BOISE, Idaho — In 2011 the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley purchased 58 acres at Harrison Hollow. Two years later, the City of Boise purchased 258 adjacent acres to create the Hillside to Hollow Reserve.
"The Hillside to Hollow Reserve is definitely the most popular place for dog walks in our entire system," said David Gordon of Ridge to Rivers.
Ridge to Rivers recently completed a new all-weather trail making the area more accessible, enjoyable and, hopefully, it will protect other trails in the area when it gets muddy. The trails on the ridges have taken a beating in recent years.
"I think it will help us because we did close the Who Now Loop trail last year and we want to do it again," said Gordon. "This just gives more opportunities to people that are here during winter."
Lexie Merz has been coming to the reserve ever since she got a black lab puppy named Dassa and her three-year-old son.
"It’s just such a magical place like, everywhere I’ve ever lived I’ve never experienced anything like it," said Merz. "It’s just a beautiful community of dog owners and dog lovers. I love the space and it’s just so nice to see my dog be able to roam around and play."
I'm a frequent visitor to the reserve and my favorite aspect is that when the trails in the Ridge to Rivers system are too muddy, you can still stroll down the gulch on an all-weather trail. This new all-weather trail features nearly 1,800 feet and it makes a loop with the other all-weather trail.
"When it was muddy we would walk down the main drag and turn around and come back," said Merz. "It’s not as exciting for the dog, as well as the three-year-old, as well as myself, so it’s really nice to have this beautiful loop."
Ridge to Rivers also replaced 857 feet of the trail that comes out of west end of the parking lot. Gordon told us that while it's not fully ADA compliant, they did try to make the trail as flat, smooth and accessible as possible. It's something Lexie Merz really appreciates.
“There was a big steep hill that was really hard for my little one to climb up," said Merz. "So the fact that they created this trail, it makes it way more accessible for us and I’m just so grateful for it."
The Land Trust of the Treasure Valley also have expressed their gratitude towards Ridge to Rivers for building this new trail in the Hillside to Hollow Reserve.
