Coeur d'Alene Lake

Kootenai County · dedicated 2025 · SH-97, milepost 95.94

Between 18,000 and 13,000 years ago, the Inland Northwest witnessed some of the greatest floods in geological history. An ice dam at Lake Pend Oreille blocked the Clark Fork River, creating Lake Missoula, larger than the state of Delaware. It ruptured periodically, releasing torrents of water carrying boulders and gravel that sometimes formed smaller dams downstream, turning valleys into lakes. Here, the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe Rivers flooded a former valley, creating Coeur d’Alene Lake. At 32,000 acres, with 109 miles of shoreline, many consider it one of the world’s most beautiful lakes.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

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Coeur d'Alene Lake

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