Canfield Mountain, Nettleton Gulch to the Summit.

Yesterday I revisited Canfield Mountain on the edge of Coeur d’Alene for the first time in over a decade.

Canfield Mountain or as it’s sometimes called Canfield Butte, is a prominent landmark right on the eastern edge of the City of Coeur d’Alene. The city owns and maintains a natural area near the base of the mountain. My starting point was at the Nettleton Gulch Trailhead at the end of the road of the same name.

The trail to the top is a service road for the communication towers located on the summit. It isn’t the most scenic trail around and it is heavily used by ATV’s, dirt bikes and mountain bikers.

Since the last time I hiked this route, the Forest Service has completed several fuel reduction projects resulting in areas of thinner open woodlands. Their aren’t really any exceptionally large trees on this mountain.

As the landscape is mostly is forested the views off of the trail are limited. About halfway up their are a couple of openings overlooking the city and it’s namesake lake.

Nearing the summit you have the option of walking the last section on a single track that wraps around the north side of the mountain. Here the woods are much thicker.

Even though Canfield Mountain looms over Hayden lake this is the best view of that body of water. A fleeting view at best. The ridge on the far side is Chilco Mountain, the site of a much more scenic hike I enjoyed just over a week ago.

Eventually I made it to the very tip of the mountain to enjoy the view. Basically there is no view from the summit. All is not lost though.

If you continue down the west face a couple of hundred yards you will pass by the communication towers and find a open rocky slope with a view.

Here you will find the best view of Coeur d’Alene and Lake Coeur d’Alene anywhere this side of an airplane. In my opinion this is the only reason to slog up this mountain other than just to burn a few calories.

On the way down using the service road this time there are a couple of decent views to the east as well.

In a nutshell this hike doesn’t have any interesting rock formations or cliffs. It doesn’t have any streams, ponds or waterfalls. There aren’t any exceptionally large trees or unique habitats and the views on the way are few and far between. It does have that one great view near the top and it does have a tedious uphill walk on a rough road with lots of ATV’s and dirt bikes to keep you company.

As I said it’s been over a decade since I walked to the top of Canfield Mountain and it will probably be at least another before I do it again.

Other than the view the best thing about the hike was burning maybe a thousand calories walking nearly six miles and gaining 1600 feet of elevation. It is a surprisingly tough hike and the payoff in my opinion isn’t worth the effort.