenhorn Gulch area. The most popular loop is to ride up the Greenhorn trail and return on the Imperial Gulch trail. Neither trail has technical interest - they're old-school cross-country trails. I kept thinking "surely they could have made it a bit more curvy", "why not control the gradient a bit", but these were originally hiking or mule trails so I was on the wrong planet. It's quite a scenic loop but it certainly won't take your breath away - the scenery that is - the climb up the last mile of Greenhorn will.

There is a large parking area at the trailhead and rest rooms. These trails are very popular with dog walkers.

Heading north from the car park there is a track called Cow Creek Trail which can be combined into a loop with Mahoney Butte Trail. Cow Creek is wall to wall granite skulls - a horrible ride best left to horse riders and masochists.

Great cross country trail with beautiful views throughout. While the motorcycles were very considerate and respectful, it was a little alarming to see them there.

Incredible cross country singletrack with beautiful views! It's easy to see why this is one of the most well-ridden trails in the area--it's achievable, easy to access, and provides great reward for the effort.

Most of the trails in this area are back open after the fire, although Deer Creek drainage (I think?) still needs some work and isn't open yet. But the most popular trails are back open and riding great!

The first mile is a daunting climb through derailler smashing rock garden after rock garden. Then you descend briefly through similar terrain down to Greenhorn Gulch which is nice single track with a steady climbing grade. When you enter the burn area the grade gets significantly steeper. Somewhere around 900 feet in a mile and a half. Imperial is a sweet downhill interrupted by some climbing about 2 miles from the parking lot. Watch out for horse poop!

A number of the trails out the Greenhorn area are closed this season due to fire damage. Check the Blaine County recreation website for closures and conditions.

I started at the Greenhorn trailhead and then followed the well maintained path over nice log bridges up the drainage. At the Imperial/Greenhorn intersection, I continued climbing Greehhorn. The trail consisted of smooth singletrack, with a few rocky sections thrown in. None of the climbing was too difficult, as it seemed to give breaks along the way. I passed 4 other riders and 4 hikers and was passed by one motorcycle. I completed the Greenhorn-Imperial loop in 1:15 minutes, which included a short break at the top for views of the Pioneers.

There are about 4-5 different loops in this area ranging in length from 10-15 miles. If you are riding around Ketchum, don't miss this area! Butter smooth singletrack, fast downhills, in short awesome.