Boise Wildflower Field Guide Overview & Introduction

This basic Boise wildflower field guide is designed to help the layperson and average hiker identify over 50 of the most common wildflower species found in Camel’s Back Park  and the trails in Ridge to Rivers in the surrounding Boise foothills. It is based on five years of identifying wildflowers in many parts of Camel’s Back Park / Ridge to Rivers.

It provides:

  • Basic information about each wildflower.
  • Photos of each wildflower almost exclusively taken in Camel’s Back Park / Ridge to Rivers.
  • Trails & trail areas where each wildflower can be found.

Key to Trail Identification Areas

The guide identifies wildflowers in Camel’s Back Park and the trails in Ridge to Rivers closest to downtown Boise. Camel’s Back Park / Hulls Gulch and Military Reserve are divided into three areas for this wildflowers field guide:

  • Trails in & around Camel’s Back Park (CBP)
  • Trails in & around  Lower Hulls Gulch (LHG)
  • Trails in & around Military Reserve (MR)

Each area encompasses a number of trails.

Complete List of Hiking Trails

Below is a complete list of hiking trails for each area.

  • Camel’s Back Park (CBP)

    • #34 – Hulls Pond Loop
    • #35 – Goldfinch Trail
    • #35A – Redwinged Blackbird
    • #36 – Red Fox Trail
    • #36A – Chickadee Ridge
    • #37 – Owl’s Roost
    • #38 – The Grove
    • #40 – Camel’s Back Trail
    • #40 – 15th Street Trail

  • Lower Hulls Gulch (LHG)

    • #0 – Hulls Gulch Interpretive Trail
    • #4 – 8th Street Motorcycle Trail
    • #24 – Sidewinder Trail
    • #28 – Crestline Trail
    • #29 – Lower Hulls Gulch Trail
    • #39A – Kestral Trail
    • #39 – Red Cliffs Trail
    • #42 – Fat Tire Traverse

  • Military Reserve (MR)

    • #20 – Ridge Crest
    • #20A – Bucktail Trail
    • #22 – Central Ridge Trail
    • #22A – Central Ridge Spur South
    • #22B – Central Ridge Spur North
    • #22B – Freestone Creek Trail
    • #22C – Mountain Cove
    • #23 – Military Reserve Connection
    • #23A – Elephant Rock Loop
    • #25 – Eagle Ridge Trail
    • #25A – Eagle Ridge Loop
    • #26 – Three Bears Trail
    • #26A – Shane’s Trail
    • #27 – Cottonwood Creek Trail
    • #27A – Toll Road Trail

A map of all trails can be found on the Ridge to Rivers website. Note: Areas are referred to by their initials throughout the guide.

Best Trails to View Wildflowers

Here is a list of the best trails in each trail area to view wildflowers.

  • Camel’s Back Park (CBP)

    • #36 – Red Fox Trail
    • #36A – Chickadee Ridge
    • #38 – The Grove

  • Lower Hulls Gulch (LHG)

    • #0 – Hulls Gulch Interpretive Trail
    • #4 – 8th Street Motocycle Trail
    • #24 – Sidewinder Trail
    • #28 – Crestline Trail
    • #39 – Red Cliffs Trail

  • Military Reserve (MR)

    • #22 – Mountain Cove Trails (#22A-C)
    • #23 – Military Reserve Connection
    • #26 – Three Bears Trail

 Guide Contents

  • Boise Spring Wildflowers (April-May) Under Construction

  • Boise Midsummer Wildflowers (June-July) Under Construction

  • Boise Late Summer Wildflowers (August-September) Under Construction

List of Species Covered

  • Spring (April-May)

    • Aase’s Onion
    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Bare-stemmed Biscuitroot
    • Bitterbrush
    • Bulbous Woodland Star
    • Climbing Nightshade
    • Colombia Puccoon
    • Common Eriophyllum or Wooly Sunflower
    • Common Fiddleneck
    • Cornflower or Bachelor’s Button
    • Crane’s Bill or Storksbill
    • Curly Cup Gumweed
    • Douglas’s Dusty Maiden
    • Douglas’s Brodiaea
    • Firecracker Beardtongue
    • Golden Currant (edible)
    • Hooker’s Onion or Taper-tip Onion
    • Hot Rock Penstemon
    • Large Flowered Collomia
    • Longleaf Phlox
    • Longleaf Fleabane
    • Longspur Lupine
    • Low Hawksbeard
    • Miner’s Lettuce
    • Mountain Lily
    • Munro’s Globemallow
    • Nevada Pea
    • Nineleaf Biscuitroot
    • Oregon Grape (edible)
    • Pale Evening Primrose
    • Prairie Flax
    • Prairie Woodland Star
    • Pursh’s Milkvetch
    • Sagebrush Buttercup
    • Sagebrush Mariposa Lily
    • Showy Milkweed
    • Slender Phlox
    • Spiny Phlox
    • Spreading Dogbane
    • Tailcup Lupine
    • Tapertip Hawksbeard
    • Threadleaf Phacelia
    • Silverleaf Phacelia
    • White Sweet Clover
    • Wood’s Rose
    • Yarrow
    • Yellow Crazyweed
    • Yellow Salsify
    • Yellow Sweet Clover

  • Midsummer (June-July)

    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Autumn Willowweed
    • Climbing Nightshade
    • Common Eriophyllum
    • Common Fiddleneck
    • Common Mullein
    • Common Soapwort
    • Common Sunflower
    • Cornflower
    • Crane’s Bill
    • Curlycup Gumweed
    • Douglas’s Dusty Maiden
    • Douglas’s Brodiaea
    • Firecracker Beardtongue
    • Hoary Aster
    • Hooker’s Onion
    • Hot Rock Penstemon
    • Klamath Weed
    • Lesser Burdock
    • Longleaf Fleabane
    • Longleaf Phlox
    • Longspur Lupine
    • Munro’s Globemallow
    • Oregon Checkermallow
    • Pale Evening Primrose
    • Prairie Flax
    • Purple Loosestrife
    • Pursh’s Milkvetch
    • Rubber Rabbitbrush
    • Sagebrush Mariposa Lily
    • Showy Milkweed
    • Silverleaf Phacelia
    • Spiny Phlox
    • Spreading Dogbane
    • Syringa
    • Tailcup Lupine
    • Tapertip Hawksbeard
    • Threadleaf Phacelia
    • Western American Aster
    • White Sweet Clover
    • Whorled Buckwheat
    • Woodland Star
    • Wood’s Rose
    • Yarrow
    • Yellow Salsify
    • Yellow Sweet Clover

  • Late Summer (August-September)

    • Autumn Willowweed
    • Climbing Nightshade
    • Common Sunflower
    • Common Mullein
    • Hoary Aster
    • Lesser Burdock
    • Klamath Weed
    • Pursh’s Milkvetch
    • Purple Loosestrife
    • Rubber Rabbitbrush
    • Western American Aster
    • White Sweet Clover
    • Whorled Buckwheat
    • Woodland Star
    • Yarrow
    • Yellow Salsify
    • Yellow Sweet Clover

Photography

All photographs of wildflowers for the guide were taken by me in Camel’s Back Park and Ridge to Rivers except in a few instances. The few photos by others are linked / sourced.

Bibliography

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