Coeur d’Alene and Hiawatha Trail 4-day Cycling Adventure

Arrive in Spokane

Arrive in Spokane on your own, an easy drive on I-90 or served by most major airlines.

Group Orientation, Riverside State Park to the Idaho Border

We meet you in the morning and get you checked out on your bike. Our morning ride explores Riverside State Park, a nearly 9200-acre park adjacent to Spokane. This was home to the Spokane Indians who lived along the river and remain part of Spokane’s culture. Fur-trading was established by the Northwest Fur Company in 1810 at Nine Mile Falls where our trail begins.

Our guides take you through history as you learn about the building of the park starting in 1933 when Camp 7 Mile was established by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). They quickly set to work building roads and the suspension bridge over the Spokane River at the Bowl and Pitcher rapids (later replaced by a pedestrian-only suspension bridge that we see on our ride). The scenery along the river is stunning, with towering ponderosa pines and black basalt canyon outcroppings which are the result of the Columbia basalt flows of 13 million years ago. 

We lunch in downtown Spokane and continue our ride on the Washington Centennial Trail east through the University District through the broad Spokane Valley. At the Idaho/Washington border, we offer a van shuttle to downtown Coeur d’Alene, or you may choose to ride the final 13 miles.
 

Biking Miles: 37 miles total with an optional additional 13 miles. 
 

ACCOMMODATION : Springhill Suites by Marriott (or similar)

MEALS INCLUDED : Lunch, Dinner

Ride the Route of the Olympian and the Trail of the Hiawatha

We rise to a beautiful Idaho morning and head east, just over the border into Montana to ride on the Route of the Olympian and the Trail of the Hiawatha.  Our ride starts on the Route of the Olympian at the small town of Saltese where the trail, which starts further east in St. Regis, becomes non-motorized. This is hard-packed gravel climbs gently following the St. Regis river, to East Portal where the Route of the Hiawatha begins. Here we enter our first of seven tunnels that are highlights of today’s ride. Few trails combine fun, wonder, and spectacular scenery the way the Route of the Hiawatha does. Peer down into thick forests of pine and cedar from trestles spanning deep canyons. Gaze up at steep slopes covered in trees and learn about the story of the Big Burn of 1910, one of the biggest forest fires in modern US history.  Our gravel trail ride is an easy downhill slope.  At the start of each tunnel, we stop, turn on our lights and give our eyes time to adjust before pedaling on into the darkness.  

At the end of our ride, we have a short drive to the historic mining town of Wallace.  The downtown is filled with storied brick buildings, a couple of breweries, good eating spots, and friendly locals.  

Biking Miles: 24-miles Packed Gravel

ACCOMMODATION : Wallace Inn (or Similar)

MEALS INCLUDED : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, Cataldo Mission, Ride on to Harrison

Those wanting to ride the entire length of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes are shuttled 7 miles east to the town of Mullan to begin their ride.  Others may start in Wallace.  We ride west along the main stem of the Coeur d’Alene River through the Silver Valley.  This mining district opened in the 1880s and more silver has been extracted from the shaft mines here than anywhere else in the world.  Learn about the history of the region’s mining and the colorful characters that lived here.  

We stop for lunch at the local’s favorite, the Enaville Snake Pit where the daring might want to try Rocky Mountain Oysters.  After lunch, we stop at the Cataldo Mission, Idaho’s oldest building.  The Jesuit missionaries established this mission and guided the construction between 1850-53 with labor provided by the local Indigenous people.  

Our ride continues as the trail turns south to follow the Chain Lakes of the Coeur d’Alene River, through marshes and farmland.  We usually see waterfowl, osprey, and sometimes deer and moose.

Our destination is the quiet hamlet of Harrison, Idaho set on the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene.  

Biking Miles: 47-mile bike ride with optional 7 miles.

ACCOMMODATION : Osprey Inn (or similar)

MEALS INCLUDED : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Heyburn State Park, Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, Return to Spokane

From Harrison, the trail follows the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, then crosses over the lake on a low and scenic bridge that leads to Heyburn State Park.  We stop for an optional 2.3-mile hike on the Indian Cliffs Trail for panoramic views of Lake Chacolet and Lake Coeur d’Alene.  Our ride continues as we climb the gentle slope through a gorgeous forest of Ponderosa Pines on the edge of the Palouse, one of the world’s most productive farming areas.  After a picnic lunch on our route, we arrive at the western trailhead in Plummer, Idaho, and transfer to Spokane.

Biking Miles: 16 miles.

MEALS INCLUDED : Breakfast, Lunch