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NORTH IDAHO WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A GETAWAYGETAWAY | OFFICIAL IDAHO STATE TRAVEL GUIDE TRAVEL | OFFICIAL STATE IDAHO 10 Priest Lake We’re pretty sure you won’t believe how much amazing we manage to squeeze into that little panhandle at the top of Idaho—and how much amazing you’ll experience when you start looking, hiking, floating, and skiing around. Let’s start with the water. There’s a lot: mountain lakes framed by jagged crests and historic Western downtowns; big, meandering, full-of-trout rivers; and lazy streams where moose slurp mossy grasses. Most of the region’s water-based recreation and resorts center around our three biggest gems: Lake Coeur d’Alene, Lake Pend Oreille, and Priest Lake. Head to Coeur d’Alene for nonstop swimming and boating, shopping, and golfing; to Sandpoint for a low-key art and outdoors scene; or to the Priest Lake area for a more pristine experience. Explore North Idaho’s colorful past—the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, miners, loggers, and even Jesuit missionaries all have tales to tell, and they’ll unfold in places like Wallace, where every downtown building is on the National Register. What else will you find here? Eight state parks, six scenic byways, three signature biking trails, and three amazing ski areas—that’s big adventure no matter the season. For more about north Idaho, go to visitidaho.org/north Follow Visit Idaho on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media channels. visitidaho.org | 11 #VisitIdaho NORTH IDAHO ‹ FIND YOUR YONDER Lake Pend Oreille BONNERS FERRY PRIEST LAKE/PRIEST RIVER Bonners Ferry is about as “north If your soul is pining for a pristine get- Idaho” as it gets. Just a few miles from away, head to the rugged, uncrowded the Canadian border, this little town shores of Priest Lake. Lovingly called sprang up around a river crossing for “Idaho’s Crown Jewel,” Priest Lake will gold prospectors in the late 1800s. take your breath away; its 80 miles It’s nestled between three mountain of shoreline are largely undeveloped, ranges, the sweeping Kootenai offering quiet sandy beaches, forested River runs through downtown, and trails, wildlife, and the dramatic ridges the surrounding valley is a swath of of the Selkirk Mountains. Fish, hike, farmland so pretty you’ll wish you knew or spend long summer days on the how to grow something just so you water; local outfitters rent kayaks and could live here. Downtown still has that canoes. You can make one of the many Lake Pend Oreille authentic Western feel: evergreens and waterfront resorts your home base, foothills backing up to quaint shops, an or just stop in to dine lakeside for art gallery, and a pub that brews with views you won’t soon forget. In winter, locally grown hops. Also downtown cross-country ski or tackle incredible is the Kootenai River Inn Casino; the snowmobile terrain up to 7,000 feet, Kootenai Tribe runs this spot, as well and cheer on competitors at the as a sturgeon hatchery just west of popular Vintage Snowmobile Races. At town. If you’re here to be outside, get the nearby town of Priest River, nosh to it! There’s plenty to do and see—300 and grab coffee or something a bit miles of trails, moose-spotting at the more bubbly at the Beardmore Bistro & Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, Wine Bar. scenic views along the International Selkirk Loop, and waterfalls tumbling just about everywhere. | OFFICIAL IDAHO STATE TRAVEL GUIDE TRAVEL | OFFICIAL STATE IDAHO 12 Follow Visit Idaho on all your favorite social media channels. #VisitIdaho Priest Lake Silverwood SANDPOINT Treat the kids to a day of riding, splashing, and screaming with pure joy Top 10 Dream Town, Idaho’s Hippest at Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Mountain Town, #1 Ski Town—just a Beach Water Park, just a few miles few names Sandpoint’s been called north. Coeur d’Alene winters are known lately by the likes of Sunset, Men’s for prime powder, so find your bliss Journal, and Rand McNally. This small at any of the three nearby resorts— town’s got something special. For Schweitzer Mountain, Silver Mountain, starters, it’s perched right on the shores and Lookout Pass. Bring the family to of Lake Pend Oreille, with mountains see the Coeur d’Alene Holiday Light and forests in literally every direction. Show, a wonderland of over 1.5 million Then there’s Main Street, one of Idaho’s lights and the largest on-the-water most picturesque historic districts, with holiday light display in America. eclectic art galleries, boutiques, and eateries—plus a farmers market and art If you’re here for a special occasion, walks all summer long. Be sure to try make a reservation at Beverly’s in the fresh seafood at the Trinity at City the Coeur d’Alene Resort, known for Beach, which also serves up