I recently revisited the section of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s from Plummer to Harrison and back. For an earlier description of this ride check this post.
The first fourteen miles of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s is located on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation and managed by the tribe. My starting point is the trailhead just off US-95 in Plummer.
Plummer is the headquarters of the tribe and the trailhead features a memorial to all of it’s members who gave their lives in defense of their country, be it the United States and also those who defended their homeland against the United States.
Plummer is located on the Palouse Prairie, an area of extremely productive and beautiful farmland. The first mile goes through a small piece of it.
Just before entering Plummer Canyon, the trail crosses an active rail line with branches to a lumber mill south of town and another that crosses the lake to St. Maries. The continuation of the line to Santa was the subject of an earlier post.
The next six miles of the trail follows Plummer Creek on it’s almost seven hundred foot descent to the lake at Heyburn State Park. For an old railroad, it is extremely steep.
Early on the trail uses an old railroad bridge to cross the creek. There is a noticeable lack of shade here.
That’s because the upper part of the canyon experienced a stand replacement fire a couple of years ago. It seem like lots of my recent trips have been through areas effected by wildfires in the last few years.
It will be interesting to see who the habitat recovers over the next couple of decades.
As you approach Heyburn State Park, Idaho’s oldest state park, you pass through an area that has been managed to restore an open canopy ponderosa pine forest. These areas did not burn during the recent wildfires.
About seven miles in the trail finally reaches the shore of Chatcolet Lake which is basically an extension of Lake Coeur d’Alene due to the water level being raised about eight feet a century ago. Across the lake there’s a nice view of the St. Joe Mountains.
The state park has a trailhead next to the park’s boat ramp.
Past the park the trail crosses the lake on a modified old swing railroad bridge. This is one of the highlights of the trip.
The original structure including the bridge tenders shack was elevated and new approaches utilizing a stair step configuration were built so that the bridge can always be open. When used as a railroad, the bridge was typically swung in an open position to allow unimpeded boat traffic and closed when trains passed over the channel.
The stair step design makes climbing to the top relatively easy and descending can be exciting. If no one is coming towards you and you feel a little reckless, you can get a little air on the way down.
The next seven miles of the trail follows the shore line of Lake Coeur d’Alene. In places some of the bays were shortened to maker the old railroad straighter. The areas inside these berms have become wetlands instead of open water.
Conversely where promontories were bypassed scenic rock cuts reveal the underlaying geology dominated by basalt.
At mile marker 15 the trail enters Harrison. Harrison is one of the oldest towns in Kootenai County and was even briefly the county seat. It is a great place to stop and enjoy an ice cream cone or an adult beverage, take your pick. I find the two of those don’t mix very well.
The best is yet to come. Now you get to recrosse that amazing bridge and then grind it up a very steep seven mile long grade usually in the face of the prevailing winds. At least you have time to appreciate the rock cuts along the way.
