Tubbs Hill trails close for fire mitigation work in Coeur d'Alene

Several Tubbs Hill trails closed starting Tuesday, May 26, as Coeur d’Alene crews moved into the second phase of wildfire mitigation work on one of the city’s most heavily used outdoor spaces. The temporary closures came as workers cut dead trees, cleared dry brush and posted signs and barriers for public safety.

The city said the project is meant to reduce fire risk and improve forest health on the hill, where hundreds of thousands of people visit each year to hike, bike and swim near the lake. That level of use makes the timing important: the work is happening before hot, dry weather intensifies and turns built-up vegetation into easier fuel.

This round of work is part of a larger fuel mitigation effort that has been underway since last fall and began in earnest last summer. The City of Coeur d’Alene said the project is tied to a Western States Fuel Management Grant, with the total contracted amount of fuel mitigation work set at $240,000. A prior city notice said the broader grant would fund nearly $600,000 in fuel reduction work on Tubbs Hill.

City partners on the effort include the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management and the Idaho Department of Lands. The city has said the work is designed not only to lower wildfire danger, but also to protect public safety, homes and infrastructure, forest health and wildlife habitat.

Work began on the east side of Tubbs Hill in June 2025, when hand crews started the first phase of the project and triggered temporary trail closures and limited access in that area. The current phase is the second part of that effort, extending the same fuel reduction strategy across more of the hill.

The city has also said the project includes planting seedlings as part of the mitigation work, showing that the effort is not just about removing fuel but also about restoring the landscape afterward. The cut material is expected to be burned later in November, when conditions are safe.

For Coeur d’Alene, the closure is more than a maintenance interruption. Tubbs Hill sits at the center of daily recreation, lake access and neighborhood life, and city leaders are treating the mitigation as a long-term investment in keeping the hill usable, safer and healthier through another North Idaho fire season.