Trailblazers Had Hard Row To Hoe

It didn’t look like much - a small group of people huddled in the rain at the Interstate 90 rest stop at Huetter to celebrate a national honor. But the little ceremony was a crowning achievement. Fourteen years after it was conceived, the North Idaho Centennial Trail was recognized as Idaho’s Millennium Legacy Trail.

Fittingly, it rained hard on the gathering.

Nothing has come easy for supporters, particularly for the three Coeur d’Alene men instrumental in developing the 23-mile trail: Randy Haddock, Parks Director Doug Eastwood and former county commissioner Bob Macdonald. They encountered roadblock after roadblock.

On the Spokane side of the border, Centennial Trail advocates had the good fortune to acquire much of their right of way via a land swap with Inland Empire Paper Co. But on the Idaho side of the border obstacles were so numerous that it seemed likely the two-state trail could get no farther east than Post Falls.

The route beyond was opposed by residents of a prominent subdivision and owners of Seltice Way industrial property. Pinevilla neighbors said they feared that child molesters on bikes would use the trail to prey on their kids. Meanwhile, lumber mills, Central PreMix Concrete Co. and the Post Falls Highway District used their political muscle to prevent the trail from following Seltice Way into Coeur d’Alene.

The opposition was so hysterical that then-U.S. Sen. Jim McClure asked the U.S. Forest Service to temporarily freeze funding for part of the trail. On another occasion, former Kootenai County Commissioner Frank Henderson tried to appease opponents by suggesting that the portion between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene not be built. Instead, he recommended that the Spokane River be designated as a symbolic link between the two communities.

Fortunately, trail supporters had courage, vision and thick hides. Repeatedly, they looked for alternative routes and funding to finish sections of the trail. Today, the North Idaho Centennial Trail is part of a two-state system that stretches 62 miles, from Riverfront Park in Spokane to Higgens Point, five miles east of Coeur d’Alene. On the Kootenai County side, it is complete except for two stretches that should be rerouted, including one along the western entrance to Coeur d’Alene.

In spite of those weak spots, Idaho’s portion of the Centennial Trail still was good enough to edge out two other trails for Millennium Legacy Trail recognition. It was picked as the one that best embodies the state’s culture, spirit and heritage. It follows the route of explorer John Mullan’s first road through the North Idaho wilderness. His fighting spirit lives on in the trailblazers of the late 20th Century who created this asset to our region.