Information on the Area
The Panhandle of North Idaho offers campers and adventurers
a full spectrum of outdoor destinations, whether your favorite locale
be inspiring mountain ranges or crystaline clear lakes, rivers and
waterfalls.
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Evergreen
forested mountains and quiet country lanes lead to abandoned mining
towns and military wagon roads from the Civil War era.
Backcountry trails lead to alpine lakes filled and spectacular
views.
More than
half of all the surface waters in Idaho are here. Foam-flecked rapids
challenge the whitewater rafter. Quiet rivers host canoes where
steamboats once paddled to remote mining and logging camps.
Sport fishing
records are born in local lakes. A 37-pound Kamloops trout has been
taken from Lake Pend Oreille, and prize-winning dolly varden are not
uncommon. Chinook salmon up to 42 pounds are hooked in Lake Coeur
d'Alene. Priest Lake has the world's record for Mackinnaw, and Coeur
d'Alene and Hayden Lakes hold the tasty kokanee (land-locked salmon),
along with rainbow, cutthroat, brook and German brown trout. |
In winter, the snowy wilds and
hundreds of miles of groomed trails beckon cross-country skiers and
snowmobilers. Regional ski resorts invite the downhill skier with runs
for beginners to experts.
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The Idaho
Panhandle is rich in wildlife. Species include elk, moose, whitetail
deer, black bear and the woodland caribou, an endangered species.
This is its last remaining home in the lower 48 states.
The grizzly bear lives in remote regions of the forest. Abundant
surface water attracts a wide variety of waterfowl, eagles and
osprey.
A hundred
years ago, silver and gold mining brought wealth-seekers from around
the world. Today, you may see a lone prospector panning a stream for
"color" as gold is still available to those willing to challenge the
wilderness for a dream.
Folks with
a yen to dig can still glean prizes from the earth at Emerald Creek
near Clarkia. Here the Forest Service operates the world's only star
garnet (the state gem) grounds outside India.
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The "green
gold" of the panhandle is white pine, western red cedar, Douglas fir,
and ponderosa pine. The timber shored up mine tunnels and finished
lumber provided commercial and residential buildings, including
mansions for the timber and mining barons of Wallace, Coeur d'Alene,
and Spokane. Logging remains a main stay occupation.
Much of
the timber was transported from the forest by railroad between 1900 and
1940. Today the abandoned train routes are used by logging trucks,
automobiles, hikers, cyclists, snowmobiles, cross-country skiers and
other recreationists. Winter snowmobilers often use groomed
trails from Sandpoint to access the British Canadian border and beyond.
Remnants of
the railroading era are still here including tunnels, soaring trestles
and all types of old logging equipment and structures. But many are
disappearing into the new forests growing up around them.
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The Selkirk, Cabinet, and
Purcell mountain ranges feature glacial cirques and gem-like lakes high
above timberline and craggy ridgetops. The country is a special place
for those seeking solitude and experience nature at its finest.
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