Review Date
January 15, 2012

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: mtnbkrdr98 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
It's a series of rocky trails off a face of a plateau known as "Table Rock"
Getting to that plateau there are several options:

1. Climb a steep fireroad and singletrack from the warm springs area by the "Bishops House". The idaho old Penitentiary and Bishops house, etc are all in this area by parking area.
2. climb switchbacked singletrack directly across the street from the warm springs golf course off warm springs avenue and that area of the Boise river greenbelt. This gets you to the lower singletracks and lower area of rock garden and rock islands trail. Follow the signs up.
3. Start below and do the Castle rock singletrack climbs, drop down then climb back up via #1 - gives more climbing

Once around the face, there are several options to Session - as that's what it really is, session - it's not a big, back country ride in itself.
Rock Islands trail is the most technical of them all-which offers several rock fesatures to power up, over, down, around, etc. Some pretty challenging sections for sure. I'ts not smooth (it's granite, not sandstone), and more of a surge and finesse section by section kind of thing rather than a flowy trail.

Also, to have the most fun here, I don't reccomend a xc bike. Better a slacker angle all mountain bike or light freeride type bike, as there are some pretty steep drop ins and fairly knarly sections.

Recommended Route:
Any.

Review Date
December 16, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: impdude ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This place keeps getting better. About three years ago R to R built a trail starting across the street from Warm Springs Golf Course. A couple years ago Ian and crew built Rock Island Trail. It has actually held up very well to the normal trail Gremlins (people that try to make all the trails around Boise like the rest, smooth buff single track). There are rocks up there, lots of them.

Recommended Route:
PM impdude and I'll show you Dave's loop.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Lower Hulls and Bob's

Review Date
September 15, 2006

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: 99fusion ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This singletrackish trail is short and steep. If you choose to go around the back side on your way up you can lengthen your ride and get a little break before the steep climbing begins again. There's a good section on the backside that is steeper than anything on the front. At the top there's one of the better views overlooing Boise. Like the name of the trail says, the top is a flat table rock. This area is also accessable by car using a road. There's usually a few people up there. There's also a big cross that stands 20 or 30 feet high which lights up in the night and can be seen from Boise. I forgot to mention, the trail begins at the old state penetentary parking lot. They haven't kept prisoners there for many decades. A few hundred feet into your climb you get a nice view over the crude stone walls into this piece of Boise history. The downhill is fun. You can get good speed but not great speed because the trail is not very well maintained. You'll be navigating a lot of protuding rocks and ruts. Watch out for hikers. This trail is more popular for hikers than bikers. You should get to the bottom in about 5 minutes. Expect to be disapointed by how short the downhill is, especially when you consider how the climb kicked your butt.

Recommended Route:
I would go around the backside where the trail splits about half way up. See if you can make that steep climb. Once you're at the top check out the view for a while. Go down the front side so you can experience the whole thing in one trip. You probably won't be in a hurry to do this one again since the Boise area has a few trails that are much better.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
All of them.