100 volunteers clear Canfield Mountain trails on National Trails Day

Roughly 100 volunteers fanned out across Canfield Mountain for National Trails Day, cutting back brush and branches that had begun crowding one of Kootenai County’s most heavily used outdoor corridors. The work on June 6 was practical and immediate: clear the line of travel, improve drainage and keep the mountain’s shared-use trails safe for the hikers, bikers and riders who use them all summer.

Among those swinging tools were Peter Schuler of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and Gordon Hamerski of the Forest Service in Sandpoint. The two were riding dirt bikes when they noticed brush sticking into the trail corridor and stopped to cut it back, a small example of the kind of hands-on maintenance that keeps the system usable when growth, weather and repeated traffic start to pinch the route.

The Idaho Trails Association said this year’s Canfield project focused on Trail 10, with the work aimed at improving trail conditions, enhancing drainage and maintaining the corridor for all users. The organization listed the Northern Rockies Trail Project, Lake City Trail Alliance and PANTRA as partners on the project, underscoring how much of Canfield’s upkeep now depends on volunteer labor and local trail groups working alongside state and federal land managers.

That cooperation matters because Canfield is not a niche backcountry route. The U.S. Forest Service says the Canfield Mountain Trail System was designed for motorized trail bikes and bicycles, while Trail 1562 is also open to 4-wheel ATVs and hikers are welcome. The agency says motorized trail bikes have been using the area since the late 1950s, and bicycles later became a major user group, creating a busy overlap of speeds, skill levels and trail impacts that makes corridor maintenance a safety issue as much as a stewardship issue.

Lake City Trail Alliance traces its roots to 2010, when local mountain bikers and volunteers organized to coordinate trail work, first partnering with the City of Coeur d’Alene on the Canfield Natural Area. The city describes that area as a 24-acre open space park with a hiking and mountain biking trail system, but its reach is far wider than its acreage suggests: for many residents east of Dalton Gardens, it is one of the most familiar places to recreate close to home.

The mountain also carries added weight after the June 29, 2025 shooting in which two firefighters were killed and a third was injured after responding to a brush fire. Against that backdrop, the June 6 volunteer turnout was more than seasonal maintenance. It was a visible sign that Canfield remains a shared public asset, and that the people who use it are helping keep it open, passable and cared for.