On the Trail
Hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and hunting, all of it within Idaho's Game Management Unit 1.
The view from Katka Lookout, looking south over the valley. Photo: CENTURY 21 Four Seasons Realty
An easy forest trail close to town. Most trailheads here are a short drive from a driveway. Photo: CENTURY 21 Four Seasons Realty
From a Selkirk summit in June. The hard-earned views start a couple of hours up from the trailhead. Photo: CENTURY 21 Four Seasons Realty
From an easy afternoon overlook to multi-day ridge traverses, the Selkirk Crest above Bonners Ferry holds a lifetime of hiking, and this is genuine bear country, so carry spray.
Trails run everything from wheelchair-accessible boardwalks to Class 2–3 alpine scrambles, most maintained by the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.
Myrtle Falls Trail #195
A short, partly wheelchair-accessible walk to an overlook of Myrtle Creek's waterfall.
Burton Ridge Trail #9
Climbs a former fire-lookout route to 6,844-ft Burton Peak, with views over the Kootenai Valley, Cabinets & Purcells.
Roman Nose Lakes Trail #165
A boardwalk-and-footbridge approach to three alpine lakes below 7,260-ft Roman Nose Peak.
Red Top / Hidden Lake Trail #102
Climbs through an old burn to Hidden Lake, then on to the Red Top Mountain lookout site.
Harrison Lake Trail #217
An alpine lake beneath Harrison Peak's hooked summit, with boulder-lined campsites.
Two Mouth Lakes Trail #286
Two shallow lakes in a high meadow and a key wildlife corridor, so store food carefully.
Long Canyon & Parker Ridge Trails
An old-growth cedar canyon, one of the last unlogged Selkirk drainages, climbing to the alpine Selkirk Crest.
Chimney Rock Trail
Leads to a 380-ft granite spire straddling the Selkirk Crest, popular with climbers.
Mountain Biking
Much of the credit here goes to 9B Trails(the Boundary County Bike & Pedestrian Trail Committee), a local nonprofit dedicated to developing non-motorized trails in Bonners Ferry and Boundary County, with trail systems at Section 16, the Enchanted Forest, Riverside Park, and Mudslide Trail, open to hikers and trail runners as well as riders.
Section 16
About 10 miles of gently rolling, non-technical trail in four connected loops off Kootenai Trail Road, built by 9B Trails. Open year-round for walking, running, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing; no horses on the trails. Trailhead at 1099 Kootenai Trail Road.
Enchanted Forest
Ten trails right at the edge of town off Hoot Owl Road, with bermed corners, jumps & wooden features built for flow. Cabin Trail and Unchained are local favorites.
Forest Service Trails
Beyond the 9B systems, the Bonners Ferry Ranger District's trails in the Kaniksu National Forest offer longer, more remote riding for experienced riders.
Brush Lake Trail
A singletrack loop through the foothills of Queen Mountain above Brush Lake near Porthill, with a vault toilet at the trailhead and views over the lake and valley.
On the Pacific Northwest Trail
Boundary County sits on one of the country's newest National Scenic Trails. The Pacific Northwest Trail runs roughly 1,200 miles from Glacier National Park, Montana to Olympic National Park, Washington, and its Selkirk Mountains section, about 152 miles from Bonners Ferry to Northport, WA, crosses right through the Kootenai River Valley and up Parker Ridge to the Selkirk Crest before continuing toward Upper Priest Lake. Established as a National Scenic Trail in 2009 and maintained with the nonprofit Pacific Northwest Trail Association, this stretch is rated some of the most rugged terrain on the entire route.
Hunting covers the whole county: Boundary County sits entirely within Game Management Unit 1, part of the Panhandle Elk Zone, with elk, whitetail and mule deer, moose, black bear, mountain lion, and mountain goat all in range. Deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lion are general-season, over-the-counter tags here; moose and mountain goat are prized, limited-entry draws with long odds and a wait worth planning for. Licenses and tags are sold online at idfg.idaho.gov or in person at the Idaho Fish and Game Panhandle Region office in Coeur d'Alene.
For riders, many of the county's 300 miles of trail are open to horses, and the Back Country Horsemen are active here. On shared trails, horses have the right-of-way.
Sources: Boundary County Comprehensive Plan, Recreation(more than 1,000 miles of roads, 300 miles of trail, 400,000 acres of National Forest); 9B Trails, Section 16; Bonners Ferry Chamber of Commerce, Hikes.
