Long, Wet Winter Takes Its Toll On Region’s Campgrounds, Trails

Memorial Day weekend is coming too early for the national forests in the Inland Northwest.

Some campgrounds are closed.

Others have no water.

A few are cut off from civilization behind impassable forest roads.

A rule of thumb before venturing out into the woods this weekend is to call the appropriate ranger station to get the latest information on campgrounds, road closures and trail conditions.

“A lot of our trails are still snowed in or have trees across them,” said Jack Dorrell of the Fernan Ranger District on the Panhandle National Forest. “What has opened, we’ve found just piles of trees.”

It’s the same story at Priest Lake, said recreation specialist Debbie Wilkins.

“The snow just melted out two weeks ago,” Wilkins said. “All the trails have massive amounts of puddles and swamps where there’s never been swamps.”

The popular Beach and Lakeshore trails at Priest Lake are littered with fallen trees. Many forest roads are either too wet, have too much snow or mud to travel on.

Forest travelers who see plugged culverts or washouts are asked to contact their nearest Forest Service office.

Here’s a sampling of campground information available Tuesday:

Beaver Creek Campground and boat launch are closed at Priest Lake.

All developed campgrounds in the Bonners Ferry Ranger District are open, but Meadow Creek and Smith Lake campgrounds have no water.

All three Forest Service campgrounds on Lake Coeur d’Alene are open, as well as Bumblebee, Kit Price and Devils Elbow on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. Big Hank Campground may open by the weekend, but Honeysuckle and Horse Haven campgrounds are closed.

On the Colville National Forest, many campgrounds are open, but lack potable water. Panhandle Campground is closed due to flooding on the Pend Oreille River, and Pioneer Park and South Skookum campgrounds also may be closed due to flooding. Crescent Lake is closed in the Sullivan Lake district. No campgrounds are open above Davis Lake in the Kettle Falls district. Little Twin Lakes Campground is closed.

In the St. Joe Ranger District, Emerald Creek Garnet Area will open Saturday, and the St. Joe River Road will open beyond Avery on Friday. The Shadowy St. Joe Campground will be closed until at least mid-June. The Red Ives Ranger Station will not be open, and the Red Ives Road No. 218 may be impassable, making four campground inaccessible.

Most campgrounds in the Clearwater Ranger District are open this weekend, but many lack potable water. All campgrounds in the Powell Ranger District are closed because of snow. Hidden Creek Campground on the North Fork Ranger District also is closed. River access sites on U.S. Highway 12 are closed to overnight camping.

, DataTimes