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We currently live in Colorado. We lived in Grand Junction for 2 years and now near Glenwood Springs and have been all around the state. How do the mountains around Boise compare to those in Colorado? I'm assuming that the foothills you can see in town would look a lot like those in Grand Junction (brown, kinda barren). But what about outside of town? Do those mountains compare to the huge mountains in Colorado? How far do you have to drive out of town before you get to those areas?
We LOVE the mountains but are tired of the high prices. I *think* we could compromise and give up our amazing views as long as beautiful mountains weren't far away (so we could go hiking and fishing every weekend if we wanted to).
What do the different areas of mountains look like, compared to Colorado?
We currently live in Colorado. We lived in Grand Junction for 2 years and now near Glenwood Springs and have been all around the state. How do the mountains around Boise compare to those in Colorado? I'm assuming that the foothills you can see in town would look a lot like those in Grand Junction (brown, kinda barren). But what about outside of town? Do those mountains compare to the huge mountains in Colorado? How far do you have to drive out of town before you get to those areas?
We LOVE the mountains but are tired of the high prices. I *think* we could compromise and give up our amazing views as long as beautiful mountains weren't far away (so we could go hiking and fishing every weekend if we wanted to).
What do the different areas of mountains look like, compared to Colorado?
I'd imagine it's fairly similar.
The foothills are, for the most part, brownish/yellow during the months you use them most. Only at the very top do you see trees, and that's barely. But they get a lot of use, and have a lot of trails on them. They're a mix of ownership - city, county, private, BLM, USFS, USFG, state lands.
The mountains about an hour north and east are quite impressive and forested, but nowhere near the elevation Colorado is at. They're not quite as accessible, either (but they're not inaccessible, either). The beetle hasn't hit us hard here yet. We have a bit more sage and desert mixed up in ours.
About two to three hours from Boise and you get into some world class mountains, however. But you have to deal with the crowds everywhere unless you know the secret spots or drive three to fours hours into them. Many native Idahoans, who like to get away from the crowds, have a number of desert areas they frequent simply because the people aren't there.
We currently live in Colorado. We lived in Grand Junction for 2 years and now near Glenwood Springs and have been all around the state. How do the mountains around Boise compare to those in Colorado? I'm assuming that the foothills you can see in town would look a lot like those in Grand Junction (brown, kinda barren). But what about outside of town? Do those mountains compare to the huge mountains in Colorado? How far do you have to drive out of town before you get to those areas?
We LOVE the mountains but are tired of the high prices. I *think* we could compromise and give up our amazing views as long as beautiful mountains weren't far away (so we could go hiking and fishing every weekend if we wanted to).
What do the different areas of mountains look like, compared to Colorado?
The Boise ridge mountains rise up to a elevation of 7,500ft. above the city. Sagebrush and brown in color. Not a big or spectacular as the Wasatch next to Salt Lake City, or mountains in Colorado. They look more like the San Bernardino mountains in Southern California.
Drive up 3 hours to Sun Valley for bigger mountains. The Sawtooths are very impressive. Look like the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. By rule Idaho mountains are 2000ft. lower than Colorado mountains witch make hiking easier. Unlike Colorado most of the mountains in Idaho are sagebrush on the south facing slopes and wooded on the north facing. There are some nice quaking aspen forest, but not like Colorado. In Idaho the sagebrush is king.
The mountains directly above Boise are dry with forests starting on the top and continuing down the backside and there are some pretty thickly forested areas. The difference between the face of the mountains seen from the city and the backside of the mountains is like day and night. The further north out of the city you go the larger the mountains become and the woods become even thicker. Drive a few hours on extremely windy highways north of Boise and you will see some craggy tall mountains and among the most beautiful in the West. Idaho has a lot more forested areas than Colorado so I think you will be pleased and Idaho is supposed to be the most heavily forested of all Rocky Mountain States. Head up to McCall and you will see expansive forests unlike anything in Colorado. Also Colorado has nothing that compares to the moister more pacific northwest forests of North Idaho. So if you want to be near some extreme diverse mountain beauty than Idaho is for you.
Idaho is nicknamed Gem of The Mountains for good reason.
The Boise ridge mountains rise up to a elevation of 7,500ft. above the city. Sagebrush and brown in color. Not a big or spectacular as the Wasatch next to Salt Lake City, or mountains in Colorado. They look more like the San Bernardino mountains in Southern California.
Drive up 3 hours to Sun Valley for bigger mountains. The Sawtooths are very impressive. Look like the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. By rule Idaho mountains are 2000ft. lower than Colorado mountains witch make hiking easier. Unlike Colorado most of the mountains in Idaho are sagebrush on the south facing slopes and wooded on the north facing. There are some nice quaking aspen forest, but not like Colorado. In Idaho the sagebrush is king.
