The Idaho Panhandle Memorial Day Round-Up

As the outdoor recreation season kicks off this  Memorial Day weekend, Idaho Panhandle National Forest officials offered some suggestions to help everyone have a safe and pleasant weekend.

Wherever you go on IPNF forests:

• Recreation.gov is the place to make and modify reservations for campgrounds, cabin  rentals, and more. 

• Check out the alerts page for current closures that may affect recreation plans. 

• Forest maps are for sale at ranger stations or via the Avenza app with integrated GPS features. 

When traveling on forest roads and trails:

• For motorized activities, pick up a copy of the motor vehicle use map (online and free at ranger stations) to ensure you stick to designated motorized routes. 

• It’s still early season — expect mud at lower elevations and snow up high.  

When camping on the IPNF forests: 

Campsites can be hard to find on holiday weekends. If you dispersed camp outside a developed campground, remember to: 

• Stay away from highly developed areas including trailheads, campgrounds, and picnic areas — and avoid encroaching on any road or trail right-of-way. 

• Have a forest map to ensure you haven’t strayed onto private property. 

• Use an existing dispersed campsite if you can. 

• Look up, look down, look around for hazard trees. 

• Complete extinguish campfires. 

When shooting on the Panhandle National Forests 

• Don’t shoot within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area, or over a road, trail, or body of water. 

• Only shoot into an adequate backstop and be sure the area is clear — it can be harder to  find enough space to shoot safely on holiday weekends. 

• The popular Hayden Creek shooting pit is closed through June 7 for fuels reduction  work.