Kootenai County is located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, its population was 171,362, making it the third-most populous county in Idaho and the largest in North Idaho, the county accounting for 45.4% of the region's total population. The county seat and largest city is Coeur d'Alene. The county was established in 1864 and named after the Kootenai tribe. Kootenai County is coterminous with the Coeur d'Alene metropolitan area, which along with the Spokane metropolitan area comprises the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area.
Coeur d'Alene is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 54,628 at the 2020 census. Coeur d'Alene is a satellite city of Spokane, which is located about thirty miles (50 km) to the west in the state of Washington. The two cities are the key components of the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene Combined Statistical Area, of which Coeur d'Alene is the third-largest city. The city is situated on the north shore of the 25-mile (40 km) long Lake Coeur d'Alene and to the west of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains. Locally, Coeur d'Alene is known as the "Lake City," or simply called by its initials, "CDA."
The Inland Northwest, historically and alternatively known as the Inland Empire, is a region of the American Northwest centered on the Greater Spokane, Washington Area, encompassing all of Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Under broader definitions, Northeastern Oregon and Western Montana may be included in the Inland Northwest. Alternatively, stricter definitions may exclude Central Washington and Idaho County, Idaho.
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe are a Native American tribe and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho.
The Coeur d'Alene Reservation is a Native American reservation in northwestern Idaho, United States. It is home to the federally recognized Coeur d'Alene, one of the five federally recognized tribes in the state.
Clearwater National Forest with headquarters on the Nez Perce Reservation at Kamiah is located in North Central Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, and on the south and west by the Nez Perce National Forest and Palouse Prairie.
The Idaho panhandle—locally known as North Idaho, Northern Idaho, or simply the Panhandle—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shoshone. The panhandle is bordered by the state of Washington to the west, Montana to the east, and the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. The Idaho panhandle, along with Eastern Washington, makes up the region known as the Inland Northwest, headed by its largest city, Spokane, Washington.
The Kaniksu National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and northwestern Montana. It is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, along with the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and St. Joe National Forest. Kaniksu National Forest has a total area of 1,627,833 acres (6,587.6 km2). About 55.7% is in Idaho, 27.9% in Montana, and 16.4% in Washington.
The St. Joe National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the Idaho panhandle and is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. In descending order of land area St. Joe National Forest is located in parts of Shoshone, Latah, Clearwater, and Benewah counties. It has a total area of 867,882 acres (3,512 km2).\
The Idaho Panhandle National Forests are a jointly administered set of three national forests located mostly in the U.S. state of Idaho. In 1973, major portions of the Kaniksu, Coeur d'Alene, and St. Joe National Forests were combined to be administratively managed as the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF). The IPNF consists of more than 2.5 million acres (10,000 km2) of public lands in the panhandle of north Idaho, with small areas extending into eastern Washington (4.7%) and western Montana (1.2%). The northernmost portion of the IPNF share a boundary with Canada. The Forest Supervisor's office is located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with district office's in Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, Priest River, Fernan and Smelterville, and St. Maries and Avery.
The Coeur d'Alene River flows 37 miles (60 km) from the Silver Valley into Lake Coeur d'Alene in the U.S. state of Idaho. The stream continues out of Lake Coeur d'Alene as the Spokane River.
The Silver Valley is a region in the northwest United States, in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains in northern Idaho. It is noted for its mining heritage, dating back to the 1880s.
The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes is a rail trail in the Idaho Panhandle of the United States. It follows the right-of-way of the former Union Pacific Railroad from Mullan, a mountain mining town near the Montana border, westward to Plummer, a town on the prairie near the Washington border. Generally following the Coeur d'Alene River, the rail line was abandoned in 1991, and the trail officially opened in March 2004.
Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Area is located near Clarkia in the St. Joe National Forest of Idaho in the northwestern United States. The grove is a 240-acre (97 ha) area containing old growth Western Red Cedar estimated to be 500 years old. The upper area contains Western Red Cedar surrounded by Oregon boxwood. The lower portion of the area contain the giant cedars surrounded by Lady-fern. The forest was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980.
Interstate 90 (I-90) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway that runs east–west across the northern United States. Within the state of Idaho, the freeway travels for 74 miles (119 km) from the Washington border near Spokane to Coeur d'Alene and the panhandle region at the north end of the state. After traveling through the Silver Valley along the Coeur d'Alene River in the Bitterroot Range, I-90 crosses into Montana at Lookout Pass.
The Saint Joe River is a 140-mile (225 km) long tributary of Coeur d'Alene Lake in northern Idaho. Beginning at an elevation of 6,487 feet (1,977 m) in the Northern Bitterroot Range of eastern Shoshone County, it flows generally west through the Saint Joe River Valley and the communities of Avery and Calder. Past Calder, it flows into Benewah County and through the town of St. Maries, where it receives its largest tributary, the Saint Maries River. It then turns northwest, passing through Heyburn State Park before reaching its mouth just north of the Kootenai County line. Much of the river's route through Heyburn State Park is partially flooded due to raised water levels from the Washington Water Power dam at Post Falls on the Spokane River below Coeur d'Alene Lake. With a mouth elevation of 2,129 feet (649 m), it is claimed to be the highest navigable river in the world.
The Palouse Forest Reserve and after March 4, 1907, the Palouse National Forest was established by Presidential Proclamation on March 2, 1907 and was one of President Theodore Roosevelt's Midnight forests, created before the federal law banning new forest reserves in six western states, including Idaho, became effective.
Savenac Nursery Historic District is located near Haugan in Mineral County, Montana. It is 15 miles from St. Regis, Montana. Savenac was once one of the largest and oldest USDA Forest Service tree nurseries in the western United States, operating from 1907 until 1969. The nursery was created by Elers Koch, of the Forest Service, who also helped fight the Great Fire of 1910 that destroyed much of the Rocky Mountains in the northern part of USA, including the nursery. Savenac once produced over 12 million seedlings annually for use in reforestation of national forests throughout the United States. Its former operations have been moved to the Coeur d'Alene Nursery in Idaho.
The Edward Pulaski Tunnel and Placer Creek Escape Route are two adjacent sites used by the United States Forest Service firefighter Edward Pulaski in the Great Fire of 1910 to save the lives of himself and most of his crew. The sites are located south of Wallace, Idaho in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Pulaski's tunnel and escape route are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Idaho v. United States, 533 U.S. 262 (2001), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the United States, not the state of Idaho, held title to lands submerged under Lake Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe River, and that the land was held in trust for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe as part of its reservation, and in recognition of the importance of traditional tribal uses of these areas for basic food and other needs.
