• Mini Moab Loop: 1,440 ft total elevation gain over 11.7 total miles

This well-defined loop trail is just west of Boise and served as our trip’s warm-up hike, as the elevation gain wasn’t too intense. The hike was a little monotonous. You walk through rolling hills while passing rock formations that resemble those found around Moab, UT (hence the name). There are a few points where you cross a small creek, and at one point, the trail leads through a canyon, where you walk alongside the creek for half a mile. Overall, the hike served as a great warm-up, and we were glad we chose this trail. An “Alltrails” map can be found here.

• Unnamed Lake: 2,700 ft total elevation gain over 6 miles (12 miles round trip)

• Thompson Peak: 4,200 ft total elevation gain over 7 miles (14 miles round trip)

This Out-and-Back hike is a beautiful trail that leads to Thompson Peak, the tallest peak in The Sawtooth Mountain Range. The first portion of the hike leads you on a defined trail to an unnamed lake in the shadows of Thompson Peak. The lake is brilliantly blue and entices travelers to take a dip. If you want to ascend Thompson peak, you proceed west on a social trail to a beautiful spring, a few rock scrambles and two snow patches before getting to the final ascent, which is a steep scramble through a field of scree. Some points are dicey, as the rocks are not firmly in place and tend to shift below you. Taking it slowly is your best bet, and the payoff is well worth it. The peak provides panoramic views of the Sawtooth mountains and a birds-eye view of the unnamed lake below. Our friend Stav has a great map on his website that provides good insight on how to reach the unnamed lake, and Thompson Peak. As you can see, the map also incorporates Mickey’s Spire, which is the peak adjacent to Thompson. By following the map’s top yellow trail leading to the orange trail, you can easily see the out-and-back path to Thompson Peak. For Stav’s full guide & pictures associated with the map, click here.

• Lake Alice: 1,630 ft total elevation gain over 5.4 miles (11 miles round trip)

• Twin Lakes: 2,000 ft total elevation gain over 6.4 miles (13 miles roundtrip)

• Snowyside Peak: 4,693 ft total elevation gain over 9.75 miles (19.5 miles roundtrip)

This Out-and-Back hike follows a defined trail that starts adjacent to a lake that winds through a forest before opening towards a beautifully blue alpine lake called Lake Alice. A mile further up the trail, you will reach the Twin Lakes, two additional lakes separated by a thin stretch of land. All three lakes are beautiful, easy to approach, and have tons of grassy areas to relax/camp/picnic. From Twin Lakes, you can take a trail leading towards a ridge line which separates twin lakes from Toxaway Lake. We attempted to summit Snowyside Peak via this ridge route but turned around a few hundred feet from the peak due to difficulty (scree, exposure, and inclement weather). For those comfortable walking long distances, we highly recommend both Lake Alice & Twin Lakes. Only experienced climbers should attempt to ascend Snowyside Peak. Alltrails map shows how one would travel from Tin Cup Trailhead to Lake Alice & Twin Lake (the bottom part of the depicted loop). Stav’s guide can be found here. As you can see, both guides depict a loop that will take you further, past Toxaway Lake, but that trail totals 21.3 miles.

• Chicken Out Ridge: 4,240 ft total elevation gain over 3.0 miles (6 miles round trip)

• Borah Peak: 5,240 ft total elevation gain over 3.6 miles (7.2 miles round trip)

This hike is strenuous, but pretty straight forward, as it follows a defined trail. Borah Peak is the tallest peak in Idaho and thus has hikers ascending thousands of feet over a very short distance. About 4/5ths from the peak, you will encounter a pass called “Chicken Out Ridge.” As its name suggests, many hikers turn back at this point because it requires dicey maneuvering to cross a narrow ridge with hundreds of feet of exposure. 3 out of 5 members of our group chose to summit the peak, while the remaining 2 turned back at this point. This Alltrails Map highlights the route & elevation change.

• Baker Lake: 850 ft total elevation gain over 1.3 miles (2.6 miles round trip)

• Middle Lake: 1,190 ft total elevation gain over 2.1 miles (4.2 miles round trip)

• Gem Lake: 1,360 ft total elevation gain over 2.3 miles (4.6 miles roundtrip)

• Trapper Peak: 3,300 ft total elevation gain over 5.6 miles (11.2 miles roundtrip)

There are many ways to approach this beautiful hike to the Bitterroot Mountain range’s tallest peak, Trapper Peak. First, you must take the dirt road, via car, that leads to the trailhead. We chose a loop route that would first bring us to three lakes before our scramble towards the peak. Hiking to Baker lake is very straightforward and easy, as there is a defined trail to follow. There seemed to be a few ways to hike from Baker Lake to Middle & Gem lake, and we found ourselves following a social trail. The hike to Gem lake was standard. From Gem Lake, we scrambled to the middle ridge-line up boulders and talus, it was not a difficult scramble, but there were points that required some maneuvering. Once we made it to the middle ridge, there is a trail and cairns that lead to the upper ridge-line which is traversed to get to Trapper Peak. The views are breathtaking. We chose an alternative route for our decent. Once we scrambled down to the middle ridge-line, we hiked southeast along the ridge-line until meeting up with a very steep trail with many switchbacks. The trail we took is depicted here. Starting on the east side of the map, we traveled counterclockwise, with a short out-and-back section to trapper peak. We ended up ascending the peak next to trapper peak, too, which is why our map contains a loop at the peak. You can ignore that deviation. If you are just looking to hike to the lakes, see this out-and-back Alltrails map to Baker, Middle, and Gem lake.

