Season too early??? 1st time in Coeur d'Alene

Will be coming through CDA on the 7th day of our cross country ';Road Trip'; and thinking of a stop over from Yellowstone Nat%26#39;l to Seattle. Wondering whether we will be too early (June 5th) for most ';lake'; activities to be available. Can%26#39;t be flexible with the timing since we are chasing the moving van from Boston to Seattle {argh! the gas prices keep going UP!}

I have read previous posts on what to do in CDA, but with the crazy Winter weather you have had this past year, what can we expect at this time? Taking that into consideration, what would you recommend for a very full day of sightseeing in your beautiful area? Have spent time in the Sawtooth National Wilderness area, rafting and hiking down Middle Fork of Salmon River, the Lolo National Forest, as well as staying in Boise and Salmon. But we have always wanted to venture to Northern Idaho and have heard alot of wonderful things about Coeur d%26#39;Alene. Also to get the most out of our stay (1night; 1 1/2days) what accommodation and dining options would you suggest? Looking forward to any advice.

Season too early??? 1st time in Coeur d'Alene

If you read the past posts you will have seen most of my Coeur d%26#39; Alene suggestions. In terms of arriving around the 7th, Memorial Day weekend is generally the kickoff for summer activities in Coeur d%26#39; Alene. Because we have had such a long winter and snow still at high elevations, many activities up in the mountains may not happen but in Coeur d%26#39; Alene itself everything should be a go (they may still be snow skiing at Silver Mountain!). The lake water will be cold and the lake level may still be variable due to late season runoff. Bring a jacket or sweater because evenings / night can still be cool, We got down to upper 20%26#39;s, low 30%26#39;s last night( May 8/9).

Season too early??? 1st time in Coeur d'Alene

nidahodave, thanks for your post...your nighttime temps are rather ';chilly'; burrrr! Of course we will be layering and hope that it will be a little warmer the first week in June.

Seems like a quick stop in Wallace as we drive to Coeur d%26#39;Alene is a good option and then the next day relaxing, checking out art galleries and walking the boardwalk, and hiking Tubbs Hill. Would you also recommend taking a boat ride to Eddy%26#39;s? If you omit the CDA Resort which is very expensive, what accommodations in the downtown area would you recommend so we wouldn%26#39;t have to use the car? Thanks again...really enjoy the planning phase of any trip.

Don%26#39;t know much about the boat ride over to Eddy%26#39;s but an alternative is a cruise offer through the Resort (www.cdaresort.com/activities/cruises.php). Unfortunately downtown lodging options are limited, other than the Resort the other two downtown motels that are reviewed on this site are the Flamingo and the Resort Inn, both older motels but seem to have had favorable reviews on this site. Another alternative but a long walk to downtown is the Holiday Inn Express Coeur d%26#39; Alene (not to be confused with the Holiday Inn Express in Hayden), it has had very favorable reviews on this site. Not quite as cold this morning (5/10/08), low of 37 degrees, expected to warm up next week, lake levels are very high due to late runoff from snow pack.

Checked out the CDA Resort availability and the ONLY room offering they have is their golf package accommodation! I am shocked... they don%26#39;t offer individual room reservations for 1 or 2 nights mid week during the first week of June. I thought we would be ahead of the tourist season. So I am left with Holiday Inn or the Hampton Inn. Can anyone give me an opinion on either place?

The other idea I had was to stay in Wallace at the Wallace Inn (use to be the Best Western) which seems like the only place in Wallace and then take a day to bike the Hiawatha Trail. I read that you have to purchase tickets and get bike rentals a Lookout Ski Resort. Has anyone done this and is this a good idea? Is your weather improving? We will be arriving around June 3rd. I think we would only consider this activity if the weather was cooperative.

Thanks again for any and all suggestions.

Can%26#39;t provide any insight into the Wallace Inn. In terms of the Hiawatha here is the web site (www.skilookout.com/hiaw). On the web site they give a projected opening for May 24. You might want to call them to confirm opening projection because we are still dealing with lots of snow at high elevation (although we are expecting 80 degrees for several days beginning on Friday). They also have a reduced schedule during the first part of the summer. I have done the Hiawatha four times and its a great bike trip. The Lookout Ski Resort has the contract to manage the trail in the summer. Bike rentals and the trail day passes are available at the ski resort at the top of Lookout Pass on the Montana/Idaho border, you can also buy your pass from the trail wardens on the trail. You can buy your shuttle bus tickets at the ski area. The bike rentals come completely equipped for the ride including bike lights for the tunnel but I would also bring a good flashlight as backup, and they can provide a bike rack to take the bikes to the trail head. From the ski area you drive into Montana on Interstate 90 a short distance to an exit for the trail head which is up a well maintained gravel road. You ride through the Taft Tunnel into Idaho and then all down hill to the trail end where you can either ride back up or take the shuttle bus to the Idaho side of the Taft Tunnel. I don%26#39;t think anyone is disappointed in the trail and be sure to take your time, its easy to get going too fast when its all downhill.

If you have it narrowed down to the Hampton or the Holiday Inn, I%26#39;d probably suggest the Hampton Inn. They%26#39;re within probably a half mile of each other, but the Hampton Inn is in the middle of a very nice new development called Riverstone. From your hotel you%26#39;re within a minute walk of quite a few restaurants, coffee bars, and a great ice cream shop, as well as a man-made lake right out your door, the Spokane River, and a movie theatre. Lots of stuff within very close proximity. The Holiday Inn is apparently very nice, but that half mile makes a difference in my opinion. It%26#39;s also a half mile farther to the resort, city beach and boardwalk and the downtown area.

Both are fine choices, but I%26#39;d go with the Hampton Inn.

Wallace is a neat little town, but unless you plan on spending most of the time taking Dave%26#39;s great advice on the bike ride, you might get a little restless with a whole day (or even 3/4 of a day) there. It%26#39;s more suited to a nice leisurely stroll through town, lunch at the 1313 club, and maybe a visit to the Bordello museum.

The weather is shaping up finally heard it was supposed to be 90 on May 17th, so all summer activities should be good to go. There are so many nature and activities available.

As far as the choice between the Hampton and the Holiday Inn Express, they are both equally nice, but I would actually choose the Holiday Inn Express because that particular hotel supports the community better, if you visit the website www.coeurdalene.org

you won%26#39;t see the Hampton listed as a lodging choice because they aren%26#39;t visitor bureau members!

and I%26#39;ll just apologize for the gas prices now they went up another 5 cents a gallon here, but North Idaho is better than washington and a lot of other places.

Thanks everyone for your insight! I think that we%26#39;ll drive from Yellowstone to Coeur d%26#39;Alene and take advantage of all it has to offer. If the weather is hot and beautiful we might just decide to bike the Hiawatha then move on the CDA. 90 degrees is a little high for this time of year...isn%26#39;t it? I really don%26#39;t expect it will stay that way until the first week in June.

Right now Boston is seasonable with temps in the 60%26#39;s... a very nice Spring. Our gas prices have gone through the roof...now hovering around $3.79! Please tell me your prices haven%26#39;t reached the $4.00 mark! Still it%26#39;s cheaper than RT airfare tickets to Seattle plus the cost of shipping a car cross country. Besides, we LOVE seeing our country first hand... what could be better?

If anyone has any other recommendations...I%26#39;m still ';listening';. Thanks!

It has cooled off again recently, with a slight drizzle much more like Spring! Our gas is at $3.54 today, still we complain even though it is cheaper than other places as it was under $3.00 a gallon last year at this time. It seems to go up 2 cents every day except on weekends so by early june expect I would say hopefully no more than $3.60-3.70 a gallon.

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