COEUR d'ALENE - From the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene down to the St. Joe country, many Forest Service roads and campsites are still buried under deep winter snow.

Fernan Lake Road is snow-free up to Fernan Saddle, according to Forest Service Recreation Planner Claire Pitner. But any roads beyond the Saddle, paved or otherwise, are still closed to vehicle traffic.

A snowmobile could probably get through, Pitner said, but the trail would be in rough shape.

Farther east, the Coeur d'Alene River Road is clear past Prichard and the Thompson Pass junction. Tammy Maiolie, Forest Service district road manager, said motorists can travel a short distance past Shoshone Base Camp on Road 208, to about the Little Guard lookout turnoff. Past that point, the snow is deep and impassable.

Magee should be reachable in the next few weeks.

"I'd say by June 1 we should be able to get up there," Maiolie said.

Along the same stretch of road, Kit Price and Big Hank campgrounds - popular summertime spots for RV and tent campers - are entirely snowbound.

"You can't get to any of our campgrounds," Pitner said. "We're looking at potentially having late opening dates for them."

The Forest Service hopes to reach the sites and begin summer preparations before Memorial Day, she added. But there was three feet of snow at Venus Creek last week, and Kit Price was hidden beneath 1.5 feet of white stuff.

"We're trying to get in there as fast as we can," Pitner said.

In the meantime, lower-elevation campsites will be open this weekend, including Bumblebee, Beauty Creek, Bell Bay and Mokins Bay on Hayden Lake.

Springtime traveling can be hazardous. Motorists should be careful when traveling on Forest Service roads.

"We're finding places where we've had road failure, where we've lost sections of road," Maiolie said. "Be on the lookout for things like that."

A major slide was cleared up on Road 208 at milepost 26. At Clee Creek, 208 is down to one lane of traffic.