"So the park is at least partially self-sufficient with project funding," Eric Singer told the Coeur d'Alene Press back in 2024, talking about the trail system taking shape on Rathdrum Mountain. It's an odd thing to say about a city park, and it explains something most people driving up Reservoir Road have never stopped to think about: the mountain pays for its own growth. Not through a bond, not through a line item in the general fund, but through state grants, logging revenue, volunteer labor, and business donations. That funding model means the mountain doesn't grow steadily. It grows in bursts, whenever a grant lands or a timber sale closes, and then sits quiet for a while. Most Rathdrum residents caught the first burst back in 2019 and never went back to see what showed up after.
Here's what showed up.
The Loop Everyone Already Knows
Rathdrum Mountain Park opened in 2019, and for most residents that's still the whole story: park at the lot off Barrett Drive, walk the StormKing Parkway, maybe let the dog off leash on the non-motorized sections, turn around near the top. That original hiking and biking network is real and it's still the backbone of the system. It's also no longer close to the whole picture.
How a City Pays for a Mountain Without Raising Taxes
In January 2024, Rathdrum's Parks and Recreation Department secured a $68,000 grant from Idaho State Parks and Recreation to fund a 3.25-mile trail expansion, with the city covering a 20 percent match out of its general fund. That's a small number by municipal standards, and it's the reason the expansion happened on a grant's timeline rather than a five-year capital plan. Singer has also said future phases will lean on sustainable timber harvests roughly every eight to ten years, with proceeds from the wood going back into the park. It's a strange thing to picture: a hiking trail partly funded by logging the hillside next to it. But it's also why residents shouldn't expect a steady drip of new amenities. They should expect nothing for a while, then three things at once.
Three Miles, One Season
The 2024 grant paid for three new named trails: Skyline, Hi Frequency, and Monarch. Singer picked them specifically because they were the most technical routes to build, and because they let the network function as connected loops instead of forcing hikers to walk the same out-and-back twice. If you've only ever done the original StormKing route and turned around, these three trails are the difference between repeating your steps and actually covering new ground on the same visit.
Two Disc Golf Courses, Two Different Rounds
The community asked for disc golf during the same round of public input that produced the new trails, and the city built two separate courses rather than one, each with its own character.
| Course | What it plays like | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Stormking (the original) | A short, steep pitch-and-putt niner with throws mostly in the 65 to 150 foot range. Elevation does the work here, not distance. | Down the hill from the main parking lot, past the gate |
| Westwood | A newer course reached by walking past Stormking's first hole and over a bridge. Players report a shorter nine and a longer layout further down the trail. | Follow the Majestic Trail past the Stormking basket |
Both are free to play, dawn to dusk, no reservation needed. The distinction matters if you're planning a quick round after work versus a full afternoon.
A Trail Built to Be Heard, Not Just Seen
The most specific thing the mountain has added recently isn't a trail for hikers or bikers at all. In spring 2025, the city unveiled the StormKing Visually Impaired Trail, a 0.6-mile route that uses the Right Hear app to guide visually impaired hikers with audio beacons placed along the path. A QR code at the trailhead near the main parking lot downloads the app to any phone. It's a narrow, specific piece of infrastructure, the kind of thing that doesn't show up on a trail map at a glance, and it's easy to miss if you've never had a reason to look for it. It's also proof that the mountain's expansion isn't only about adding miles for the people already using it. Some of it is about adding access for people who couldn't use it before.
The Half Mile That's Actually for Kids
Down in what's mapped as Lower Rathdrum Mountain Park sits the Story Walk Trail, a 0.4-mile loop that runs alongside a creek and takes most families 30 to 60 minutes with a young kid in tow. It's rated moderate rather than easy because of roots and uneven footing near the water, but it's built around a different kind of use entirely: parents reading a story panel by panel as they walk, not logging miles. Dogs are welcome on leash. If your image of "the mountain" is steep switchbacks and mountain bikes, this is the corner of the park you've probably never had a reason to find.
Three Dog Parks, Not One
Rathdrum runs three separate off-leash dog parks: Pawfoot Dog Park, Majestic Park Dog Park inside Majestic Park on West Majestic Avenue, and Thayer Farms Dog Park out in the newer west-side growth area near the Thayer Farms subdivisions. Having three in a town this size means most residents have one within a short drive rather than a single citywide destination everyone drives across town to reach. The regional parks network that includes Rathdrum, Coeur d'Alene, and Hayden posts one seasonal note worth knowing right now: water access at these dog parks shuts off from Labor Day through Memorial Day. Labor Day lands on September 7 this year, which means the next two weeks are effectively the last stretch of water-fountain access until spring.
What This Actually Means for Anyone Living Here
None of this reads like a single announcement, and that's the point. A trail system funded by grants, timber sales, and volunteer hours doesn't get a ribbon-cutting for the whole project. It gets a grant here, a build season there, an app-guided trail nobody put on a billboard. Singer has floated the idea of a future zipline feature, but he's been clear there's a lot of groundwork before that's realistic, which fits the pattern: nothing on this mountain seems to arrive on a schedule. It arrives when the funding lines up.
If you've lived in Rathdrum for a while and your mental map of the mountain still ends at the first overlook, there's more built than you've walked. Two disc golf courses, an accessible trail using tech most people have never heard of, a creekside loop built for six-year-olds, and three separate places to let a dog run loose without leaving your side of town. It's not a bigger version of the park you remember. It's a different park that happens to share a trailhead.
If you're weighing what it actually means to put down roots near a piece of land like this, or you're already here and thinking about what your property could support next, the owner-operators at Citrine Properties CDA know Rathdrum block by block. Reach out to Chelsea and Lance directly to start that conversation.
