Camel's Back Park

Since I have been in Boise I have noticed the stunning red-pink of the sky night after night as the sun goes down. This past week my roommates and I decided to take advantage of these beautiful skies and go on a sunset hike/walk. We traveled in our car the 13 minutes from campus to Camel’s Back Park. Though we did decide to drive, it is a very doable 3.1 mile bike ride. With the bike ride, however, there would be a few busy streets to cross and you would need to travel through neighborhoods.

We pulled up to a very accessible parking lot that looked over a large grass field and play structure. The grass area would have been a great place to eat a picnic meal if we had planned ahead. Across the field began the trail up to the top of the lookout. The lookout is more like a sand dune rather than a rocky path. There were three options to get up: a very steep straight shot up to the top, a still steep but more gradual incline to the left, and a beginner style path to the right. My roommates and I decided to take the medium incline to the left which was quite doable for us in our flipflops.

The walk up was rather short, considering the large amount of elevation we gained. It took us around 15 minutes to walk to the top and once we reached the summit we were in awe. The sky was a beautiful deep pink and orange and you could look out over all of Boise. To the left was the downtown cast in rich color and light and to the right were trees as far as the eye could see.

The overall ease of this journey and its breathtaking views make it a high recommendation for all. Those traveling to Boise for a weekend, people who have lived here their whole life and want to see their city from a new perspective, or anyone in between, Camel’s Back Park is worth the trip!