Riding the Coeur d’ Alene
- Ted Yates
- Jun 21, 2024
- 2 min read

Today Sully drove us to the beginning of the Coeur d’ Alene which is a famous rails to trail in Idaho. It’s 73 miles long. But before we left Sully’s house we had the task of removing the mud that coated every inch of our bikes from our previous ride. Sully’s big German Shepherd, Onyx, helped with this task.

Once on the trail we had about an six mile down hill to the town of Wallace. I can’t say the trail was beautiful along this stretch since it ran along side Interstate 90. The trail is interesting because the asphalt that covers the trail is used as a barrier to seal in hazardous mining pollutants. The Union Pacific Railroad, U.S. government, the State of Idaho, and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe partnered to build the trail. The thick asphalt and the gravel barriers on the sides of the trail serve as a permanent cap to isolate contaminants from the surrounding environment. A portion of the trail is within the Coeur d'Alene Reservation, and an approximately 15-mile section of the trail is managed by the Tribe.

Once we passed through Kellogg at mile 15 the trail moved away from the highway, the small hamlets and towns and then followed steams, skirted large lakes and cut across expansive wetlands. Along the way we spotted a moose. It’s the first time I’d ever seen one. The last 6 miles of the trail were the opposite of the first 6 miles and after 67 miles of pedal, pedal, pedal the 6 mile climb was very tiring.

As usual, after the ride we head to a brewery in Coeur d’ Alene for refreshments and food.

Today was a good day!
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