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Green Bay Campground closed for renovations

| April 20, 2024 1:00 AM

The Idaho Panhandle National Forests has temporarily closed the Green Bay Campground for the season while contractors give the popular lakefront site a complete renovation. Segments of several adjacent roads also have been closed.

IPNF officials issued a forest order Wednesday temporarily closing the Green Bay Campground along with Forest Service Roads 2672, 2672A and 2672B — short road segments accessing the campground — through the end of the year, if needed.

During renovation work, nearby destinations like Mineral Point, Lost Lake Trail No. 81, and Mud Lake Trail No. 91 will remain open, but hikers are cautioned that there will be more construction vehicles using Forest Service Road 532.

Located about 17 miles southeast of Sandpoint and nestled among the forested bluffs overlooking Lake Pend Oreille, the campground offers stunning scenery and numerous recreation opportunities, including camping, swimming, kayaking, boating, hiking and mountain biking. Due to its proximity to Garfield Bay and local communities, use of the campground and its amenities has grown substantially.

To accommodate increased use, the Forest Service will add up to six new, accessible campsites with pads, picnic tables and fire rings. The campground currently has 12 sites. Plans also call for more vault toilets, parking expansion and road improvements, a site for a campground host, and trail improvements.

Once completed, all sites will be listed on recreation.gov and open for reservations.

The project was funded through the Great American Outdoors Act. Enacted into law Aug. 4, 2020, the act provides opportunities for the USDA Forest Service to invest in projects involving infrastructure, recreation facilities, public lands access, and land and water conservation. 

To date, more than 200 deferred maintenance projects have been completed on National Forest System lands and nearly 400 are in progress.

Information: Northern Region GAOA, tinyurl.com/4jj8dbme

    The Green Bay Campground, located about 17 miles southeast of Sandpoint, is being closed for the season while contractors give the popular lakefront site a complete renovation.