We ventured outside our usual haunts for a couple of hikes near Boise, both along Lake Lowell. For the first one we started at the boat ramp of the Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge, heading towards the visitor center. There, we picked up the Observation Trail, which is an old farm road that climbs through open grassland dotted with sage brush to a small hill with an observation platform. We tried to extend the trip by taking the road towards the refuge’s border and the upper parking lot, but access to the connector trails to the lake was blocked due to nesting eagles, so we headed back to the observation deck and took the trail down to the lake. The trail then follows the lake closely, an excellent place to observe a wide variety of birds, and circles back to the visitor center.

We returned to the boat launch (very busy!) and started across the dam, which is sprinkled with interpretive signs explaining its existence. The park at the far end is a good place to fill up on water (it has flush toilets, too!), then it’s back via the dam to the car.