Gold Mountain And Gold Hill

BOU AVENUE
Gold Mountain And Gold Hill

Lingering for another day in the Idaho Panhandle on 4 August 2026, Zosia Zgolak and I ascended Gold Mountain and Gold Hill--both officially named--located southeast of Sandpoint just across Lake Pend Oreille. Bob Spirko's 2019 ascent of Gold Hill provided much of the inspiration for this trip, but I was also intrigued by a few reported ascents of nearby Gold Mountain in peakbagger.com. Tyler Nimke tagged both summits in a single loop trip starting from a forestry road to the east, and I was hoping that we could do the same. Oddly enough, most of the trails and roads described in his report are not marked on any of the usual online topographical maps as far as I know. Although I had a GPS track for Gold Mountain courtesy of David Carmody, we would still be navigating somewhat blindly if we decided to tack on an ascent of Gold Hill. Furthermore, there was some uncertainty about how far I could push my Honda CR-V up the forestry road to the east, but as it turned out, the drive was surprisingly easy.

From US Highway 95, turn east onto Sagle Road 10.5 kilometres south of the interchange with US Highway 2 and State Highway 200 in Sandpoint or 31.6 kilometres north of the interchange with State Highway 54 in Athol. Drive 1.4 kilometres and cross railroad tracks. Continue for another 700 metres and veer left on the main road. Drive an additional 8.3 kilometres and turn left (north) onto unsigned Sky Meadow Road (2WD gravel). Drive 1.3 kilometres and keep left at a split where Sky Meadow Road soon becomes USFS 2642. Drive another 5.8 kilometres to a junction with a spur road branching uphill to the left (there is also a signed trail junction nearby). Park here. As of this writing, USFS 2642 has the odd rough spot, but overall, it is in remarkably good shape and suitable for most 2WD vehicles.

After driving up the previous evening and camping right at the junction, Zosia and I began our trip by walking up the spur road to a vehicle gate. The road continues through a stretch of private property belonging to a lumber company, but signs near the gate indicate that foot traffic is permitted while motorized access is prohibited. About 700 metres past the gate, the road switchbacks to the right, but we instead continued straight on a forested trail heading southward into BLM (public) land. Ignoring a few side trails, we eventually dropped into a dip before climbing the remainder of the main trail to the top of Gold Mountain. There are a couple of humps at the top, and the true summit appears to be on the eastern one.

Don't bother driving up the spur road; there's a gate a short distance up. Zosia begins hiking along a spur road branching off from the main access road (USFS 2642).

Second breakfast! Thimbleberries are abundant along the spur road.
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

Wildfire smoke seems to be the story of our summer vacation this year! Although Lake Pend Oreille is visible from the spur road, wildfire haze obscures more distant peaks.

Looks like fall colours already! Some of the bushes here live up to the mountain's name.

Wow, it's already been more than 7 years since we climbed Grouse Mountain!

Zosia and Sonny pose at a viewpoint not far from the top of Gold Mountain. At centre is Grouse Mountain, and further in the distance to the left is Packsaddle Mountain.

	This is looking east from near the top of Gold Mountain.
	Zosia stands on the actual summit of Gold Mountain (1276 metres).

Satisfied that we had tagged the true summit of Gold Mountain, Zosia and I backtracked to the spur road, and this time, we followed the switchback going uphill. Where the road bends left just past an antenna and hut, we turned onto a trail heading north into forest and soon arrived at a split. Keeping straight (left), we climbed up a short but very steep dirt bike track to the top of Gold Hill where we finally stopped for an extended break.

When we resumed hiking, Zosia and I descended the dirt bike track back to the split. We were not entirely sure where the right branch went (I did not read Nimke's report as carefully as I should have), but we decided to take a chance and head that way figuring that, at worst, we would have to do some bushwhacking to get back to our car. We did not go very far before reaching another split. Once again, we followed our instincts and chose the right-hand trail which we followed downhill before popping out onto the spur road near the vehicle gate (we completely missed this trail when we passed this way earlier in the day). A short walk down the road to our parked car concluded our hike.

	Zosia returns to the spur road and follows it uphill at a switchback.
	The spur road eventually leads to the south side of Gold Hill which is visible ahead.
	Leaving the spur road again, Zosia follows a convenient trail heading into the forest.
	The trail going up the south side of Gold Hill is very steep and loose.

I guess it doesn't mean much with the haze.

Despite being lower, the top of Gold Hill is seemingly more open than that of Gold Mountain.

	Zosia stands on the high point of Gold Hill (1233 metres).
	Zosia and Sonny give thumbs up for being able to see the west end of Lake Pend Oreille.
	Here is the view to the south from the top of Gold Hill.
	A guinea fowl and chicken roam freely on the side of Sky Meadow Road.
	Zosia enjoys some ice cream at Clark Fork Pantry.
	Total Distance: 7.8 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 3 hours 34 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 263 metres GPX Data

	Zosia begins hiking along a spur road branching off from the main access road (USFS 2642).
	Thimbleberries are abundant along the spur road. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Although Lake Pend Oreille is visible from the spur road, wildfire haze obscures more distant peaks.
	Some of the bushes here live up to the mountain's name.