Northern Idaho's
Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes
bike path
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The
Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes bike path
follows the Union Pacific Railroad's right-of-way from
Mullan, a mountain mining town near the Montana border,
to Plummer, a town on the prairie near the Washington
border. About 72
miles of paved path takes you from high mountain splendor,
through the historic Silver Valley,
into the chain lake region, along
the shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene, over a bridge to
Heyburn State Park and then on to the Coeur d'Alene
Indian Reservation: an adventure for the entire family!
The photo shown below was selected at random from an ever-expanding Photo Album. Click on the photo to go to the Album. |
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If you have the
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The last part of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes to be completed was the Chatcolet Bridge that crosses the St. Joe River as it flows into Lake Coeur d'Alene. 
Don Smith took this picture of the newly opened Bridge from a boat on Chatcolet Lake, in Heyburn State Park, looking east in April, 2004. See more of Don's photography and commentary. 
As this photo taken by Mike Peak shows, the ramps to the raised and now stationary swing bridge were designed to ease the climb for folks on bicycles and skates. The stair-step construction makes the decent very exhilarating. See more of Mike's photography and a map of Hayburn Park on the west side the historic trestle. The Grand Opening celebration for the entire Trail happened on June 5, 2004. |
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The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes map opens in a separate window, and shows TWO other local bike trails. It is part of the second edition of a brochure entitled Recreational Trails of the Idaho Panhandle produced by the Friends of the Coeur d'Alene Trails.
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The Silver Valley is in Shoshone County (population 12,765) between Fourth of July Pass and Lookout Pass. It contains Interstate 90, the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, and several small towns. The 1990, 2000 and 2010 populations of these towns can be known by clicking on the topo map. The historic silver mining town of Wallace is particularly fascinating. About 80% of the county is public land, making the population density 5 people per square mile, and the all-season recreation possibilities enormous. |
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This map shows both the current weather over the entire
Inland Northwest and the easy Interstate 90 access to
The Silver Valley,
located halfway between Spokane, Washington, and Missoula,
Montana.Click on the map for a detailed picture of the current weather over the region, including a camera view of the Interstate at the Idaho-Montana border, as well as information gathered from other websites, local mountain bike trails and maps.
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