Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (Idaho) Weather Forecast & Planning Guide

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, Benewah, Kootenai, Shoshone Counties, ID, 71.9 miles

Trail Facts

Hall of Fame

Inducted 2010 by Rails to Trails Conservancy

Length72 mi

Elevation2130 to 3236 ft

Grade0.3% average

Shade cover25%

SurfaceAsphalt

Activities

E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingFishingCross-country skiingSnowmobilingand more

Connects To

None

Managed By

Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe

Trivia

Steamboats carried freight and passengers up the Coeur d'Alene River to Cataldo, the head of navigation, and brought ore back on the return trip.
D.C. Corbin's narrow gauge Coeur d'Alene Railway and Navigation line, known locally as the chippy railroad, reached Wallace on September 10, 1887.
The Union Pacific line was laid so close beside the chippy railroad that engineers were said to be able to shake hands without leaving their locomotives.
The Chatcolet Bridge across Lake Coeur d'Alene is about 3,000 feet long and its swing-span truss section was built in 1921.
In 1908 Harrison was described as the gateway to the Coeur d'Alene mining district, which produced half the lead mined in the United States.
There was once so much lead in the South Fork at Kellogg that locals called the stream Lead Creek.
The trail crosses 36 bridges and trestles between Plummer and Mullan.
The Coeur d'Alene people call themselves schitsu'umsh, meaning Those who were found here, and the waysides on the reservation carry Coeur d'Alene language names.
Rails to Trails Conservancy inducted the trail into its Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2010.

About This Trail

The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes is a 72 mile paved rail trail across Idaho's Panhandle, from Plummer on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation to Mullan near the Montana line. It drops from the Palouse edge at Plummer through Heyburn State Park, crosses Lake Coeur d'Alene on the Chatcolet Bridge, follows the lakeshore to Harrison, then traces the Coeur d'Alene River through the chain lakes to Cataldo. Beyond Enaville it climbs the South Fork through the Silver Valley towns of Kellogg, Osburn, and Wallace to Mullan. Grades are rail-grade gentle throughout, with the only real climbs at the Plummer end and the last miles into Mullan. Smooth asphalt suits road bikes and skates as well as hybrids.

RailTrailWx TIPS

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

Your comfort. Prognosticated.

This is a sunny trail. More than half its length runs open along lakeshore, marsh, and valley floor, and there is no deep shade anywhere, so afternoon heat builds on the pavement and the surface dries fast after rain.
The corridor runs east to west, and riders can usually expect a headwind heading west from Mullan toward Plummer. The gentle downhill on that direction offsets it, so plan long days with the wind and the grade in mind.
Mullan sits about 1,000 feet above the lake on the western end, and the last twenty miles from Wallace climb steadily. Expect the Silver Valley end to run cooler and to hold snow and cold longer than the lake and chain lakes country.
From Enaville east the trail follows the South Fork up a narrow mining valley with walls on both sides. The valley shelters crosswinds but pools cold air at night, so early starts from Kellogg or Wallace feel colder than the same hour at Harrison.
Between Harrison and Medimont the trail runs along the river through the chain lakes with no roads reaching it from Springston to Medimont. Carry what you need for that stretch and watch for moose on the pavement.
The Plummer end drops through the Plummer Creek canyon and old growth forest to the lake, the one shaded stretch on the trail. It is the steepest sustained grade on the route, still under two percent.
In winter the trail stays open. Sections between Enaville and Wallace get plowed in places, the Wallace to Mullan stretch is groomed for snowmobiles and open to skiers, and the wild miles between Harrison and Enaville can stay buried.

-Cory

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Climate

Excellent biking days per month, 2011-2025 climatology

History

Steamboats once ran up the Coeur d'Alene River to Cataldo, where freight bound for the Silver Valley mines changed to a narrow gauge train. The Mullan Military Road had come through this valley first, built between 1858 and 1862. In 1877 Mission Landing became the transfer point for the mines. D.C. Corbin's narrow gauge chippy railroad ran from the Old Mission landing to Wallace by 1887. In 1888 Congress granted the Union Pacific a right of way across the Coeur d'Alene Reservation, and the standard gauge Wallace Branch was built from Plummer to Mullan alongside the chippy line. It hauled silver, lead, and zinc ore, and later timber. Its builders used mine waste rock and tailings for ballast, and ore concentrate spilled from the cars for a century. The steamboats faded once both the Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific served the valley. Union Pacific won permission to abandon the whole branch in February 1992. In 1991 the Coeur d'Alene Tribe had sued the railroad over the contaminated corridor, and a 1995 agreement among the Tribe, Union Pacific, the State of Idaho, and the federal government turned the cleanup into a trail. Crews removed the ties in 2000 and capped the bed with asphalt. The trail opened in 2004 as Idaho's newest state park, the Tribe managing the reservation miles and the state the rest. Rails to Trails Conservancy added it to its Hall of Fame in 2010.

Trailheads

PlummerMILE 0Directions
Plummer PointMILE 6.6Directions
ChatcoletMILE 7.9Directions
HarrisonMILE 15.7Directions
Anderson LakeMILE 17.1Directions
SpringstonMILE 18.9Directions
MedimontMILE 26.3Directions
Black RockMILE 31.7Directions
Bull RunMILE 34Directions
CataldoMILE 42.5Directions
EnavilleMILE 47.5Directions
Pine CreekMILE 49.2Directions
SmeltervilleMILE 51.1Directions
KelloggMILE 54.1Directions
Elizabeth ParkMILE 55.6Directions
ShontMILE 57.8Directions
Gene Day ParkMILE 58.9Directions
OsburnMILE 60.8Directions
WallaceMILE 65.1Directions
MullanMILE 71.9Directions

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RailTrailWx TIPS

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

Your comfort. Prognosticated.

This is a sunny trail. More than half its length runs open along lakeshore, marsh, and valley floor, and there is no deep shade anywhere, so afternoon heat builds on the pavement and the surface dries fast after rain.

The corridor runs east to west, and riders can usually expect a headwind heading west from Mullan toward Plummer. The gentle downhill on that direction offsets it, so plan long days with the wind and the grade in mind.

Mullan sits about 1,000 feet above the lake on the western end, and the last twenty miles from Wallace climb steadily. Expect the Silver Valley end to run cooler and to hold snow and cold longer than the lake and chain lakes country.

From Enaville east the trail follows the South Fork up a narrow mining valley with walls on both sides. The valley shelters crosswinds but pools cold air at night, so early starts from Kellogg or Wallace feel colder than the same hour at Harrison.

Between Harrison and Medimont the trail runs along the river through the chain lakes with no roads reaching it from Springston to Medimont. Carry what you need for that stretch and watch for moose on the pavement.

The Plummer end drops through the Plummer Creek canyon and old growth forest to the lake, the one shaded stretch on the trail. It is the steepest sustained grade on the route, still under two percent.

In winter the trail stays open. Sections between Enaville and Wallace get plowed in places, the Wallace to Mullan stretch is groomed for snowmobiles and open to skiers, and the wild miles between Harrison and Enaville can stay buried.

-Cory