Cd'A tops list of mountain towns

Looking to spend some time in the best high-altitude town in the nation?

Look no further, Lake City residents. You're already there.

Prolific travel and tourism writer Steve Winston ranked Coeur d'Alene No. 1 in a list of the 'Top Mountain Towns in America.' Winston's list was published Tuesday by World Property Channel, a global real estate information company.

Winston describes the nation's best mountain towns as filled with friendly folk, with a genuine "country" feel, and no lack of fun things to do outdoors.

"Coeur d'Alene is cobbled sidewalks and gas-lit streetlamps and green awnings and red-brick storefronts, behind which lie attractive little shops, eateries, and galleries," penned Winston. "It sits on an ice-blue alpine lake with 125 miles of shoreline, from which rise 7,000-foot mountains covered in deep-green forest."

The Lake City's mountain-town ambiance is enhanced, Winston wrote, by The Coeur d'Alene Resort, Tubbs Hill and the city's proximity to the Route of the Hiawatha in the Silver Valley. Winston describes the Hiawatha cycling trail - which runs along abandoned railroad tracks, through tunnels and old trestles - as "one of America's most unusual mountain-bike routes."

Sandpoint is the only other Idaho town on the list.

Winston, a journalist based in Florida, has been writing about tourism and travel for 30 years. He has written or contributed to 17 books, and his articles have appeared in major media all over the world.

• Top mountain towns in U.S.

1. Coeur d'Alene

2. Estes Park, Colo.

3. Bryson City, N.C.

4. Sandpoint

5. Winter Park, Colo.

6. Taos, N.M.

7. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

8. Lake George, N.Y.

9. Woodstock, Vt.

10. Bend, Ore.

Source: www.worldpropertychannel.com