The Environment Protection Agency includes Burke Canyon as part of the Coeur d'Alene basin's Superfund sites due to hard metal and waste contamination of Burke-Canyon Creek.

Gold was initially discovered in the early 1860s in the mountains to the north of the Snake River basin, which gave way to a large influx of prospectors.

In 1884, miners discovered significant amounts of silver, zinc, and lead at the Tiger Mine in Burke Canyon.

[11] In both disputes, issues included pay, hours of work, the right of miners to belong to the union, and the mine owners' use of informants and undercover agents.

[12] In the days after the February 1910 avalanche, snow and rock continued to dislodge from the canyon walls, inflicting additional damage on the towns of Burke and Mace, and causing numerous deaths.

[13] The Northern Pacific railroad considered discontinuing service through the canyon after the depot was damaged in a July 1923 fire.

The Hecla Mine in Burke officially ceased operations on June 30, 1983, due to low metal prices.

[15] The structure of Burke Canyon resembles a narrow gulch, roughly 300 feet (90 m) across, with steep cliffs and hills on both sides.

[16] Burke Canyon experiences a continental climate, marked by warm summers and cold, snowy winters.

[19] Ecologists found that long stretches of Canyon Creek were entirely uninhabited by fish due to the high levels of metal content in the water.

[20] In 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved forward with plans to dispose of leftover rock piles and contaminated soil in Burke Canyon.

[21] By the turn of the twenty-first century, citizens of Burke had continued to dump up to 6,000 US gallons (23,000 L) of raw sewage into Canyon Creek per day.