Chilco Mountain, the north peak.

Today I checked out one of my favorite local hikes, North Chilco Peak in the Panhandle National Forest only an hour from my house.

Chilco Mountain is a prominent ridge that frames the eastern edge of the valley I live in. This valley, sometimes called the Rathdrum Prairie is where most of the population of North Idaho lives. The knob in the center of the photograph is North Chilco Peak. From the valley it looks pretty unremarkable. In reality it is the highest point right next to our valley at a little over 5600 feet.

The trailhead for this hike is pretty easy to get to. Bunco Road is a major roadway north of Coeur d’Alene and has an exit off of US-95. Get off there and drive about ten to twelve miles east. The last six miles or so are on a gravel US Forest Service road.

I’ve hiked this trail maybe eight times since I moved to Idaho in 2006. I wanted to make this one of the first posts on my blog after retiring but the trail was closed most of last summer due to “fire damage”.

This is a fairly short hike, especially given the elevation to the summit. The first mile and a half is a steep climb on a series switchbacks that eventually gain a ridge top. Towards the ridge, the forest is dominated by Western Larch trees and they were about a week short of turning gold like they do every year. They still had a hint of yellow in the color of the needles making it feel like fall is here.

When the trail finally reaches the ridge top there are open views to the west. Rocky scree slopes are below you but this is not the summit. Looking west you can see Silverwood, the largest theme park in the Pacific Northwest and Athol, the town with the second worst name in Idaho.

Just past the open ridge top views you will come to a trail junction. I’ve never done the traverse hike but have summitted the south peak from Forest Service Road #406 many years ago. The view from the south peak wasn’t as good.

Just after the trail junction the trail breaks out in to the open and you can see, kind of, your destination. It’s still a little further than it looks.

The rocky knob at the top has extensive boulder fields but the trail is well maintained and safe to walk with a minimum of caution.

As you climb the last few feet up the mountain you are treated to amazing views of Lake Pend Oreille behind you. Lake Pend Oreille is the largest lake in Idaho and a great place to kayak.

The last couple of hundred yards of the hike seem almost alpine with stunted trees and boulder fields. Being October with a stiff wind out of the west and temps in the high 30’s, it got a little uncomfortable at the top. I was able to hang for about thirty minutes to enjoy the views.

At the very top there are remnants of an old Forest Service fire lookout. From what I have read this tower was abandoned before I was born and that was a long time ago.

Looking towards the southwest there’s a nice view back towards where I live. It’s hard to believe that the prairie in the distance is the center of “urban North Idaho”. The mountain on the top left is Mica Peak and close to my house.

Looking southeast towards the St. Joe Mountains kind of looks like some pictures I’ve seen of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.

Looking northeast you can appreciate the Cabinet Mountains. The prominent peak on the left is Packsaddle. I always wanted to hike to the top but the getting to the trailhead is an all day ordeal. Just right of it is Scotchman Peak across the Clark Fork Delta and center right is the cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area with Snowshoe Peak as it’s high point.

So this is looking across the saddle to South Chilco Peak. You can see the evidence of a wild wife near the top. Just after I retired, I tried to hike North Chilco but found the trail was closed due to hazard trees from this fire. It turned out that this fire didn’t come within a mile of North Chilco or the trail that accesses it. I usually try to give the benefit of the doubt to managing agencies but this one kind of pissed me off.

Almost every one who accesses this trail is only going to the North Chilco summit. It seemed kind of excessive to close this trail for almost the entire hiking season for no real reason. The few folks that do the transit could have been warned at the trailhead and additional signage installed at the junction.

The hike to the top is just under two miles but gains about 1400 feet in elevation. For the height it is one of the easiest hikes but still 1400 feet in less than two miles will get your attention. The way up goes through a nice forest but the payoff is the view from the top.

On the way back down there is plenty of time to appreciate the “small” views too. With taking over half an hour to enjoy the views from the top, I was done with the round trip in less than three hours. The drive to and from took another two.

After hiking Scotchman and Leigh Lake a couple of weeks ago I realized this one isn’t too bad.