Colville National Forest
History
During President Theodore Roosevelt's two terms in office, he set aside millions of acres of forest reserves. Roosevelt proclaimed sixteen million acres of new reserves, “midnight reserves,” before signing an appropriations bill from Congress that would prohibit the President from creating any new forest preserves in those states. The Colville Forest Reserve was created on 1 March, 1907.
The Forest boundary included 700,000 acres of lands north of the Colville Indian Reservation to the Canadian Border, and was bounded east and west by the Columbia and Okanogan rivers, respectively.
The major rivers in the national forest are following paths bulldozed by Ice Age glaciers. Mile-high ice sheets surging south from Canada drowned all but the tallest peaks several times during the last two million years. The ice ground off sharp edges, leaving the mountains well rounded. Today's landscape emerged from the melting ice about 10,000 years ago. Animals and plants followed the retreating glaciers northward, and humans were not far behind. The first Indians probably began hunting, fishing, and gathering in the area about 9,000 years ago.
The Forest Today
The Colville National Forest disproves the widely held notion that Washington State lies flat east of the Cascade Mountains. These million acres in the northeast corner roll like the high seas. Three waves of mountains run from north to south, separated by troughs of valleys - the Okanogan, Kettle River, and Selkirk. The Colville National Forest now offers 1.1 million acres in north eastern Washington and includes the Kettle River, Selkirk mountain ranges, and the upper reaches of the Columbia River.
The greater populated areas close to the Colville National Forest and within the US perimeter are Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille Counties, the Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation.
Residents and visitors enjoy the Colville National Forest's wild huckleberries, camping, hiking trails (486 miles), OHV trails, mountain biking, horse trails, lakes, rivers, and streams. The forest also boasts exciting wildlife such as the grizzly and black bears, cougars, bald eagles and the last remaining herd of caribou in the U.S.
Hunters claim this 1.1 million acre forest features the best hunting in the state. Elk, moose, deer and roughly 60,000 of the state's estimated 90,000 white-tailed deer live in the forest. Families gather here to enjoy the 486 miles of hiking trails (some as short as 1.5 miles others as long as 67 miles)
Links to CNF of Interest
Colville National Forest's 28 developed campgrounds.
Colville National Forest's Information on 51 of the regions lakes
Colville National Forest information on 'Hiking and Riding Trails'
Colville National Forests information on Accessible Trails for Wheelchair limited and Slow Walkers