I drove out to Heyburn State Park on the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene to take a short hike on the Indian Cliffs Trail and to check out Idaho’s oldest state park.
Heyburn State Park was established in 1908 and is the oldest state park in the Pacific Northwest. The park is located between Plummer and St. Maries Idaho about an hour south of the City of Coeur d’Alene. The St. Joe River empties in to the lake within the park.
The trailhead for the Indian Cliffs hike was about two miles in to the park from the visitor center on State Road 5. Just after you cross the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s after Plummer Creek there is a parking area. At the first junction take a left for an easier limb and better views.
After the junction, the trail climbs at a moderate grade through a forest that slowly becomes more open above and parallel to Plummer Creek.
After three quarters of a mile the trail passes through an area that was impacted by a wild fire thirty years ago. The fire left many surviving ponderosa pines and the state worked to restore the original open floor habitat after that. It reminded me of long leaf pine/wire grass habitat in Florida.
After climbing about five hundred feet, we were treated to views of the lakes and wetlands below. That’s the mouth of Plummer Creek where it enters the lake.
Across the canyon we had a view of the railroad that still services the lumber mill in St. Maries. We got to see the weekly or so train that still runs on this line. This is the same line that I hiked on beyond St. Maries that is now abandoned.
As we got towards the top of the ridge the views got better. You can see the channel of the St. Joe River in the middle of the lake. Over a hundred years ago the Post Falls Dam raised the level of the lake flooding the lowlands on the south end of the lake. The river banks being somewhat higher still bracket the old river channel creating a “river in a lake”.
It was a overcast and for this time of year, a very humid day. It was the first time I sweated in seventy degree weather in many years. It did end up raining a little which is god send for the guys and gals that work so hard to keep wild fires contained. This tree looked like it had experienced more than one serious weather event in its time.
Further along the ridge there were rock outcroppings. For about a mile the views across the lake were unimpeded.
Indian Cliffs are not a straight drop off but there are boulder fields at the base covered in moss. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
After descending down the slope we were treated to a couple of surprises. Those of you that follow this blog know I love Western Red Cedars and this little grove was a gem.
A little further we came across one of the largest White Pines I.ve seen. Western White Pine were decimated many decades ago by an invasive disease and almost became extinct in there native range. Luckily some trees were resistant and the U.S. Forest Service has been working on using the genetics from these trees to breed a new generation of White Pines. This one obviously predated the blister rust.
After completing the just over three mile loop with a five hundred foot elevation gain we checked out the day use area for the park. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s passes through it and in the distance you can see the bridge for the trail over the lake.
If not here’s a better view. The bike ride from Plummer to here is about seven miles and all down hill. The lake looked a littler rough today due to passing thunder storms. Glad I didn’t choose to kayak.
Heyburn State Park is awesome. The easy hike we took was extremely scenic. A thirteen mile drive to the town of St. Maries and another ten miles or so up the St. Joe was a nice extension. On the way back I highly recommend the Gateway Café in Plummer for a late lunch. Totally five stars all the way.
