Please tell me about the Katka Rd area of Bonners Ferry (Kootenai: for sale, crime rate)

[AnnieGetURGun]

Can anyone tell me more about the Katka Rd. area of Bonners Ferry? Why are there so many houses for sale in that area?
We will visit NID again soon and want to know if this is an area we should keep on our list. Thanks in advance
Annie

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Annie, I was looking at properties up on Katka in 2008, and got a pretty clear picture of the area. I assume it's the same now, except the prices have come down. I wouldn't know why so many places are up for sale right now, but the area used to have a reputation as a "hippie" refuge with rambling home-built structures off the grid, trailers, and apparently a lot of weed-smoking going on. The main road up the mountain (which I think is Katka Rd, I don't have a map in front of me) is paved, and fairly heavily traveled by trucks. There was some talk about resuming/extending the logging activities further up the mountain.

I saw some very nice bare-land properties down little dirt access roads, well-timbered with clearings. Very quiet--you couldn't hear any truck traffic at all. I didn't get any bad "vibes" from Katka, but it definitely has a "history"! Further up the road there is a turn-out where you can watch the train way down below do a curve which is apparantly famous in railroad buff circles, and the view of the entire Kootenai River Valley to the north and west is stupendous. There were properties for sale further up the road, virtually on top of Mt Katka (not a very tall mountain), and I could imagine homes in that area being very attractive, with a 180 degree view to the west, the north and the east, encompassing the Selkirks, a clear view all the way to the Canadian border, and the Cabinets to the east. But I assume they would be on the expensive side, even today. If that's what you've seen online, I'd say it would be a fantastic location, and the road is probably going to be plowed all winter. But you'd want to make sure of that.

Also, if you look at properties on Katka Road, make sure you stick around for when the trains come by. The tracks run right below the bluff, and you'll want to make sure the sound doesn't bother you. On the north side of the river there is another set of tracks.

So that's just off the top of my head, Feel free to DM me if you have specific questions--I may not have the most recent info, but I can give you my impression. You should absolutely visit Katka and see for yourself, if nothing else, then for the view; if those properties on top of the mountains have homes on them now, my guess is it will have the effect of "gentrifying" the area somewhat.

[AnnieGetURGun]

Thanks CFF! That is exactly the type of info I was looking for. I've spent a little time on the search engines and not much comes up about the Katka area. There was one news article about a family getting popped for baiting and poaching. I wondered if the area has just fallen on such really hard times the community has had to figure out how to feed their families without any money. Anyone know about the crime rate for that particular area?
Someone else DM'd me and told me there has been some water (or lack of) issues in the area as well. We're not completely deterred yet...