“Trail surface was great—smooth and wide…” “A lovely, beautiful ride, and seeing five moose made our day…” “When riding it, I had to pinch myself over and over to make sure I wasn’t dreaming…” The discovery of gold and silver in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains more than a century ago led to a dramatic change in the lives of the area’s indigenous people. News of the mineral riches triggered a stampede of prospectors and entrepreneurs who blazed, blasted, and sawed their way into the heart of Indian country as the Coeur d’Alene tribe scattered from ancestral villages along the region’s lakes and rivers. Anchored in the Native American community of Plummer, 30 miles south of the city of Coeur d’Alene, the trail traverses this historic landscape to Mullen, near the Montana border. The trail was laid down over the abandoned Union Pacific railbed that was laden with toxic mining waste—and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe was instrumental in taking action to clean up the corridor. The tribe has co-managed the trail with the State of Idaho since its opening to the public in 2004. The Plummer Trailhead offers a large parking lot, an info center, full-service bike shop, restrooms and drinking water. Other points of interest include the tribe’s modern wellness center that welcomes visitors to an Olympic-sized pool, spa and gym for a small fee—and a computer center that offers free high-speed public internet access. Going east, riders / hikers head downhill through six miles of conifer forest toward Lake Coeur d’Alene, where generations of tribal members hunted, fished, and gathered—an area now preserved as Heyburn State Park—where there are camping sites, rental cabins, and low-cost lake cruises. The park also is home to one of the Northwest’s premier osprey nesting locations. Next, the trail sweeps over Chatcolet Bridge and meanders another 8 miles along the forested shore to the wee town of Harrison. A former hub of mining and lumbering, it now draws a stream of tourists who come for lodging, camping, dining, shopping, and a lively summertime music scene. Between Harrison and Medimont, the trail passes through the chain-of-lakes region, linked by the Coeur d’Alene River. This area is known for its wildlife, including beavers, otters, coyotes, birds of prey,
Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, credit Lisa James
moose, and sometimes even black bears. To the east, the trail travels Idaho’s Silver Valley—once one of the most productive silver mining regions in the world—and passes near Cataldo Mission State Park. Definitely worth a visit, the park is home to the Mission of the Sacred Heart, established 1848. The oldest standing building in Idaho, the mission cathedral was constructed by the Coeur d’Alenes from hand-hewn timbers, wooden pegs, and saplings woven with grass and mud. From Cataldo, the trail follows the Coeur d’Alene River toward Kellogg, the largest town along the trail, where there are plenty of inns, motels, restaurants, and shops. Ditto for the next town on the route, Wallace, an 1884 former silver mining center, now given over to tourism. You’ll know when you’ve reached the end of the trail in Mullen, where the surface turns to gravel and continues east as the NorPac Trail. One day soon the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes will become part of the Great American Rail-Trail, a 4,000- mile mega-project currently under development that will connect the country from Washington, D.C., to Washington state.
www.traillink.com/trail/trail-of-the-coeur-dalenes/
RAILS TO TRAILS
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE SUMMER 2025 | 11
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