Idaho trails are latest hiking treasures
Even in 2005, new trails are waiting to be discovered in the Inland Northwest.
Among the newest are two North Idaho gems, one at the edge of Sandpoint and the other a thoughtful reconstruction of a route near the Canada border and the Idaho-Montana line.
The 3.5-mile Mickinnick Trail, which gains 2,150 feet in elevation, starts at the valley floor just off the road to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. It’s remarkable for more than just the view it offers of Lake Pend Oreille and the Cabinet Mountains.
Although local and federal government agencies chipped in at many intervals, the trail was virtually willed to succeed by the relentless efforts of a few Sandpoint citizens.
The key was a 160-acre land donation by Mick and Nicky Pleass —hence the name “Mickinnick” for those who catch the link with two native plant buffs contributing to a conservation cause.
“They donated the land in 1997 to join two pieces of Forest Service land,” said their friend and lead Mickinnick promoter Jan Griffitts. “They actually had to work at it to give the land away because there were a lot of technicalities. When we got the city to contribute 20 acres for the trailhead, we were able to get a $126,000 grant from the Forest Service Resource Advisory Council.”
All the money was spent in this region, from the Sagle-based trail contractor to the Spokane vault toilet manufacturer, she said. The Kinnickinnick chapter of the Native Plant Society and the Bonner County Master Gardeners helped landscape the trailhead and the Friends of the Mickinnick are recruiting volunteers to maintain the area.
“We got a major portion of the money allotted to the five Western states, and we built the most beautiful trail you’ll ever see,” she said, noting that it’s limited to hikers and expert mountain bikers.
While Mick Pleass has passed away since the land donation effort started, Nicky is a remarkably youthful 73-year-old who has circumnavigated the world with her family in a sailboat and hikes about 4 miles a day around Sandpoint. She has the stamina and zest for the outdoors to prove it.
“She’s English,”Griffitts said. “She’s not even a U.S. citizen, yet she’s donated this land that will be a natural undeveloped backdrop for the city of Sandpoint forever. It’s a great gift.”
Pleass and Griffitts have scoured the area extensively for years and seem to know every big tree and rock outcropping. They used adult tenacity to get the trail on the ground, but they’ve explored the area, mostly on game trails, with wide-eyed enthusiasm of little girls.
The seven-mile round trip hike starts at the City water tower, a mile south of Schweitzer Road on Woodland Drive, and switchbacks through rock outcroppings up to a ridge between Little Sand Creek and Syringa Creek. It passes a potpourri of native vegetation, from cedars to ponderosa pines and Oregon grape to huckleberries to a high point of 4,300 feet.
While the trail gains considerable elevation, the design gives plenty of relief and several viewpoints that make good turnaround spots for hikers who don’t want to climb the entire route. The contractor make noble efforts to blend the trail into the landscape and even avoided scarring trees or damaging moss on the trailside rocks.
Although a loop extension is already being planned, the trail currently ends at a rock outcropping that’s a fine spot for a picnic with an eastward view of Lake Pend Oreille, Bottle Bay, the Clark Fork Delta, the Cabinet Mountains including Scotchman Peak and Mount Pend Oreille, to name a few.
“You get a 180-degree view and people say it’s the best view of the lake, the Cabinets and the valley,” Griffitts said. “This is the closest and most accessible trail to Sandpoint.”
The trail is already being used even though the official dedication isn’t likely to occur until later this month. Info: Sandpoint Ranger District, (208) 263-5111.
The Buckhorn Ridge Trail, on the Idaho-Montana line north of Moyie and just south of the Canada border, has recently been re-routed to expand the horizons, so to speak, for trail users exploring the almost-wilderness region near 7,705-foot Northwest Peak, which ranks No. 20 in elevation among the peaks in a very mountainous state of Montana.
Pat Hart has seen countless miles of trail since 1974 when she started working on trails for the Bonners Ferry Ranger District, but she beamed when describing the route her crews had reworked through the area.
“The open views are fantastic,” she said. “You can make an overnight 20-miler if you drop a shuttle car off near Solomon Lake and then drive up and start the hike heading south from Canuck Pass.”
The route along Buckhorn Ridge undulates in sub-alpine meadows through elk country and mounds of penstemon, lupine and beargrass with lofty views of surrounding mountains and into the Yaak River drainage.
Decent camping spots can be found just south of Keno Mountain, but the only reliable water is down a half mile off the ridge on the Keno Creek Trail.
From Bonners Ferry, drive east on U.S. Highway 2. About a mile after crossing the Moyie River bridge, turn left on Deer Creek Road 72 for about 3 miles, bear left on Road 73 and then bear left again onto Forest Road 435. Drive about 14 miles farther, passing some good campsites along Deer Creek, to the trailhead at Canuck Pass.
From the pass, trails take off in both directions. For the most scenic hike, go southeast (right). Hike a half mile to a trail junction at an old wagon road. Turn right and follow Trail 44 south toward Buckhorn Ridge.
After a sometimes soggy mile on the old hillside road, the trail breaks into splendid open ridges allowing hikers to gaze at Rocky Candy Mountain, Davis and Northwest Peak Scenic Area and the Selkirk Mountains from Sandpoint north far into Canada.
Hikers can easily trek the six miles to Keno Mountain and back in a day. Adventurous will find the views just as good or better on the six miles of trail farther south to Goat Peak.
Don’t miss the chance to climb the gradual south-side slope of Keno Mountain to see why this was a former fire lookout site.
Incidentally, the nearby Deer Creek fire lookout is available for rent through the Bonners Ferry District, (208) 267-5561.