Saving Public Access: The Pend Oreille Bay Trail

For years, panhandle residents have been trespassing on a narrow strip of private land along the northwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille, using an old road along the shoreline to bike, run, ski, walk their dogs, and occasionally take a dip in the lake. Although their trips rarely traverse more than a mile or two, the land they cross has a multitude of owners—including several private citizens, the cities of Sandpoint and Ponderay, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bonner County Historical Society, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad has a right-of-way across it as well.

Nearby is the site of the historic town of Sandpoint, which—along with its related de facto public waterfront-- was lost a few years ago to a high-end development called Seasons at Sandpoint. It may be this loss that has spurred the community on to try to formalize and save their access to the strip along the shore, now called the Pend Oreille Bay Trail. A few weeks ago, a charrette was held to envision what this public trail might look like.