Priest Lake, Idaho Adventure

Priest Lake, located less than two hours from Coeur d’Alene, is a place that we visited during our first trip to Northern Idaho a few years ago. At that time, we parked at the Lionhead Campground and kayaked on the Priest Lake Throughfare and Upper Priest Lake. This time, we camped at Priest Lake State Park, located on the eastern shore of the lake, at the Indian Creek Campground. Surprisingly, this was our first time camping in a state park. Priest Lake State Park offers sites with no hook-ups, partial hook-ups, full hook-ups, tent sites, and a day use parking area.

We loved camping here, though it is very challenging to get a reservation. We got lucky and were able to reserve a partial hookup site with an asphalt pad. The campground features very friendly staff, hiking trails, a dump station, easy access to the lake, an ice cream shop, and a well-stocked store. Every aspect of this camping experience at the park was stellar!

Since we still did not have the cap for the truck, I (Stella) enjoyed the water via my paddleboard while Larry sat on the beach. From the boat dock, I paddled west around Indian Creek Bay and the tip of Pinto Point along the shoreline to the other side. Along this side of the lake, beautiful homes dot the shore. I did not have my phone to utilize an app to track my distance, but the estimated miles paddled was around three miles.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We had reservations to camp in this same spot the following weekend, but we ended up canceling since the A.R.E. truck cap still hasn’t arrived. We were looking forward to camping here again, but we really want to have all of our gear with us. I had a great time paddling and we both had a fabulous time at this campground.

WHERE IS PADDLE & TRAILS HEADED NEXT?