Ridge to Rivers opened the Curlew Connection in November of last year with the idea of connecting trails from the Hulls Gulch area to the Military Reserve at higher elevations in the foothills.
"We are trying to fill in some gaps and get a better east-west connection in places where it might be missing," said David Gordon of Ridge to Rivers. "Curlew achieved that last fall, and it has been really popular this spring."
I tested it out by riding up Five Mile Gulch off Rocky Canyon Road and linking up with all the wildflowers on Watchman. After a couple of miles on Watchman, I made it to Curlew Connection.
Curlew Connection is a well-built trail along the hillside that helps riders traverse across the foothills and really put in those miles. The trail sits on BLM land, and I saw riders going both ways before running into BYRDS Cycling at the end of the trail at a junction.
“For the most part, it’s probably one of my favorite trails I’ve been on," said Rhett.
"Yeah, I really like it. It gives a lot of extra options," added Henry.
That is the magic of this trail as it can be ridden from Watchman like I did, but people can also ride up or down from Lower Hulls Gulch onto the Fat Tire Traverse. We also saw riders cruising down Freestone Ridge from the junction, and that included Byrds Cycling.
"I started at Camelback, went up Sidewinder, I came over the Fat Tire Traverse, and then I did Curlew," said Rhett. "Strava shows I rode 15 miles that day."
While Curlew Connection will help riders get after it and put in some extra miles, it will also help people who want to take on the Boise Trails Challenge in June.
