If the City of Coeur d'Alene keeps up its pace of building new trails, it may have to change its nickname - from the Lake City to the Trail City. Using the existing North Idaho Centennial Trail as its anchor and inspiration, Coeur d' Alene is pumping hard to win higher recognition from the League of American Bicyclists.
The city currently holds Bronze status as a bike friendly place, and it aims to move up a notch to Silver status by 2016. Monte McCully, who is Coeur d' Alene's trail coordinator, said a new section of trail has been opened in the northwest quadrant of town to link new neighborhoods with the expanding network of trails.
On the west side of town, another new section runs along Atlas Road to Seltice Way, and is destined to connect to the Centennial and Prairie Trails.
Coeur d' Alene even has loop trails to encourage short-distance recreational biking and jogging. Three such loops circle Riverstone, Ramsey Park and the Kroc Center. The new emphasis on biking, running and walking trails flows from completion of 24 miles of the Centennial Trail from the state line to Higgins Point on Lake Coeur d' Alene.
When the trail crosses into Washington, it's known as the Spokane River Centennial Trail. It winds along the river westward to Sontag Park in Nine Mile Falls.