Idaho
Silver Mountain, ID, Report: A Very Tall, Long, World-Class Bike Park in the Panhandle of Idaho – SnowBrains
Report from June 8-9, 2024
Views of lush green forests and deep blue lakes came more and more into view as we gained elevation on Silver Mountain’s gondola on Saturday morning.
Idaho’s Panhandle is even more gorgeous from the air, I thought as we sailed along America’s longest gondola.
The day was sunny, warm but not too much so, and there was no wind; it was perfect weather to check out Silver’s Mountain Bike Park.
We got to the top of the gondola, hopped onto our bikes, and then took a blue trail called Jack Ass back down to town.
This was not your regular mountain bike trail; it was eight miles long with a vertical drop of over 3,000 feet and it took over 45 minutes of continuous biking to get down.
I’ve never ridden a trail like that before.
Silver Mountain is known for being one of Idaho’s premiere ski areas but what may not be as known is that it also has the #1 rated mountain bike park in the Pacific Northwest for four years running.
An assortment of green, blue, and black trails are accessible right from the top of the gondola; some are shorter and go straight to Chair 3, where you can hit multiple laps back to back, while others are long and enduring like the ones that go for eight miles down to the town of Kellogg where the gondola terminal is located.
Silver’s Bike Park has a little bit of something for everyone.
We started with Jack Ass, a blue trail, then hit another blue called Burro Loco, which was slightly more technical.
That was insanely fun.
The trails under the gondola start in an open field where some ski runs are then descend into thick forest.
Once in the forest, the trails branch off and you have dozens of options for more trails to hit, from green to blue to black flow and technical trails.
We had to take frequent breaks because our hands got so tired from the epically long downhill trails—a good problem to have.
The trails just went on forever here…
Wildcat, a blue trail, was one of our favorites of the trip.
We had to stop for lunch at Noah’s canteen to refuel and the food was excellent and not too expensive (go for the chicken sandwich!)
After mostly riding blues on the first day we felt ready to take on some black trail on Sunday.
We started with Snake Pit that led to Chair 3, a steep technical trail.
It was exactly that: steep, rocky, technical, and challenging in the best ways.
By the bottom, I was worked but extremely stoked.
More black trails, please.
Then we hit a couple of black flow trails from the gondola down to town called Hammer and Ghost Pepper.
These were steep trails that cut through the woods with playful jump lines all throughout the trails.
We caught some good air and landed on some very well-constructed landings all while keeping a nice flow through the endless twists and turns of the trails.
The berms were smooth and fast; a couple of them were huge and had you accelerating at uncanny speeds.
The vibes were high and everyone at the bike park we encountered had smiles on their faces.
That’s what a nice bike park does.
At one point we hit a technical black trail called Snaggletooth and I biked the rockiest, most technical section of trail I ever have and flowed it.
I only did it because I was following Tyler who was following a local who made it look smooth.
Then a crew of more locals followed us and rode the technical section with ease and we all exchanged stokey high fives at the bottom.
Bike culture is fun.
After miles upon miles of long, tall downhill trails through gorgeous, thick, moss-covered forests, we were officially tired.
Tired, but happy.
We elected for one more ride down Ghost Pepper and after that decided to call it a day.
Each day we rode last weekend, the weather was beautiful, the dirt was beyond beautiful, the trails were completely uncrowded, and the stoke was high.
I was thoroughly impressed with Silver Mountain’s bike park and I can see how it’s the top-rated bike park in the PNW.
I could also see myself coming here every summer after the snowmelts and getting my ‘mountain bike’ on.
It’s that good.
Thanks, Silver Mountain!
—
To learn more about Silver Mountain’s Bike Park, visit the resort’s website.
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Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
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