Idaho Panhandle; Lakes, Rivers & Silver Mining
August 16; 17-23, 2008            Idaho, Washington, Montana
425 Miles/7 days (6 days riding, 1 day off)
$975/$350 Deposit    Rating: I55-I90
Balance due by: June 16, 2008

Explore mines and waterways of the Idaho Panhandle (North Idaho) on bike.  The Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Clark’s Fork and Pend Oreille rivers connect Lake Coeur d’Alene, Lake Pend Oreille and Spokane essentially forms the 425 mile loop.

The loop will start and end at the Spokane, WA airport.  From the airport, take a roller coaster ride over the Palouse hills and on to Plummer to pick up the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s.  The trail passes over the southern end of the lake and on to Harrison, ID where we’ll spend the night on the lake.  From Harrison, follow the old RR route converted to a bike path past the Cataldo Mission (oldest building in Idaho, 1844) to Wallace, a town rich in silver mining history, for an overnight stay. The town of Wallace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  For those interested, Wallace has a railroad museum, a mining museum and a miner’s cemetery.

From Wallace the tour climbs Dobson Pass, descends, passes through the living ghost town of Murray and then continues on up Thompson Pass (4860 ft).  Descend into Montana, the Big Sky Country.  After an overnight stay in Thompson Falls, MT, we will ride down the Clark’s Fork River past the Cabinet Mountains and Cabinet Gorge.  Please note that some Montana and Idaho roads are a bit narrow.  The route passes back into Idaho and proceeds along the north shore of Lake Pend Oreille.

There will be a 2 night stay in Sandpoint, ID on Lake Pend Oreille.  Sandpoint offers swimming, hiking, biking and other activities. From Sandpoint, the route goes over the “long bridge”, west along the Pend Oreille River, through Spirit Lake (started in 1902 as a panhandle lumbering community) and on to the town of Coeur d’Alene for a night on the north shore of the lake. The route returns to Spokane along the Spokane River via the Centennial Trial, past Post Falls, Spokane Falls, Gonzaga University, the 1974 World’s Fair site and Riverside State Park. To view photos of the ride, go to http://www.oregonbicycleride.org/bi2005_gallery.html

Tour Leader: Harvey Hoogstrate
For more information contact Harvey @ 303-755-9362 or email harvhoog@gmail.com