The Coeur d'Alene Mountains are the northwesternmost portion of the

Bitterroot Range The Bitterroot Range is a mountain range and a subrange of the Rocky Mountains that runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of and is named after the bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva' ...

, part of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, located in

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

and westernmost

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. The mountain range spans an area of and its two highest peaks are the Cherry Peak and the Patricks Knob. The range is named after the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Several decent-sized roadless areas exist in the Montana portion of the Coeur d'Alenes. Around of roadless country centered on Mount Bushnell, south of Thompson Falls, provides good habitat for deer, elk, and mountain lion. This area is/was densely forested with lodgepole pine generated from the

Great Fire of 1910 The Great Fire of 1910 (also commonly referred to as the Big Blowup, the Big Burn, or the Devil's Broom fire) was a wildfire in the Inland Northwest region of the United States that burned in North Idaho and Western Montana, with extensions into ...

. Thirty miles (48 km) of trails provide good hiking opportunities in this roadless area. Talus slopes, grassy parks in the highest reaches, and boggy creek bottoms characterize the landscape here in addition to the forests. Lush riparian areas are home to the Coeur d'Alene salamander and tailed frog. Just east of the Mount Bushnell area are approximately of roadless land centered on Cherry Peak, highest in the Coeur d'Alenes. Vertical relief exceeds in less than two miles (3.2 km) from the

Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. The largest river by volume in Montana, it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and ...

to this area's highest peaks. Several tiny alpine lakes are hidden in cirque basins on Eddy Mountain. Subalpine fir and

devil's club Devil's club or devil's walking stick (''Oplopanax horridus'', Araliaceae; syn. ''Echinopanax horridus'', ''Fatsia horrida'') is a large understory shrub native to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, but also disjunct on islands in Lake S ...

are commonly found. Another are roadless around Patrick's Knob. This area contains thick forests of Douglas-fir and larch in the west and scattered trees in the east; a large and commonly seen herd of

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

winters here. An old bootlegger's cabin is located on Fourteen Mile Creek.

Notes

Bitterroot Range Mountain ranges of Idaho Mountain ranges of Montana Landforms of Sanders County, Montana Coeur d'Alene, Idaho {{Montana-geo-stub

See also

Notes