a sparkling its fresh seasonal cuisine and large view of the lake. Of course, if you’re in selection of Northwest wines. Locals Sandpoint, you’re here to be outside— will point you to Hudson’s Hamburgers, urban and off-road cycling, horseback a longtime fixture here, for a truly riding; angling for Lake Pend Oreille’s old-fashioned burger. giant Kamloops trout; boating and swimming; and camping or otherwise POST FALLS “roughing it” at a lakeside lodge. In Often called “Idaho’s River City,” winter, head to the powdery hills at Post Falls gets its name from Frederick Schweitzer Mountain, 2,900 acres of Post, who secured a treaty with the wide-open space for skiing, tubing, Coeur d’Alene Tribe to build a sawmill snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. on the banks of the Spokane River. A pictograph memorializing the purchase COEUR D’ALENE is carved into a granite cliff in Treaty Summer days in Coeur d’Alene are Rock Park. There’s sun and fun at fresh, shimmering, happy. Spending Q’emiln Park, with a beach and boat time in this small city, on the shores launch, trails offering rocky river views, of one of the country’s prettiest lakes, and numerous climbing and bouldering means waterskiing and building sand spots. Meander over to Templin’s Coeur d’Alene Resort castles, roaming in and out of art Marina for barbecues and beach galleries, and sipping wine at sunset. volleyball, or pontoon boat, kayak, Lake Coeur d’Alene is the major draw, or paddleboard rentals. Post Falls with almost 110 miles of shoreline and is just 10 minutes from Coeur d’Alene, crystal blue waters perfect for swim- so it’s an easy day trip destination or ming, sailing, jet-skiing, and relaxed a convenient home base for all of cruising tours. Soak it all in from above your adventures. with a parasailing adventure or sea- plane tour. You’ll catch amazing views and see osprey diving for their dinner when you hike Tubbs Hill peninsula or pedal along the North Idaho REGIONAL INFO Centennial Trail. Lake Pend Oreille ‹ LARGEST CITY COEUR D’ALENE Population: 49,122 ‹ REGIONAL CLIMATE Summer Average High: 80° Winter Average High: 32° Annual Precipitation: 18" ‹ ELEVATION Highest: 8,643' (Needles Peak) Lowest: 1,746' (Kootenai River) Priest Lake Moyie River REGIONAL MAP 1 NORTH IDAHO 95 International Selkirk ‹ ENJOY OUR ROADSIDE DISTRACTIONS Loop & Wild Horse Trail A Scenic Byway Upper Priest Lake Priest Lake Bonners Priest Lake Ferry 2 Priest Lake 95 State Park 57 A Pend Oreille Scenic Byway B Panhandle Historic Sandpoint Hope Rivers Passage Scenic Byway C 2 Round Lake Priest Lake Pend State Park Oreille River 41 95 Spirit Lake Farragut SCENIC DRIVES Athol State Park Rathdrum Coeur d’Alene ‹ International Selkirk Loop A Post Falls Coeur Parkway Trail of the & Wild Horse Trail Scenic Byway Spokane State Park d’Alene Coeur d'Alenes Prichard 888-823-2626 State Park Murray Old Mission ‹ Pend Oreille Scenic Byway State Park B 90 Lake Coeur C 800-800-2106 d’Alene 97 Lake ‹ Panhandle Historic Rivers Passage Coeur d’Alene Mullan C Scenic Byway Cataldo Kellogg 800-800-2106 D Wallace B ‹ Lake Coeur d’Alene Scenic Byway Harrison D Lookout 90 877-782-9232 Worley Pass ‹ St. Joe River Scenic Byway E 208-245-3563 5 St Maries Plummer ‹ White Pine Scenic Byway F Heyburn 3 E St. Joe River 208-245-3563 State Park 60 St. Joe River Scenic Byway For additional information, McCroskey F State Park White Pine Scenic Byway go to visitidaho.org/things-to-do/ 95 state-parks-byways 6 3 SKI AREAS A ‹ Schweitzer Mountain Resort schweitzer.com B ‹ Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area skilookout.com C ‹ Silver Mountain Ski, Golf & Water Park Resort silvermt.com skiidaho.us | OFFICIAL IDAHO STATE TRAVEL GUIDE TRAVEL | OFFICIAL STATE IDAHO 14 ‹ EXPLORE IDAHO PARKS! Moyie River SILVER VALLEY/ ST. MARIES 1 WALLACE/KELLOGG This sleepy lumber town along the 95 Coeur d’Alene Scenic Byway is one of International Selkirk ‹ ENJOY OUR ROADSIDE DISTRACTIONS Wallace hit it big in 1882, when gold Loop & Wild Horse Trail A those best-kept secrets among serious Scenic Byway and silver were found in this tiny mountain town. Silver Valley became sportspeople. Its northern boundary, the St. Joe River, happens to be one Upper Priest Lake the world’s largest silver mining region, of Idaho’s 10 blue-ribbon wild trout Priest Lake and today balances its mining opera- Bonners tions with world-class recreation and streams, and the surrounding forests Ferry 2 Priest Lake tourism. (The entire Wallace downtown offer some of the West’s finest elk hunt- ing. Rafting and floating are plentiful Priest Lake 95 is on the National Register of Historic State Park Places.) Explore the area’s industrious here, too, as are hiking, four-wheeling, Silver Valley 57 past at the Northern Pacific Depot and snowmobiling in and around Railroad Museum, the Wallace District nearby public lands.