Farragut Mountain Bike Tour

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Distance: 8-1/2 miles round trip

Difficulty: Mostly easy

Riding time: 1-1/2 - 3 hours

Season: April through October

Maps: USGS Bayview, Farragut State Park Map available at park headquarters

Info: Farragut State Park, (208) 683-2425

BIKE TOUR TRIP NOTES

Access: From U.S. Highway 95 at Athol (milepost 449), head east at well-marked intersection and follow signs to Farragut State Park. Just past park headquarters and visitor center, turn south on South Road and drive 1/4 mile to trailhead.

Attractions: Trails ranging from paved to single-track dirt circumnavigate popular 2,700-acre Idaho state park on Lake Pend Oreille. Diversions include hiking trails, camping and picnicking areas and swimming hole. Visitor center at park headquarters.

Comments: From trailhead, follow single track through lowland woods past signposts 25 and 32. At signpost 27, head down toward lake, past viewpoint, to Shoreline Trail. Pass group camp. Stop at swimming area if you wish. Just past swimming area, bear left off Shoreline Trail. (This area heavily used and park officials want to separate bikers and hikers.) Near day-use areas, find way northwest to Locust Grove picnic area. Follow road back to Highway 54, then ride south of ampitheater and head up to dirt trail system at north end of park. All of these trails worth exploring. When finished, head southwest past shooting range, connect with North Road, skirt the Scott and Peterson loops and head south past the Boy Scout Friendship Poles. Follow a road south past the Brig (now park maintenance buildings) and turn west on South Road to trailhead.

Park, open year around, charges $2 day-use fee payable at headquarters. Park rules require bikers to yield to all other trail users, including hikers and equestrians. Ride only on designated trails and roads.

Farragut was site of U.S. naval training center constructed in 1942. Named after Civil War Admiral David Farragut. At the time, training center was largest “city” in Idaho, population 55,000. Camp ovals named after World War II naval heroes. Camp decommissioned in 1946. However, Navy still conducts submarine research here because lake depth reaches 1,200 feet.

Site converted to Farragut College and Technical Institute 1946-1949. Land trade allowed state to create Farragut State Park in 1964. Beaver Bay swimming area constructed by 17,000 Boy Scouts during World Jamboree in 1967. Sand for beach trucked in from Sandpoint.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map of the Farragut Mountain Bike Tour

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Routes: Classic Trips in the Inland Northwest