Areas we visited… We visited the Kootenai River, Moyie River/Reservoir, and the following lakes: Smith, Bonner, Brush, Dawson, MacArthur, Perkins, and Smith. Dawson and MacArthur Lakes are the most accessible of these to persons with disAbilities, and are both fairly close to Bonners Ferry.
On the Kootenai River the launch next to the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge is most ideal for development of an accessible marine site, in part because of it’s fairly level terrain; currently it is almost totally inaccessible to persons using wheelchairs.
Moyie Reservoir off of HWY 2 is another ideal area for development due to it’s location and other features. Currently it is not accessible to persons using wheelchairs.
All other facilities we visited are either totally in-accessible or only partially accessible to persons with disAbilities utilizing wheelchairs. However I must say Perkins Lake has a nice accessible long fishing dock, but their launch is all mud.
Strong and fast moving currents can be an issue on the Kootenai River and Moyie River/Reservoir so these sites are more use-able after late spring or early summer (depending on spring run off). Still, once this time is past there are quite a few months in which they can be safely enjoyed.
If you live in Boundary County we would love to hear from you related to your ideas and input in helping develop more accessible water based facilities. Thank you in advance for your input!
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| Boat Launch next to Kootenai Wildlife Refuge on the Kootenai River... Has great potential as an accessible river access site but is currently in-accessible to wheelchairs. |
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| Brush Lake gravel path to accessibled docks |
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| Brush Lake in-accessible restrooms... These are the most narrow restroom doors I have ever seen |
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| Common issues with accessible docks that need some extra hard pack dirt installed to make accessible docks accessible |
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| Moyie Falls |
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