English Point After the Blowdown: What Changed on Hayden Lake's North-Shore Trails, and How to Walk Them This Fall

"It ripped that thing right out of the ground."

Jason Jerman, a silviculturist with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, was talking about one of his favorite trees. It was an ancient ponderosa pine at English Point with a trunk nearly 4 feet in diameter. In April he told the Spokesman-Review that close to 200 acres of trees fell at the recreation area on the north shore of Hayden Lake. He said the scale and reach of this year's damage was unlike anything he had seen in 22 years with the Forest Service.

The trails have been open again since mid-July. Even so, English Point's west side is a different place than it was a year ago, and this isn't the first time. The same block of forest, south of Lancaster Road and west of English Point Road, has now been closed for logging twice in five years. The next fix it needs probably won't come from a federal crew. It depends on whether Hayden Lake neighbors pay for it.

The same corner, closed twice

In June 2021 the Forest Service closed part of English Point for timber removal under the English Point Forest Health Protection project. The project came out of a decision the year before, and it was meant to reduce hazardous fuels, thin the stands for better species and age diversity, and improve hiking trails and boardwalks. The closure covered only the trails south of Lancaster Road and west of English Point Road, and the agency expected the work to last through the end of July.

Five summers later, the closure map drew the same lines. KXLY reported that the section south of East Lancaster Road and west of East English Point Road would close June 22 and stay closed through Aug. 15, 2026, so a contractor could remove blowdown from wind events in December 2025 and March 2026.

The December storm was part of a much larger event. According to the Spokesman-Review, an atmospheric river followed by strong winds hit forests from Montana to the Cascades, with gusts clocked above 60 mph in some places, and another round of windstorms came a few months later. Volunteers responded first at English Point. Barbara Sammut, North Idaho program manager for the Idaho Trails Association, said her group sent a strike team to clear timber after the first round. After the second round, the Forest Service began planning a salvage timber sale.

Why the reopening came a month early

A salvage sale has a logging company do the work, and the blowdown gets sold as timber instead of being cut and left on site. Jerman said the agency was focusing on areas with existing timber sales and places considered high priorities for public access. He also warned that it would not reach every corner of the forest. The Forest Service describes English Point as a very popular, well-used trail system just minutes from Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.

The sale was called Cold Turkey DxDAM Salvage. The Forest Service prospectus describes it as a "recreation site green blowdown and hazard tree removal sale with numerous protected improvements that will need to be protected." It covered 146 harvest acres and an estimated 1,565 tons of sawtimber. The main species were Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine, with smaller amounts of grand fir, western larch and western white pine. The 146 acres and Jerman's estimate of close to 200 acres measure different things. One is the area cut under contract, and the other is his early estimate of where trees fell.

Logging took place in late June. The Forest Service announced on Facebook that operations were complete, and the Spokesman-Review reported the reopening on July 17. The story says the announcement came on a Wednesday, which would be July 15, about a month before the Aug. 15 end date KXLY had reported. The trails east of English Point Road were never closed.

There is a limit to what anyone can say about the west side right now. No published account since the reopening describes how the logged ground looks. Nobody has written about where the canopy opened, how the benches came through, or whether any segments were rerouted. If you walked it this summer, you know more than the public record does.

The problem logging can't fix

The Hayden Lake Watershed Association has followed English Point closely. At its April 28, 2026 meeting, the board noted that it had dropped an early-April fundraising effort because fallen trees on the west-side trails made them hard to use.

The minutes then turn to a problem older than the storms. Trail work completed in fall 2025 held up where the ground has enough slope to drain. On flat stretches, spring water pools with nowhere to go except into soil with very low permeability. The minutes list two remedies, relocating the trail or building causeways through the wet sections. Relocation would require a Forest Service environmental assessment, and the minutes say the agency does not have the staff to do one. That left causeways as the only option that could happen "in any reasonable time frame." A board member proposed that the association collect donations for causeway construction, with a page on its website describing each project.

This is the main point for anyone who walks English Point in March or April. The salvage sale cleared the fallen timber, but it did nothing about the mud. Fixing the wet sections now depends on a local nonprofit raising money. The minutes don't give a construction date.

Volunteer trail work is also on hold. The Idaho Trails Association moved its May 9 English Point work party to Marie Creek because English Point was part of a timber sale. The group's page says the English Point project was postponed to a later date but doesn't name one. In our research we found no published Forest Service schedule for pile burning, slash cleanup, replanting or any further English Point closures this fall or winter. The agency's broader project archive says forests hit by the December 2025 and March 2026 wind events have proposals for removing wind-damaged trees, reducing fuels and replanting. Public comments were accepted June 23 to June 29, 2026. No English Point-specific timeline has been published.

Walking it this fall

The basics haven't changed. Here is what to know before you go:

1. Getting there. From Coeur d'Alene, take Highway 95 north about 7 miles and turn right on Lancaster Road. After 3.5 miles, turn right on English Point Road, and the trailhead is on your immediate left. The lot is large enough for most vehicles and trailers.
2. Cost and rules. There is no fee. Dogs must be leashed or otherwise under control under both Forest Service regulation and Kootenai County ordinance, and motor vehicles are never allowed on the trails.
3. Layout. Trail 80 is split by user group, with one side for hikers and the other for equestrians. The current Forest Service page lists about 6 miles and about 300 feet of total elevation gain. The 2021 closure release described about 8.4 miles across a 358-acre site, and the agency hasn't explained the difference. A 2019 Eagle Scout project added 14 benches, an amphitheater and a picnic table.
4. Winter. The trails stay open for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The Forest Service notes that trail conditions and trailhead access change with the season and weather.
5. Current conditions. The Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District's Fernan Office at 2502 E. Sherman Ave. answers at (208) 664-2318. Its hours are Monday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Wednesday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is closed Tuesdays and federal holidays.

Next weekend, English Point is also a place to watch a race. The Hayden Lake Marathon runs Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, with marathon, half, quarter and 5K distances. It starts and finishes at the Honeysuckle Beach Boat Launch, 2369 E. Honeysuckle Ave. The race's spectator guide lists the English Point Recreation Trails as a viewing location. The guide doesn't say the course runs on the trails, so check the organizer's map before planning a quiet morning walk there that day.

The 2021 project thinned the west side on a plan. This year's timber removal followed storms, and it used the same closure lines. What happens on the west side next depends on the watershed association's causeway fund and on whenever the Idaho Trails Association reschedules its English Point work party.

Questions about how Forest Service work, trail access or public land next door affects a property along Lancaster Road or the Hayden Lake north shore are part of the land diligence Harold Gunther handles for clients. If you're thinking about acreage near English Point, Gunther & Co. can walk through those details with you. Schedule a free consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.