Local Color / June 1, 2026
Cervidae Peak Packs 2,000 Feet of Climb Into 2.3 Brutal Miles
Seventeen miles from downtown Boise, Cervidae Peak offers a no-switchback, nearly 2,000-foot ascent that’s one of four local summits serious hikers call the Foothills Grand Slam.
BOISE, ID—If your legs have been feeling a little too comfortable lately, Cervidae Peak is seventeen miles from downtown and ready to fix that. 3 miles with no switchbacks to soften the effort, topping out at a 4,987-foot summit.
It’s one of four peaks that make up what local hikers call the Foothills Grand Slam—Cervidae Peak, Mount Heinen, Kepros Mountain, and Shaw Mountain—a collection that separates the casual weekend walker from the genuinely committed. From the top, clear days reveal Shafer Butte, Pilot Peak, Thorn Creek Butte, and Mount Heinen spread across the horizon.
The name Cervidae comes from the deer family, a nod to the elk and mule deer that frequent the area. The trail is also well known for false summits: every bend in the route looks like the top until it isn’t.
There’s a sign at the summit. You’ll want a photo with it—if only to prove the whole thing actually happened.