Saying most mountains in Idaho are sagebrush on the south is incorrect, in certain areas in South and Central Idaho yes, but when taking the whole state into consideration that is a false statement. Try telling that to somebody who lives or is familier with the areas around Long Valley near Boise, the Clearwater Mountains and the Frank Church Wilderness of No Return and the Panhandle forests in North Idaho, just to name a few areas.
Also in Idaho sagebrush is not king in the mountains. Sage may be king in the Snake River Plain but Idaho has the largest tracts of forested wilderness areas left in the lower 48 and one of the largest National Forests in the USA is at Boise's back door and I know of a ton of areas within an hours drive of downtown that have ample forests on all sides of the mountains.
There are some really great areas in South Eastern Idaho that have ample quaking aspen forests, the Oneida Narrows area, Palisades, Caribou Mountain, Swan Valley, as well as smaller Aspen forests near Sun Valley and the Sawtooth Valley.
The Tetons resemble the Sawtooth Mountains but the Sawtooths are a much more vast mountain range in length, depth, and land area and wilderness area. There are a lot of mountain ranges in Idaho that have the Teton and Sawtooth visual effect, the Trinity's, White Clouds, Salmon River Mountains, and these are just a small example of South and Central Idaho Mountains, heading further North the list of steep and rocky mountains expands greatly.
Juniper117, I have several pictures of the Boise Mountains above the city and the areas of those beautiful Boise Mountains you cannot see from the valley. Let me know if you are interested in taking a look.
Last edited by TohobitPeak; 06-08-2009 at 07:46 PM..
I am from the San Luis Valley and I think the Boise area is a bit similar to northern new mexico - Del Norte area. North of here are some really nice mountains. In the McCall area it is much greener to me than in Colorado, there are ferns growing under the canopy which I have never seen in Colorado and I have yet to see a cactus. There is some really great skiing too. The mountains are not as grand here as they are in Colorado but they are really lovely. Check out Google satellite to look at the terrain.
My husband and I looked at property this year in Pagosa Springs for retirement and decided to go with McCall instead. The properties we were looking at are about 100K less in McCall and there is a lake to enjoy in the summer as well as skiing in the winter. If you want to commute you can live in Garden Valley / Crouch with about an hour drive into Boise and still have a cabin in the woods.
The mountains in idaho are every bit as grand as colorado, the reason why most people come to this conclusion is because unlike colorado, much of idaho's wilderness and mountain areas are unaccessible by means of infrastructure. If you actually go off the highways and for many miles up DIRT roads you will see what exactly is out there...Colorado is much more commercialized than idaho is atleast their mountains, so you can take a nice two lane highway up into their mountains to see it all...no so much in idaho... the highways in idaho follow the lowest and least rugged area's possible.. and the vast center of the state is filled with jagged sawtooth mountains that rise 11-12k feet high.. and there isn't a sagebrush in sight...its actually extremely alpine.. more so than much of colorado I'd say.. because of closer proximity to the northwest weather patterns...
The Boise foothills aren't as bad as the (anecdotal) rep might suggest. Maybe in August do the foothills *fade* from sight...but I think they are very aesthetically pleasing on the eye for 10 months out of the year.
For a city named "Les Bois" by the Frenchy trappers back in the Pioneer days...Boise's tree sitch needs to be *fixed*. We need to plant more trees around town and Milwaukee, Fairview, etc...
I am from the San Luis Valley and I think the Boise area is a bit similar to northern new mexico - Del Norte area. North of here are some really nice mountains. In the McCall area it is much greener to me than in Colorado, there are ferns growing under the canopy which I have never seen in Colorado and I have yet to see a cactus. There is some really great skiing too. The mountains are not as grand here as they are in Colorado but they are really lovely. Check out Google satellite to look at the terrain.
My husband and I looked at property this year in Pagosa Springs for retirement and decided to go with McCall instead. The properties we were looking at are about 100K less in McCall and there is a lake to enjoy in the summer as well as skiing in the winter. If you want to commute you can live in Garden Valley / Crouch with about an hour drive into Boise and still have a cabin in the woods.
They are lovely, I live and breathe the mountains, but I have to say that the Sawtooth Mountains, the White Cloud Mountains, the Selkirk Mountains are among the most grand on the North American Continent.
Remember Idaho is a huge state landwise and the most mountainous state in the lower 48, with over 80 mountain ranges so there is a lot of diversity in size, grandeur, and topography.
Last edited by TohobitPeak; 06-11-2009 at 08:17 PM..
Reason: punctuation
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