On the Water

Ask ten people here where they were last Saturday and half of them will name a lake or a stretch of river. The Kootenai runs right through town, the Moyie comes in a few miles east, and the county has some 60 lakes, from ones with a boat ramp and a campground to high mountain lakes you earn on foot. This chapter covers where to launch, where to fish, and the waterfalls worth the walk.

The Kootenai River is the spine of the valley. It enters Idaho from Montana and runs 19 canyon miles down to Bonners Ferry, then 47 slow, meandering miles north past Copeland and Porthill into Canada and Kootenay Lake, all navigable by motorboat. It holds rainbow, cutthroat, bull and brook trout, and mountain whitefish, alongside long-running efforts to restore native white sturgeon and Kootenai River burbot. Public docks and a boat ramp sit right in town; Twin Rivers Resort at Moyie Springs, about eight miles upstream and owned by the Kootenai Tribe, has a boat launch right at the confluence of the Moyie and Kootenai.

Kayaks on the shore. A lot of the county's lakes are small enough that this is all the boat you need. Photo: CENTURY 21 Four Seasons Realty

The Moyie River joins from the east, passing beneath the 464-foot Moyie River Canyon Bridge, one of the highest in Idaho. High in the Selkirks, the Pack River begins at Harrison Lake, a favorite backpacking destination, then flows south out of the county toward Lake Pend Oreille.

One of the county's 271 miles of creeks, running clear in July. Most of them look like this. Photo: CENTURY 21 Four Seasons Realty

Beyond the rivers, the county holds lakes for every kind of day: Robinson, Smith, and Brush Lake near the campgrounds with docks and boat ramps, and a long list of high-country lakes (Roman Nose, Snow, Myrtle, Hidden, Pyramid, and more) reached only on foot.

Just west of town, the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge protects 2,774 acres of the Kootenai River valley bottom, established in 1964: a mosaic of wetlands, marsh, ponds, riparian forest, wet meadows, and cultivated fields rising into conifer forest at the foothills of the Selkirks. More than 300 species of wildlife have been recorded here, including over 220 species of birds: bald eagles, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, and large concentrations of migrating waterfowl, including mallards, northern pintail, and teal. Moose, elk, deer, black bear, river otter, and beaver all make their home on the refuge too.

Visitors can drive, bike, or walk the 4.5-mile Auto Tour Route, hike four trails through the varied habitat, watch wildlife from the gazebo overlooking Cascade Pond, or photograph from the first-come photo blind. Fishing and, in designated areas and seasons, hunting are both permitted, and the Friends of the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge lead guided bird walks throughout the year.

Twelve miles north, The Nature Conservancy's Ball Creek Farm Preserve adds another 2,300 acres to the valley's protected wetlands: a 500-acre restored wetland and working farm where moose, elk, bald eagles, black bear, beaver, and otter share the ground with cattle. It's open to the public free of charge, sunrise to sunset year-round, for birding, hiking, canoeing and kayaking, fly-fishing, and cross-country skiing.