State Parks: Priest Lake

Lying a mere 30 miles from the U.S.-Canada border is Priest Lake State Park. While originally part of the Priest Lake State Forest, it was transferred from the Department of Lands to the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and designated as its own state park in 1973. The best way to reach Priest Lake State Park from Coeur d’Alene is to head 78.6 miles north on Idaho 57.

Priest Lake State Park is located in the foothills of the Selkirk Mountains, a mountain range made of metamorphic rock that runs from the Idaho Panhandle into Canada and was frequently mined for coal, copper, gold, marble, mercury, silver and zinc back in the day. To discover the namesake of both the state park and the lake it sits along, we have to go back to the 1840s, when Jesuit missionary priests established a base camp in the area. In 1846, Father Desmet named the lake “Roothaan Lake,” after his Jesuit Superior in Rome, but it was changed to “Kaniksu Lake” in 1865 by Capt. John Mullan, supposedly to reflect the Native American name of the Jesuit priests. Finally, the name was changed again come the early 1900s to Priest Lake.

Priest Lake is a rather recently formed lake, geologically speaking. It was only after the vast glaciers that covered the region during the Ice Age receded that the area became habitable. The lake the glaciers left behind is 19 miles long and more than 300 feet deep.

Trees and other plants quickly regrew. The ancestors of the Kalispel Native American tribe and animals could resettle the land. Today, the park is admired for its beauty and diverse activities guests can partake in, including boating, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and much more.

The forest making up Priest Lake State Park is mostly made up of pine trees like cedar, fir and tamarack. Tamarack trees are especially designed to handle ultra-cold temperatures in higher latitudes, capable of surviving as low as at least 85 degrees below zero! No wonder they’re so common near the Arctic circle.

Animals that make their home in the state park include whitetail deer, moose, black bears and ospreys. If you’re fortunate, you may just spot our national bird, the bald eagle, flying overhead. They’re the largest true bird of prey in North America, with a wingspan of 5.9-7.5 feet!

PRIEST LAKE STATE PARK SCAVENGER HUNT

As you explore Priest Lake State Park, see if you can find all of the items on this list. You may want to ask a ranger or park employee if you need help identifying one or more of the items on this list. Be sure to check them off as you go!

[ ] a park sign

[ ] Priest Lake

[ ] a fallen tree

[ ] something left behind by an animal that is diurnal, meaning it comes out in the daytime (e.g. footprint, droppings, tuft of fur)

[ ] tamarack tree

[ ] a soaring bird

[ ] animal droppings

[ ] an animal that walks on two legs

[ ] a large rock

[ ] a spider web