This town in northwestern Idaho is probably not well known to people outside of the western part of the country. We found that there’s lots to do in Couer d’Alene.
If you don’t know French, you may be wondering how to pronounce that. It’s “kor d’lane”.
This was a planned stop on our trip, though we didn’t know in advance how much time we’d have available to spend here. We ended up staying for three nights.
Lake Coeur d’Alene is probably the biggest focal point of this area. It’s a large lake — 25 miles long and up to 3 miles wide — surrounded by a mountainous landscape. There are lots of boat slips, marinas, beaches, scenic points, and hiking trails all around the lake’s 100+ miles of shoreline. Downtown Coeur d’Alene is situated at the north end of the lake.

On our first day, we went for a hike in Cougar Bay Preserve, an 88 acre area of wetlands, tall grass, and woods. It turned out that it’s a good place for spotting different kinds of birds. Having recently become amateur birdwatching enthusiasts, we were on the lookout for anything interesting. On our hike, we saw some red-breasted nuthatches, lots of red-winged blackbirds, a great blue heron, and what we think was some kind of chickadee. And a dog named Sassy.
After that, we went to check out the downtown area and the lake. There’s a public park there called Tubbs Hill, with a trail right along the shore. As we walked, we saw people swimming, paddleboarding, boating, and having all sorts of fun with different water activities. A popular activity was jumping off the rocky edges of the shoreline, something Alex had always wanted to try.
It was very hot out and we went back to the car to get swimsuits and towels, then came back and enjoyed a swim in the lake. The water was perfectly refreshing — a cool contrast to the hot day, but warm enough that we could stay in the water for as long as we wanted. A little further down the shore, there was a large marina with hundreds of boats, including some yachts, as well as a dock for seaplanes. We swam around for a while, watching boats and jet skis go by and people jump off the rocks into the water.
The next day, we went for a longer scenic hike which had some great views of the lake and the surrounding area. Parts of it were pretty steep, and we felt like we got a good workout by the time we were done.

Back at the lake, we rented stand-up paddleboards and had a great time paddling around the bay, navigating the waves that came our way from boats, and looking at the fancy houses with private beach access. Although we had paddleboarded once or twice before in calm water, it was more challenging when there were small waves and Alex fell off a couple times.
At one point while we were floating, we saw an osprey fly towards the beach and perch in a tree. A few minutes later, it swooped down to the water and dove in, then flew off clutching a fish in its talons. It was very cool to see this big bird hunt right in front of us, and we were surprised that no one else in the beach seemed to notice.
After paddleboarding, we set out to find a good rock or cliff from which to jump into the water. We had seen a lot of people jumping in, so we knew that the water was deep enough. The perfect spot would be high enough to be exciting, but not so high that it would seem dangerous. We evaluated a few options and eventually found a family taking turns jumping off from a particular spot about 25 feet above the water. The father was bigger than Alex, so we knew that it was deep enough to jump safely. After some mental preparation, Alex jumped off into the water. It was a fun and exciting moment.

During our time in CdA, we camped at a National Park Service campground about 20 minutes from downtown. It was called Beauty Creek Campground, though we found that the creek was completely dry. It was the first time on this trip that we had a campsite that we couldn’t drive into, having to park about 100 feet away. This gave us an opportunity to use our tent, which we had brought but hadn’t used yet since we’ve been sleeping in the back of the car. We moved our cot from the car to the tent and welcomed all the extra space, especially the headroom, we had in our little 7×7 ft tent.
To our surprise, our campsite was for some reason a big draw for wasps during the day and moths at night. The wasps were very interested in joining us for breakfast, disregarding the fact that they were not only not invited, but unwelcome. They also took a liking to the grille of the car, perhaps because of its honeycomb pattern. Despite their persistence in following us around, we were able to coexist without being stung.

Our last day in Coeur d’Alene we decided to take it easy. We broke down our camping set up, re organized Carl, and decided we should get some pastries. We went to a bakery near McEuen Park, ate croissants, rolls, and got some macaroons to-go. It was another beautiful day outside so we walked around the lake, and chose to grab an afternoon cocktail at The Marina Cantina. This small bar is located on the main marina (and is part of what we learned is the longest floating boardwalk in the world), overlooks the lake, has a large shade covering and has mister sprinklers — a welcome reprive from the hot sun. While sipping on cocktails we also enjoyed a cigar. Our trip to Cuba in 2018 turned us on to cigars (especially after visiting a tobacco farm and the farmer taught us how to roll one ourselves). That trip we bought a variety and brought some home with us. We have one every once in a while when the mood is right and like trying out the various different types. Our Cohibas paired well with our marina margaritas 🙂 We walked around some more, got a bite to eat, and then waved goodbye to Lake Coeur D’Alene, vowing to return someday with friends and a boat rental.


We drove two hours north near Bonner’s Ferry, ID where we spent the night at an “RV Resort”. The tent camp spot was cheap and they had a hot shower and laundry, the main things we were looking for. We hadn’t had a non-lake bath in several days and were running out of clothes to wear. Since our next stop was Banff and we knew we would be remote camping there, we booked the “resort” to clean ourselves and our clothes. To our surprise, this campground had some amenities. There is a small wine bar that featured Huckleberry Mimosas, cheap firewood, DVD rental, and, best of a all, a visiting mobile sauna! We gave Toasty Mobile Sauna a try and it did not disappoint. The cedar was fresh, the steam cleansing, and the intense heat helped us sweat out our mini party day in CDA. The woman who owns Toasty Mobile Sauna is a Napa Valley transplant and was very lovely. All in all, another great day.
Next stop, Canada, and the main highlight of our month on the road — Banff National Park!




Sounds like such a cute place!