Garden Valley Snowmobile Trails

Snowmobile enthusiasts will find more than 100 miles of groomed trails in the Garden Valley area, as well as an additional 1,000 trail-miles in the McCall-Donnelly-Cascade area to the north. Garden Valley is a small town located in southwest Idaho near Boise National Forest. Power shredders--those who enjoy riding off-trail--will find thousands of miles to explore in the high country and throughout the national forest. Local snowmobile shops offer maps, sled rentals and equipment needed for a fun-filled day of snowmobile riding.

  1. Garden Valley Trail

    • The Garden Valley trailhead is located at Terrace Lakes Resort and offers 17 miles of groomed trail leading to the Packer John Trail System to the north. The Garden Valley Trail also connects with the trail system maintained by the Smith's Ferry grooming program. You'll find more groomed trails between Silver Creek and Six Mile and the road between Boiling Springs and Silver Creek Plunge Family Resort, located within the Boise National Forest, is kept groomed during the winter for snowmobile use. From these groomed tracks, you can access miles of backcountry within the Forest Service system.

    Packer John Trail System

    • The Packer John Trail begins at Cougar Mountain Lodge in Cascade, 17 miles north of Garden Valley. This 31-mile loop trail travels south parallel to the North Fork of the Payette River's east bank to Packer John Lookout. The trail continues and connects with other groomed tracks that lead to the Silver Creek and Garden Valley trails. From Packer John, you can head north four miles to access the snowmobile trails that lead outward from Smith's Ferry. Wellington Snow Park, near Smith's Ferry, offers 250 miles of groomed tracks, as well as 150 miles of ungroomed trails with access to McCall, Cascade and Garden Valley. The Idaho State Snowmobile Association maintains a warming hut and public restrooms near Smith's Ferry on Highway 55 during snowmobile season.

    Silver Creek Trail

    • You can access the Silver Creek Trail system at Cougar Mountain Lodge in Cascade or Terrace Lakes Resort in Garden Valley. This 50-mile trail, between Cascade and Silver Creek's guard station, follows the North and Middle Fork of the Payette River as well as some of its tributaries. As with most other trail systems in this area, power shredders will find hundreds of miles of backcountry to explore, while trail riders can access connections to other trail systems.