Rabbit Creek Rd s(u) by Bicycle - Velo

< Left Panel Idaho Summits and Passes Areas Tables Maps All Favorites

Main Panel: Main Page Map+Profile Idaho Map

Rabbit Creek Rd s(u)
aka Reynolds Creek Stage Rd s(u)

The Owihee Mountains are sage covered dessert range that could be at home in southern California. Instead it is found much further north, south of Boise. Much of the range also has a crown, covered with generous dense forest. But that is further south east from this spot. Here along Reynolds and Stage Creek, the scenery consists of inclined sage plains, dotted with wild looking rock outcrops. Much of this loop is paved, and what is gravel is fast and smooth gravel.

The map on my computer names this Rabbit Creek Rd. Gazeteer maps label it Reynolds Creek Stage Rd, and there is no street sign to make the deciding vote. Signs at junctions are a rare phenomenon in rural Idaho

1.START-END NORTH:upper Reynolds Creek Rd departs from Id78
2.highest point on Reynolds Creek Rd, 4150ft
3.profile makes 90 degree left turn onto Rabbit Creek Rd, in Reynolds
4.TOP, 4590ft
5.profile turns left onto Id78 in Murphy
6.START-END SOUTH:Id78 reaches Snake River

Approaches

From North. South of the Walter's Ferry Crossing of the Snake River, a signed turnoff from Id78 shows the way to Reynolds Creek Rd. After a mile or so it may appear to dead end in a stockyard. But that happens a lot in Idaho and the road does continue. Just a short distance further a BLM sign bids welcome on public lands.

A perfectly smooth paved road rolls upwards between rocky knolls, lava lips, and sage fans. The Snake River Plain behind is so vast it makes the slope we are climbing seem unimportant. But the legs feel that it is a climb. The ridge at the top is fairly well defined, and the road surface changes - surprise not to gravel, but to an even finer asphalt. The decent is less than 500ft, before the road climbs higher in all direction. So I am not counting this as a summit point

This topographical low point is named Reynolds on the map. There probably is a farm or two around in this bare valley. It does have a forsaken beauty, especially when dark clouds hang over the top of the Owihee Ridge. They give it a distinction that it might lack otherwise, given its bare essential necessity look. But the main attraction along the road in Reynolds is its wild old cemetery, interspersed with an old ruin or two.

There is a junction here and both options lead to higher points than the one we just came down from. The profile takes a left turn onto Stage Rd. There are no signs here. The road now turns to gravel. Generally it is the hard and smooth type, so that any road bike would do. But there are a few short stretches where deeper gravel comes up unexpectedly. The road leads to a wide open summit that surprisingly is 300ft higher than the point on Reynolds Creek Rd.

From East. (described downwards). The decent down this side is as fast as you can stand it. There are barely turns to slow you down, and the grade is almost gentle enough to just let it roll for all those miles without braking. On the right a series of rocky outcrops named Black Mountain may cause a glance or two, maybe even a stop. But mostly the decent follows a fairly narrow ravine through this vast sweeping country. The profile ends on Id78 10 miles away and 500ft higher from where it started

cLiCk on image , arrows , or thumbnails to advance slideshow

Dayride with this point as highest summit:

PARTIALLY PAVED / UNPAVED

( < New York Summit | Overshoe Pass > )

Rabbit Creek Rd s(u) , additional out and back: Reynolds Creek Rd, a few miles from jct with Id78 > up Reynolds Creek Rd > Reynolds > Stage Creek Rd north > Stage Creek Rd s(u) > Murphy Id78 west > jct with Reynolds Creek Rd <> out and back Id45 north > Ferry Rd east > Hill Rd south > Sinker Rd east << turnaround point end of road at Celebration Park : 54.3miles with 2790ft of climbing in 5:26hrs (garmin etrex32x m5:23.10.11)