Kinney Creek Trailhead US Forest Service trail #292
Latitude: 42.7602 Longitude: -112.3965
It’s already mid-October, but we got a 70°-t-shirt-gentle-breeze-perfect day. This is my go-to trail if I am getting a late start, feeling a little lazy, or don’t have a lot of time. Even with frequent stops and lounge at the tiny pond near the top (sit quiet, and you will hear and see the Ruffed Grouse and many other birds), it’s roughly an hour up and 45 min down. The trailhead is 9 miles SW of Pocatello, ID, off N Mink Creek Road in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. The small car park is for day use only and is across from the Caribou National Forest sign and the school bus turn-around (don’t park in that lot). If you are driving along and you see Cherry Springs Nature Area on the right, you just missed the trailhead lot entrance. When I was a teenager in the 80’s we skied the trails all along Mink Creek Rd so the trails along this road are so familiar and comfortable. It’s so wide and well-traveled that if it’s getting dark on the return it feels very safe with a headlamp (or long summer twilight has worked well too and you will see deer grazing in the hills). A little note, there are some prickly pear cacti sprinkled here and there, so if you are taking a little potty break in the fragrant sage brush (pack out your tissues please) look around first. It’s considered a moderately challenging hike, used for running/hiking/mountain biking (and cattle range in the summer), approximately 2 mi in and 2 mi back although you can go farther and hike to Indian Mountain (see note below). I usually stop and sit by the little pond and then to actually finish the trail, take the left fork up to a ridge. I think a lot of us who have hiked the trail the first time have taken the right fork and then are just standing in a little clearing with no path forward LOL.
For the next leg of this hike (which is not for lazy people getting a late start) visit All Trails Indian Mountain via Kinney Creek. On HikingProject.com “At about 6250 feet, the trail is no longer maintained by the Forest Service, but it continues as a use trail up to the top of Indian Peak.” Tips: this part of the trail has little to no shade so start early if you are hiking in the summer, it is significantly windier and colder on this stretch and at the summit than at the trailhead, wear sturdy footwear to assist with loose shale and steep pitch, as the trail parallels the barbed wire fence - keep the fence on your right as you ascend, hiking poles are recommended (trail is very steep given the trail goes straight up the side of the mountain with no switchbacks), long pants are recommended due to the thick brush along portions of the trail, fantastic 360-degree panoramic views on reaching the summit.
Resources:
Caribou-Targhee National Forests Westside Ranger District Map
ISBN 978-1-59351-358-0 (D2 on map)
This is an excellent YouTube video depicting the Kinney Creek trail right up to the top (with a drone view at the end). Hunter and his dog, Tuck, are enjoying the trail for the first time. I’m in total agreement even after hiking this trail innumerable times in every season, I still stop and take in the beautiful views.