• Saint Mary Peak: 2,490 ft total elevation gain over 3.5 miles (7 miles round trip)

Saint Mary Peak is a well-defined trail that is very manageable. There is a dirt road you take via car that leads to the trailhead. We saw at least a half a dozen 70+ year old’s ascending. The hike leads through a forest that occasionally opens up to provide beautiful views of the valley below. There is a fire-lookout tower at the summit, and the panoramic view of the mountain range is spectacular. An Alltrails map can be found here.

• Grinnell Glacier Overlook: 3,251 ft total elevation gain over 15 miles round trip

• Granite Park Chalet: 2,580 ft total elevation gain over 15 miles round trip

• Swiftcurrent Peak: 4,700 ft total elevation gain over 20.8 miles round trip

The Out-and-Back Highline trail is one of Glacier’s most trafficked trails, and rightfully so. It provides a bird’s eye view of the park across 15 miles of trail. The route also provides sweeping mountain views and a high probability for animal sightings. We saw goats, sheep, marmots, and deer. The trail is long, but relatively flat with the exception of a steep hill halfway to the Chalet. There are a few ways to hike this trail. Starting at Logan Pass, you can 1) hike to & from Grinnell Glacier overlook (which is before the Chalet), 2) you can hike to and from the Chalet or 3) you can hike past the Chalet to Swiftcurrent Peak. We chose the latter option which made our hike almost 21 miles roundtrip. There is about 2,000 feet of elevation gain from the Chalet to Swiftcurrent Peak. If you want to split the hike into two days, you can spend the night at the Chalet (you should reserve a room beforehand). The trailhead starts at Logan Pass which is a parking lot that will fill-up very early in the morning. We arrived at 6am and it was already a quarter full. We suspect it filled by 7am. If the lot is full, there are additional parking spots on the side of the road, but you may be over a mile away from the trailhead. Here is a map from Logan Pass to Granite Park Chalet. This map here, depicts the trail from Logan Pass to Swiftcurrent peak.

• Hidden Lake Overlook: 550 ft total elevation gain over 1.5 miles (3 miles round trip)

This heavily trafficked trail starts at Logan Pass and leads to a lookout point overlooking Hidden Lake. The trail is well defined, and very straight forward, and still provides beautiful views. An Alltrails map depicting the trail from Logan Pass to Hidden Lake Overlook can be found here. There is an option to hike from the overlook down to the lake which will add an additional 2 total miles and about 800 feet of elevation gain.

• Siyeh Pass Midpoint: 2,300 ft total elevation gain over 4.5 miles (9 miles round trip)

• Sunrift Gorge: 3,484 ft of total elevation gain over 10 miles roundtrip (does not lead back to Siyah Pass Trailhead at Siyeh Bend).

This trail can be hiked as an out-and back or loop trail depending on where you want to finish. If you make it a loop, you will end up on the road about 5 miles away from your car. For this reason, most of our group took the out-and-back route which returns you to your car. The trail starts at Siyeh Bend and has you walking along a stream for a few hundred yards before turning into the forest. You’ll walk a few miles through the forest before it opens up to an alpine tundra with a few beautiful lakes. We hiked up to the ridge-line before turning around, but one member of our group completed the loop by hiking to Sunrift Gorge (we picked him up). This Alltrails map here, depicts the full loop hike to Sunrift Gorge. Again, we turned back after 4.5 miles of hiking to retrieve our car.

• Baring Falls: 100 ft. total elevation gain over 1.5 miles round trip

• Saint Mary Falls: 200 ft. total elevation gain over 5.0 miles roundtrip

• Virginia Falls: 500 ft. total elevation gain over 6.0 miles roundtrip

This is a beautiful hike along the baby-blue Saint Mary lake. Starting in the Sun Point Nature Parking lot, you can easily hike to Baring, Saint Mary, and even Virginia Falls. We were short on time, so we only hiked to Baring Falls.

• Sperry Chalet: 3,500 ft. total elevation gain over 6.0 miles (12.0 miles roundtrip)

• Sperry Glacier: 5,000 ft. total elevation gain over 9.6 miles (19.2 miles roundtrip)

The first six miles are a prolonged climb through the lower forests of glacier and aren’t particularly interesting. However, after passing the Sperry Chalet, you are greeted by towering waterfalls as you march through a valley that feels like an enclosed version of the Highline trail with large switchbacks to gain elevation. At around 7.0-7.75 miles in, you reach a large boulder field as the views to the south grow ever more expansive and new deep blue lakes reveal themselves. Continuing higher, you pass snow patches and a new lake until you reach a large wall which is obscuring your view to the north. Take the steep passage through the wall which will open to an incredible view of jagged glacial peaks. Enjoy the geological folding in Edwards Mountain to your left and Gunsight Mountain to your right. Continue for another half mile or so through the beginning of the ice field as you take red and green rocky inlets to avoid slippery ice. Follow the large stone cairns. As you reach the final cairns, glacier blue pools will appear at the foot of Sperry Glacier (which is flanking you on the right). For more adventurous folk, attempt a summit of Gunsight Peak (class 2 minimal exposure). This Alltrails map here shows the route from Sperry Trailhead to Sperry Glacier. The route starts from Sperry Chalet, hiking to Sperry Glacier and finishing at Sperry Trailhead, so the distance & elevation are less than what they would be when starting and finishing at Sperry Trailhead, but nonetheless, provides the accurate route.