Coeur d’Alene Campground

This campground remains tranquil and pristine largely due to the fact that not many people know about it.  The National Park Services keeps it well maintained and has even installed one of the new stinkless outhouses!  There is a wonderful little creek that runs through the campground and a small bridge that connects to more camping and picnic areas as well as hiking trails.

To find this campground, drive the Hope Road from the Seward Highway out toward Hope.  Turn left on Palmer Creek Road.  Follow this dirt road until you see the park sign and parking lot on the left side of the road. 

There is no water provided at this site yet, so you must either bring your own or draw it out of the creek.  Even though the creek water is probably fine, do not take chances.  Boil your water, filter it or use chemical treatments to make sure it safe to drink.

The drive up to Coeur d'Alene is a gorgeous scenic trip along a one lane mining road.  Click here to see a panoramic video clip at one of a point along the road.  (4.6Mbs)  The state maintains the road up to the campground.  For an exciting four wheel trip, continue on up Palmer Creek Road as far as you dare!  Just past the campground we found blueberry bushes right along side of the road.  These will be ripe by mid August.  During our June 2003 trip we watched a pretty good sized black bear cross the road as we were driving back down to Hope, so keep alert as you are in bear country.

At the top of the road you will eventually run into some old gold mining camps.  These have been abandoned so long ago that only broken rubbish remains.  If your vehicle can climb up into the old mining road, look for the ruin of an old building built from stone right into the bedrock of the mountain.  An old metal bed frame still remains inside!

In the campground itself, our favorite place to pitch our tents is across the bridge on the other side of the creek from the main camping area.  There is a campsite directly across the bridge, but continue up the hill about twenty steps and you can camp right along side the creek.  The sun shone until about midnight and as we were falling asleep a thunderstorm struck.  Emily, Claimjumper and I all laid inside the tent and enjoyed the show, while Mountainman slept right through it.  Click here to watch a clip of the stream we camped next to rushing underneath the bridge. (8.9Mbs)

Last visited: June 2003

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