BOISE — How lucky are we to have the Boise foothills with hundreds of miles of trails right in our backyard?
As temperatures cool off, more and more people will hit the trails on bike, foot or on horse. So many of us take advantage of them, but not all of us know the rules of the trails or proper etiquette - especially if you're new to the area or new to mountain biking.
The vast majority of Ridge to Rivers paths are multi-use, meaning everyone from bikers to horseback riders share them.
Earlier this summer, Boise resident Amanda Watson was trail running on Chickadee Ridge near Hulls Gulch with her two dogs. She took them off leash in an off-leash area that was covered in high brush.
"The cyclist that came down the trail didn't see me. And they were going faster than any cyclist I've ever seen in the foothills," Watson said.
She says she quickly pulled one of her dogs out of the way, while the other dog five to ten feet in front of her bolted off to the side.
"I fell and I tumbled down a series of rocks and ripped up my hands and knees and ripped my clothes and the bikers kept going," Watson said. "More than anything it was just really disappointing to see. And I think a lot of people - new riders, new people on the trails - need to understand that they have to educate themselves before coming out here."
Watson feels most people who use the foothills have a good sense of common courtesy, but there are too few people who understand when and where it is appropriate to yield.
"I would not say that I see poor behavior on trails often. I think most people who use the foothills have a good sense of what courtesy is on the trail. However, every once in a while there is a person who so blatantly breaks trail etiquette that it puts a bad taste in the mouth of everyone," Watson told KTVB. "There are egregious missteps in trail etiquette every once in a while and that's why there's this clash between runners and cyclists."
"It's a challenge. I mean there's so many different people out there, so many different user groups and it is a challenge to get everybody to get along and enjoy the trail with each other," Ridge to Rivers Program Manager David Gordon said.
Here are the rules: Mountain bikers are supposed to yield to all other trail users (equestrian and those on foot); people on foot yield to those on horseback.
"That's an international guideline," Gordon added. "There's always going to be people new to the trails and they don't know etiquette and it's a matter of trying to educate everybody."
If bikers come across hikers, runners or horses, they need to get off to the side and put their foot down to stop.
"Don't go faster than you're going to be able to control yourself and stop," Gordon added.
Also, downhill mountain bikers should yield to uphill riders.
"When you are on a bike coming up behind somebody then it's a matter of just saying, 'hello, excuse me, can I get by you?' And then it's really the etiquette falls on the hiker or the runner to step aside and allow that person to get by," Gordon said.
Blind corners pose problems, so always be prepared - especially on narrow trails.
"When you're coming around a blind corner you've got to slow down, you've got to be prepared to see someone else whether it's another rider or someone on a horse or someone on foot. I mean anytime you approach a blind corner - and there's tons of those - if you're on a narrow trail in the foothills you're not going to be able to see around corners so you've got to slow down and be ready to stop if you run into somebody," Gordon added.
For you hikers and runners: Walk single file and don't walk in a group that would widen the trails. Vegetation in the foothills is susceptible to damage, and Ridge to Rivers wants to keep them trails, not dirt roads. Take your earbuds/headphones off, Gordon says, because it is frustrating for people trying to verbally communicate they want to get by when someone can't hear them.
With the majority of the miles open to all users - from horses to dogs, from bikers to hikers, all users have to be aware, courteous and cautious.
"We all have to be courteous and understand, yeah, you want to have a good ride, but I also want to have a good run," Watson said.
"Everyone wants to be out there, everyone has a right to be out there. And so respecting that fact and being friendly, that's huge," Gordon added.
Ridge to Rivers is looking at opportunities to possibly separate uses for bikers and people on foot. Gordon says they wouldn't do it on every trail, but they'd choose a few key areas to separate by user days or make one-way paths. They have a survey online relating to that; one of many questions is if people would like separation on the trails.