This is the most popular hiking route to the top of the mountain. The Sun Valley Resort has temporarily closed the Bald Mountain Trail to uphill mountain bike traffic for the 2023 season. The trail is usually open to bicyclists traveling uphill only, but the trail is closed to all bike use this year due to safety concerns related to the resort's construction projects and forest health work that are occurring on the mountain.
The trail starts from the River Run base area and traverses a steep, forested slope above the Big Wood River. After crossing to open south facing slopes, the trail reaches a viewing platform that overlooks the town of Ketchum. This makes for a nice 3.4-mile out-and-back hike or you can continue to the top. The trail climbs through the woods and across several ski trails beneath the Frenchman’s lift. A hike or ride to the top of Bald Mountain on the #201 involves about a 3,300 foot vertical gain.
Mountain bike riders have many options for enjoying great trail experiences on Bald Mountain. The Sun Valley Company has been developing and improving all of its mountain bike trails on the mountain. At the start of the 2018 season they opened two more directional flow trails. Mindbender is a mid-mountain intermediate 3.5-mile freeride trail. Pale Rider is low on the River Run side of the mountain. Its an advanced, black-diamond freeride hybrid that is steep, fast, and technically demanding.
Bald Mountain now has a much wider variety of trails available for your mountain biking pleasure. Thank you Sun Valley Company, and to all the people working there who have done so much work to make these super improvements happen!
Pedaling up Baldy can be approached on several trails. The Bald Mountain Trail is the most direct route, and it is open to uphill bike traffic only. Combining the Warm Springs Perimeter Trail #328, and the Cold Springs Perimeter Trail #328, provides for the possible circumnavigation of the mountain, and depending on your pleasure, you can use either as a route to the summit.
(Note: The Perimeter Trail #328 does not open to the top of the mountain until July 1 to protect calving elk.) Both the Warm Springs and Cold Springs trails are open to two-way bicycle traffic and other allowed shared uses.
The trails on Baldy are non-motorized and therefore closed to electric mountain bike use. The mountain service roads that are not part of Baldy's trail network are closed to bike traffic.
Hikers have a great many options on Baldy Mountain, with the Bald Mountain Trail being perhaps the most popular hiking route on the hill. It's a direct route that starts out along the Big Wood River, out of the Sun Valley Resort's River Run Base Area. The trail climbs through the woods to the base of the Frenchmen's lift area before entering an area of sunshine, grasses, and wildflowers. Many people branch off onto the many service roads that the trail crosses as it climbs, allowing for a lot of shorter options. Taking the trail to the top of Baldy involves over 3000 feet of climbing, but is still a very popular option for many hardy souls.
In the summer the Sun Valley Resort runs the Roundhouse Gondola and the Christmas chairlift to the top of Bald Mountain. This provides easy access to downhill mountain biking, dining at the Roundhouse Restaurant, or simply enjoying the spectacular views from the summit.
*For more detailed descriptions, topo maps, and information on the history, geology, and wildflowers of the Wood River Valley pick up a copy of
Exploring Sun Valley online or find it at one of several local shops.