On The Road Again North Idaho Trail
The new Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes is 73 miles of fresh asphalt which nearly spans the Panhandle of Idaho. The Idaho Dept of Parks and Recreation produced the longest continually paved 10 foot wide trail in the U.S. – perhaps the world.
Starting in Plummer in the west, the trail follows the shoreline of Coeur D’Alenes Lake, then trails along the Coeur D’Alenes River, winding in and out of towns and lakes along the route to Mullen in the east. The scenery and wildlife is world-class.
The trail is a former mining and logging area… completely uncrowded… an inline skater’s heaven. Local communities feature many bed and breakfast facilities. This is a rustic, hilly region, suitable for the fitness skater. With limited bathroom facilities – plan ahead. Also bring safety equipment, water and food. Be prepared to skate hills and to brake on the downhills. The only description we have of use of the trail is by cyclists. Please submit your personal experiences of the new trail to FaSST – we’d love to learn more about this exciting new path for skaters.
The Coeur D’Alene Tribe is the Tribe Trail Manager, 208-686-7045. You can download an impressive brochure (in .pdf format) at http://www.idahoparks.org/pdf/TrailCDAweb.pdf.
By Leo Hennessy
