Adventure Cycling Association

Your tour begins in the beautiful northern Idaho tourist town of Coeur d’Alene surrounded by crystal-clear glacial lakes. Arrive early to check out the many local activities from boat rentals to beautiful lake vistas during sunrises or sunsets. You’ll meet your fellow riders and your tour leader for an orientation meeting after check-in and a short walk to a local restaurant for dinner to prep yourself for six awesome days of riding.

After breakfast, we’ll climb aboard our bikes and begin our ride out of Coeur d’Alene along the East Yellowstone Trail. Spinning our way along the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene on rural roads, we’ll arrive at the Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes in Harrison, Idaho. You’ll enjoy this quaint, quiet town and all it has to offer: ice cream, the Crane House Museum, and swimming in Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Today we’ll continue up the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes to the Silver Valley, alongside the river and through pine forests to historic Wallace — known as the “Silver Capital of the World.” Along the way, we’ll take a side trip to the Old Mission State Park and visit the oldest building still standing in Idaho. The Sacred Heart Mission was built between 1850 and 1853 by Catholic missionaries and members of the Coeur d’Alene tribe — incredibly, without the use of a single nail. In the afternoon, you’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the beauty and history of Wallace. You might choose to hike the Pulaski Tunnel Trail, take a Sierra Silver mine tour, or enjoy the local Sixth Street Melodrama.

Our day will begin with an optional shuttle ride to the East Portal trailhead of the Route of the Hiawatha in Montana. Don’t forget to pack your headlamp, because you’ll ride through 10 extremely dark tunnels on this scenic rail trail, including the 1.7-mile–long Taft Tunnel (bring a jacket, it can be cold in there!). Your group will also cross seven lofty trestles offering magnificent views of the surrounding forested mountains. You’ll gradually cover 15 miles of the gravel-surfaced trail through the heart of the rugged Bitterroot Mountains to the Pearson Trailhead before catching the shuttle back to Mullan, Idaho, to complete the daily mileage to Wallace. We’ll then spend another night in the Silver Valley.

We’ll zip back along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes to a delightful overnight stay in Harrison, reliving some of the adventure of the previous few days but perhaps spotting that ever-elusive moose, elk, eagle, or osprey that call the area home.

After breakfast, we’ll continue along the trail past marshes and wetlands, squeezing between Swan Lake and Cave Lake along the Coeur d’Alene River. We’ll be coasting along Lake Coeur d’Alene over the photogenic, 3,100-foot Chatcolet Bridge, with its unique “stair-step” design that’s a blast to ride over. Built in 1921 as a railroad bridge, it’s expressly for cyclists and hikers today. We’ll leave the trail in Plummer and make our way along secondary roads to our overnight in Worley.

On our last day together, we will make our way north back toward Coeur d’Alene along the western edge of Lake Coeur d’Alene. We’ll say our goodbyes at the trailhead, thoroughly relaxed and rejuvenated after our week of mellow cycling and great sightseeing in the gorgeous and serene panhandle of Idaho.