Day 17: Ketchum to Bellevue, hot spring detour

June 28, 2025

Today is an easy day but I got an early start anyway. Up at 6:45 to eat at the excellent breakfast buffet. On the road at 8:15. The day starts with an excursion up Warm Springs road to a hot spring I have never seen.

On the way out of town Warm Springs road passes the Bald Mountain ski area. It's on the west edge of town, closer to town than the larger and higher Sun Valley ski area east of town.

Bald Mountain ski area west of Ketchum. Not as high as Sun Valley east of Ketchum.

All around Ketchum I see signs of extreme wealth. The oldest houses are relatively small, but the new houses are all large and very fancy.

Typical new multi-million dollar house in Ketchum.

I wanted to ride the Warm Springs road route back in 2008 but it was closed because of wildfires. Now I have another chance to see part of the route.

Warm Springs road going up Warm Springs creek west of Ketchum.

I saw 3 cyclists with big loaded panniers. They are probably riding the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route. I also saw many local cyclists out for a Saturday morning bike ride. Warm Springs road is a popular recreation route in the National Forest.

Sharp bend on Warm Springs creek. The creek was "treated" with logs to build gravel spawning beds.

In 2008 I planned to pedal up Warm Springs road and over the mountains to the Boise river. Today I turned around after only 12.5 miles. More than half of that distance is unpaved. A total of 15 miles unpaved today. It was easy, though. Well graded, with few loose rocks.

My turnaround point deep in Warm Springs canyon approaching a burn zone.

The reason I pedaled up Warm Springs road was to soak at Frenchman's Bend hot spring. Unfortunately that isn't possible now because the creek is overflowing into the hot pools. I saw the pools on both sides of the creek, but both pools are swamped with cold creek water.

The roadside pool at Frenchman's Bend hot spring was swamped by the creek.

Swamped hot pool on the far side of the creek. The guy splashed himself with handfuls of hot water.

I scheduled half a day of this bike tour to soak at a "new" hot spring. I got to see the hot spring but not soak. I need to come back sometime when the creek is lower, after the snow melt season. Now I'm more familiar with the canyon of Warm Springs creek and the seasonal situation for soaking at Frenchman's Bend hot spring.

Warm Springs road returning to Ketchum. Part of Bald Mountain ski area is visible.

I pedaled back to downtown Ketchum to have lunch. Found a great sidewalk spot at Smoky Mountain Pizza. The restaurant is in a building that housed a ski repair shop from the 1930s to 1960s.

I had lunch on the patio at Smoky Mountain Pizza and Pasta. No need to lock the bike.

In Ketchum I saw two more cyclists loaded with big panniers. Also probably riding the Idaho Hot Springs mountain bike route. Normally I never see other touring cyclists. When I see several touring cyclists in one day, it's usually because my route suddenly joined an Adventure Cycling route.

I didn't see many cyclists in town in Ketchum. It's more a place for luxury cars. Most places I go, Subarus outnumber luxury SUVs. But in Ketchum I saw more Range Rover and BMW SUVs than Subarus.

From downtown Ketchum to downtown Bellevue my route is entirely on the Wood River Rail Trail. The trail starts a couple miles north of Ketchum and ends in Bellevue. I pedaled about 20 miles on the trail, with 3 bridges over the Wood river.

Back in 2008 I pedaled from Ketchum to Bellevue on busy ID 75. The trail might have existed then but I didn't know about it. ID 75 is a busy 2 lane highway not well suited for cycling. In September 2008 I pedaled from Ketchum to Bellevue in heavy rain and hardly saw anything along the route. Now is my chance to see what I missed.

Near Ketchum it appeared that almost all trail users were on e-bikes. Another indication that this is a wealthy area. E or not, it was great to see hundreds of people cycling on the trail. It's a Saturday afternoon with perfect weather.

The second trail bridge is the most impressive and interesting. 208 feet long and the design is rare Pegram trusses instead of the usual Howe trusses. The bridge was built in 1884 to cross the Snake river near Ontario, Oregon. Then moved to this faraway site in 1917.

208 foot long Cold Springs bridge with rare Pegram trusses.

The Wood River Rail Trail begins near Ketchum in a narrow forested valley. About 5 miles south of Ketchum the valley widens and is less forested. It's interesting to see the landscape change from green to brown as I descend along the Wood river.

Trail bridge #3. The Wood river gets gradually bigger as I go south.

The trail goes straight south into the wind, but the headwind wasn't very strong today. The wind kept me cool because the trail is mostly in sun.

Wood River Rail Trail. Probably in the town of Hailey.

This memorial bench is much larger than a skateboard.

The trail passes near the Sun Valley airport. The Ketchum area has a small population but the airport is quite big. I saw 5 or 6 private jets take off and land. I also saw United and Delta commercial jets. My county has a larger population but has a much smaller airport.

I saw several private jets take off and land at Sun Valley airport. Also Delta and United airlines jets.

The afternoon high temperature was 80F. It's starting to feel like summer.

The Wood River Rail Trail goes through the middle of Bellevue with many cross streets. Fortunately every cross street has stops signs at the rail trail. I have seen similar rail trails in other places. It always makes me wonder what it was like to live here when trains passed through the middle of town. Train traffic was probably light because this was a dead end spur line.

The trail goes through the middle of town with many street crossings.

Nice house facing the bike trail in Bellevue.

Bellevue is 20 miles south of Ketchum. It's the outer edge of the Ketchum/Sun Valley area. Surely some workers in Ketchum live here because the housing cost is much lower. In Bellevue you can probably buy a house for only 1 million dollars, a fraction of the price in Ketchum.

Bellevue is on ID 75, the main highway to Ketchum and Sun Valley. For most motorists, Bellevue is merely an obstacle on the route to Ketchum. It's not a destination for very many travelers.

Today is Saturday. I saw many wedding venues and signs about weddings. Weddings seem to be a big business here, and some people here spend more on a wedding than I spent for my house. I attribute the wedding industry to two things. Extreme wealth and Mormon beliefs about eternal unions.

I explored the town of Bellevue a little bit before arriving at Silver Creek Hotel at 3:15 PM. The hotel is quite modern and stylish. A sign in the room says that the hot water is solar heated. It has A/C, fridge, microwave, and breakfast, but no river view.

Tonight's home is the stylish Silver Creek Hotel in Bellevue.

Today was easy, but I needed an easy day after yesterday. The climb up Warm Springs creek was an easy grade. 15 unpaved miles didn't slow me down very much. Headwind didn't slow me down very much. Today's route was more down than up. The only disappointment was not being able to soak at Frenchman's Bend hot spring.

I enjoyed seeing a large number of cyclists on Warm Springs road and the Wood River Rail Trail. That was a nice novelty. Most days I don't see ANY cyclists.

Distance: 44.3 miles
Average Speed: 9.8 mph
Ascent/Descent: +841/-1369 feet

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 588 miles (946 km)

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