COEUR d'ALENE - The U.S. Forest Service closed the gate to forest road traffic at Nettleton Gulch Road this week due to extremely icy conditions.

The gate leads into the Canfield Mountain recreation area and is about 100 yards from the Nettleton Gulch trailhead. People may still park at the gate and use the trails.

According to forest service spokesman Jason Kirchner, even with the lack of snow at lower elevations, many forest roads are coated in a thick layer of ice, which is causing slide-off accidents throughout North Idaho.

The weather's recent freeze and thaw cycle has melted snow on hillsides during the day, which is re-freezing across forest roads at night.

"The slide-offs are actually reported to the sheriff's office, but we hear about them when they need our help or want to let us know of an issue," Kirchner said. "I don't have hard numbers for any of the areas except to say that we were notified of at least two slide-offs on the Bunco Road and at least three at Nettleton Gulch, including a tow truck and a sheriff's vehicle."

"We have also heard that tow trucks may have been dispatched to the Hayden Creek road too," he said.

Lt. Stu Miller, with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, said the conditions are fairly extreme.

"We responded to four slide-off crashes on the Nettleton Gulch Trailhead, Forest Road 1535," he said.

The deputy who responded to the slide-offs became one himself, Miller said.

"He slid backward off the road and required a tow truck to get back on the road," he said. "There were no injuries from any of the crashes."

Miller said the forest road at Nettleton Gulch will remain closed until conditions improve.

"Essentially, you can't even stand on the road without special boot chains," he said. "This is the only backcountry road that we've had issues with as of now, but with the cold weather and forecast for more precipitation, we will more than likely have more crashes - especially if there's a layer of snow covering the ice."

And some snow may be on the way in Kootenai County. The National Weather Service's forecast for today in the Coeur d'Alene area includes a 30 percent chance of snow during the day, with temperatures in the lower to mid 30s. The chance of snow increases to 60 percent tonight, with possible accumulations of up to 2 inches, and temperatures in the mid to upper 20s.

Forest Service officials are urging members of the public to avoid traveling on icy forest roads, but if travel cannot be avoided, tire chains and low speeds are strongly advised, and travelers should be prepared to turn back based on conditions.

Before traveling into the forest, members of the public are encouraged to check weather forecasts and local conditions.