Retro Grouch 

Mrs. Grouch and I finally got to ride the Coeur d'Alene Centennial trail. The lady at the motel said the end of the trail east of town was the pretiest. She was right. Most of that portion of that trail is situated on a ledge between a cliff and the large alpine lake. If you ride it, be sure to go up the hill all the way to the end of the road. It's a significant climb but Mrs Grouch, who normally eschews hills, managed it well. The elevated overlook is well worth the climb.

Coeur d'Alene is a really neat town. Mrs. Grouch and I agreed that if we didn't have kids we'd seriously consider moving there.

Rick@OCRR

My wife and I rode that trail several years ago and I totally agree with your assessment of the beauty of the trail. Wonderful area!

We had lunch in Coeur d'Alene before making the return trip.

In my opinion it's a long way from "Best Ride Ever" status but for sure worth doing if you find yourself in that general area.

Rick / OCRR

Wildwood 

Returning to Seattle or headed east?

Retro Grouch 

Back home in Missouri. Slept in my own bed last night.

FWIW, we took your suggestion to ride the Centennial Trail north of Seattle one day while we were there. That was our second most favorite ride on this trip. For a friendly, low traffic road ride Lopez Island can't be beat but I was disappointed that riding on a small island didn't provide more water views. Mostly I might just as well been in Iowa.

SquidPuppet

Did you ride the Centennial Trail, or The Trail of The Coeur d' Alenes? Did you go over the bridge to Harrison?

Retro Grouch 

Centennial Trail. We didn't ride over any bridges.

SquidPuppet

I'm trying to figure out which section you rode. May I ask where you entered and exited, exactly?

Retro Grouch 

Is there a Lake View Road or something like that on the eastern edge of town? That's where we started and rode to where the road ended. That's the part that we liked best. Then we coasted back down the hill and rode to the other end of town. Where the trail passes under I-90 we picked up some other trail until we decided it was time to turn back.

SquidPuppet

OK Ok I gotcha now. The road dead ended where there were boat ramps and trailer parking.

I don't mean to poo-poo on your nice ride, and I'm happy you enjoyed it. Next time you come here though, Please ride The Trail of The Coeur d' Alenes. There is no comparison between the two trails. Night and day. If you thought the Centennial Trail was pretty you and Mrs. Grouch will faint when you ride The Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes. It's impossible for me to overstate how much difference there is. 60 miles of along the CdA river that eventually runs along the southern end of the lake for about 15 miles. Far removed from any highways.

I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging about my area or something. I'm a transplant, not a native. I just don't want anyone to miss that ride.

Retro Grouch 

Too late. At our ages I doubt we'll make that trip by car again.

As we were discussing the trip, Mrs. Grouch and I agreed that, if we were going to relocate, Coeur d'Alane would be our very top pick. Beautiful area, reasonable climate and every single person that we met was friendly and pleasant. We didn't visit the white supremacy museum, however. The only thing that's stopping us from moving is proximity to our family.

indyfabz

The town got tired of being know primarily as a hot bed of white supremacy in Idaho. One thing that helped was a civil judgment against the Arayan Nations that resulted in them losing their compound, but they are still around:


White supremacist group returns to Idaho - Columbia Daily Tribune | Columbia Missouri: Wire


IIRC, a Hispanic woman and her daughter had some papers fly out of their car window and land on the compound's property by the side of the road. They stopped to retrieve the papers and were assaulted by members of the group. They sued, won a judgment and executed it against the property.


I have been planning a tour in Montana and Idaho that incorporates the rail-trail but may put it on hold until 2018 in favor of a trip in MN.

SquidPuppet

Yep. It's a nasty image. There have been frequent anti-white nut job rallies here for decades. Participation is 99.9% white locals who hate the message of those freaks.