This state park has many things to do. A tree-filled park along 3 lakes, it has three campgrounds with room for both tents in some and both tents and campers in others. There are also some quite rustic cabins belonging to the park at one campground. The long Coeur D'Alene bicycle trail passes through the park, and one can have easy access to it near the well-known arched bridge. It is also a great place for kayaking and canoeing with the special attraction of the "river within the lake". For those less adventurous, there is a short nature trail. For a more modern bathroom facility with shower access, stay at the Hawley's Landing campground. It has room for both tents and campers. This campground requires reservations. However, we were able to get a week-night reservation just two days ahead of time. We like to go there for a casual camping trip with many activities.
Great views of a remarkable lake. Access to the most beautiful part of an outstanding bike trail. Camping and rental cabins. Boating access.
We stayed at Benewah campground in Heyburn State Park. It was gorgeous and the bathrooms/showers were great, practically new and very clean. Bring your own handsoap, though, none is provided. Also, the lake is close, but the shore is rocky, so no good place for little ones to play by the water. And the trails for the main part of Heyburn State park are located in Hawley's Landing and Chatcolet campgrounds. We only had one "trail," which was nice, but short. It led to some railroad tracks. So those looking for more adventure might want to try the other two campgrounds. The campground host was so nice, though, and the campground was lush and pretty. We really enjoyed it.
The headline says it all. Located at the south end of Lake Coeur d'Alene near Harrison, the area offers a treasure trove of wildlife for those interested in Mother Nature at its best. It is not uncomon to see moose, elk, deer, bear, and the occasional wolf. It is a birdwatcher's paridise -- heron, bald eagles, osprey, a variety of halks, Canada geese, pheasant, grouse,and other feathered friends. The park is easily accessed by car, bicycle, or hicking.
While I am more of a backpacker than park ground camper this place is not bad. The campsite are dispersed well and there are lots of options for activities. Hiking, Canoeing, Fishing and Biking are all available. Of course you could just chill out by the campfire.
Large state park on the confluence of three lakes and the St. Joe River. Three campgrounds, quite different from one another. I did not think the campgrounds were all that great, but they were okay. Two of them, closer to the visitor center, take reservations. One has hook-ups for RVs, the other does not. Both of these are also close to the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene - a 72 mile paved trail great for hikers and bikers. There are other hikes as well. Also Plummer Marsh for bird watching. Lots of boating opportunities. We preferred Benewah campground down the road on Benewah Lake. It was a little quieter, did not require reservations. Nice, clean restrooms with showers but the campsites were full of "micro-trash". The RV sites with hook-ups looked okay, but we have a teardrop and do not use hookups. The other sites were pretty small, on top of each other and uneven. BUT it is right near the boat launch and the 3 lakes and "shadow" St. Joe River were an absolute delight to kayak on. Lots of wonderful wildlife and birds too. Nice people and host. We will probably be back for some more paddling.
We tend to park at Heyburn in order to ride the Trail of the Cd'A. It saves a six mile climb, though it's not steep, up to Plummer. Parking for the day is $5.
Within Heyburn State Park, we always stay at Benewah Campground. It sits further off the highway in a forested area; as you turn off the highway on to the road to the grounds, you begin to doubt there is actually a campground because you will pass houses and rental cabins first before dropping down the little hill to the boat launch and back up the other side to the campground entrance. Benewah is further down Highway 5 from the main campground; it's worth the few extra minutes drive. Each site is fairly private with lots of tree shade and shrubbery. They have central bathrooms, which are always clean; both toilets and showers. As well as adequate drinking water access. We go every summer since we discovered the campground. We love to take our dog and ride bikes on the trails around the grounds. There are several locations to enter the lake from off the trails. Plus a small boat launch just outside the entrance to the campground, with a few docks within the campground. We also spend some time at the main Heyburn campground, where there is plenty of beach to play on for kids and boat rentals to spend some time on the water. We also really appreciate the two separate loops, the right loop for trailers and motor homes and the left loop for tents; we are tenters and appreciate not having generators next to us. Our stays have been one night to four nights per stay.
I stayed at Hawley's Landing campground and it was average. Spaces are pretty close together. Don't stay in Space 21 next to the camp hosts as the woman talks loud and never shuts up. Lots of nice trails, including the trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. Beautiful scenery and lots of birds.
We stayed here for 4 days/3 nights with kids (8 & 5). It was very quiet since it was the last week of August, but I get the sense that it is always a bit quieter than most state parks we visit. There was a tent section in the Chatoclet circle. Deer visited each evening. There were outhouses with real toilets, but no sinks, lights or showers (which we didn't see as a bad thing, but one should be aware.)We rented kayaks and canoes at nearby Rocky Point and there is also a nice swimming area there with picnic tables and some shade. We hiked a short distance to the bridge that goes over the lake- many others rode bikes to that area. There was a small playground, interesting museum in the park office, and it looked like they did some fun programming for the kids, but we didn't attend. We also didn't have time to walk the marsh boardwalk, though that looked interesting too. We took a day trip to the Emerald Creek Garnet mine near Clarkia - it was a bit of work but really fun!The only downside to the area was near the lake there were a ton of gnats- they didn't bite at all, but were kind of annoying. Don't know if they are there all the time, though.Would definitely return!