Lake Coeur d'Alene, officially Coeur d'Alene Lake ( ), is a natural dam-controlled lake in

North Idaho The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shosho ...

, located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. At its northern end is the city of Coeur d'Alene. It spans in length and ranges from 1 to wide with over of shoreline. The lake was named after the Coeur d'Alene people.

Geology and geography

Lake Coeur d'Alene, like other lakes surrounding the Spokane Valley and Rathdrum Prairie, was formed by the Missoula Floods, most recently 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. The Purcell Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet flowed south from Canada, carving the basin of present-day Lake Pend Oreille and damming the Clark Fork river. The impounded river repeatedly filled to form Glacial Lake Missoula and broke through the ice dam, resulting in massive floods that filled the Rathdrum Prairie area with sand, gravel, and boulders. Large eddy bars formed downstream from bedrock obstructions, thereby damming tributary valleys and creating lakes. Lake Coeur d'Alene is fed primarily by two rivers, the Coeur d'Alene and the Saint Joe. The outflow is via the Spokane River. The lake's elevation varies from

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

in the summer to up to lower in the winter, controlled by the Post Falls Dam below the lake on the Spokane River. The lake's average surface temperature between June 1 and September 30 is .

History

The first-recorded European to see the area was explorer David Thompson in 1807. Flooding as a result of the construction and operation of the Post Falls Dam drastically changed the shape and size of the lake, expanding it to combine several smaller lakes into one. The lake has been used for transporting lumber by water in Kootenai County since the timber industry started in the region. Prior to a fire in 1917, Harrison was planned as the county seat of Kootenai County, as the swiftly growing lumber town was at an opportune junction of the St. Joe and Coeur d' Alene rivers. After the fire, the mills were moved mostly to the city of Coeur d'Alene, which developed more and was designated as the county seat. A number of

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

automobiles sitting on the bottom of the lake are the result of people in the early 1900s choosing to drive in winter across the frozen lake. But they did not always judge how thick the ice was, and went through. Also,

steamboats A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

on the bottom resulted from being burned and sunk as wrecks when they were no longer of use to ferry people around the lake. Since the late 20th century, divers frequently visit these ruins on the bottom as part of their recreation. Captain Sorensen of the ''

Amelia Wheaton ''Amelia Wheaton'' was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on Lake Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe river from 1880 to 1892. This was the first steam-powered vessel to operate on the lake and the adjacent river. This boat was sometimes r ...

'', operating the Wheaton, named most of the bays and features of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe owns the southern third of Lake Coeur d'Alene and its submerged lands as part of its reservation, in addition to miles of the Saint Joe River and its submerged lands, all of which the United States holds in trust for the tribe. Its rights to the lake and river were established in the first executive order founding its reservation, which originally included all of the lake. In '' United States v. Idaho'' (2001), the United States Supreme Court held that an 1873 executive order issued by President Ulysses S. Grant formalized ownership by the tribe. While the court holding has not affected usage and access to Lake Coeur d'Alene, the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

has ruled that the tribe may set its own water-quality standards on its portion of Lake Coeur d'Alene. On July 5, 2020, a mid air collision between two small planes occurred over the lake. Eight people were killed in the accident.

Pollution

Environmental concerns have come as a result of upstream hardrock mining and smelting operations in the Silver Valley. The Coeur d'Alene Basin, including the Coeur d'Alene River, Lake Coeur d'Alene, and also the Spokane River is polluted with heavy metals such as lead and was designated a

superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

site in 1983 that spans and of the Coeur d'Alene River. The majority of the lake bed is covered in a layer of contaminated sediment and local health officials at the Panhandle Health District advise the lake's visitors to wash anything that has come into contact with potentially lead-laced soil or dust in the Coeur d'Alene River basin.

Recreation

Eagle Watch 2015 at Mineral Ridge Boat Launch (23717145443)

Lake Coeur d'Alene is a popular tourist site for many people during the summer, offering great beaches and scenic views. A seasonal hobby of some local residents is viewing the bald eagles as they feed on the

kokanee Kokanee is a word from the Okanagan language referring to land-locked lake populations of sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''). It may also refer to: * Kokanee Range, a subrange of the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Kokanee sal ...

in the lake, mainly from the Wolf Lodge Bay. The fish that inhabit the lake include,

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

, yellow perch, white crappie, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, kokanee, Chinook salmon, northern pike. The North Idaho Centennial Trail, popular among cyclists, walkers, and joggers, follows along the lake's north and northeastern shore. The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes also runs along the southern shores. For a decade, the lake hosted

unlimited hydroplane Unlimited may refer to: * Infinity, a boundless or limitless extent or quantity Arts and entertainment Games and comics * '' Unlimited (Magic: The Gathering)'', a 1993 core set * '' SimCity 3000 Unlimited'', a revision of ''SimCity 3000'' * ''Th ...

races for the Diamond Cup (1958–1966, 1968). Idaho State Parks and public facilities *

Mineral Ridge National Recreation Trail Mineral Ridge National Recreation Trail is a backcountry hiking area near Lake Coeur d'Alene in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Construction began on the trail in 1963 and the ar ...

* Coeur d'Alene Parkway State Park * Heyburn State Park * Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes
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References

External links