Well, the good thing about this trail is that it's paved and smooth. Otherwise, the trail is rather bleak, no scenery to speak of, unless you like highways. The Coeur d' Alene part is pretty much a frustration of cross traffic, stoplights, and more traffic. If you start off in Coeur d' Alene heading north, watch for right turn traffic at all the stoplights. Once you're away from CdA and past Hayden you lose the cross traffic and the ride proceeds with few interruptions. In Athol, the trail begins/ends at the Super 1. In CdA the trail begins/ends in some parking lot off Haycraft Ave. If you want to skip all the traffic lights and traffic you can start your ride from the Prairie Shopping Center. You won't miss much. Or go one block east to Government Way and ride that from Appleway to Prairie Ave. And you may want to plan your ride on a cool day. There is no shade on this route. There is a detour at E. Garwood for about a mile or so. (At least at the time of this writing.) Taken on a cool day and skipping the traffic in CdA it can be a nice straight forward ride.

This is a commuter trail that travels through city streets, rule areas with businesses, and homes very rarely do you get to see the River. It's good if you want to ride along the trail with nothing interesting or beautiful to look at.

I am very sad to see that there is very little work being done on this trail. It will be ENORMOUSLY popular if it is ever finished! Right now the surface is horrible to ride, except on the very ends. With the popularity of rails to trails, I guarantee that this would be a much-loved and used trail if it was improved. The paved sections are great, and the trailheads are, too. There has been work on this trail, with the restrooms and paving. Let's hope the improvements continue! I would love to ride it end to end someday.

We started at Fish Lake Trailhead on a beautiful day. The trail was scenic and started out more sheltered from wind and shaded than I expected, both good. After about 4 miles, the asphalt ended and the gravel surface began. My fellow rider and I both had hybrid bicycles, and are used to road riding. After about 4 miles of riding the gravel road, we turned around early as the gravel was deep enough that we were worried about spills constantly. Perhaps this works for people who are used to riding on gravel or have more aggressive mountain bicycles.

wonderful trip across America

Rode the trail end to end and back again, Sept 2020. Camped in local USFS campgrounds. Had to ride each segment up and back as there was no shuttle due to C19. Great ride. All segments different. Was over 100 degrees the last day and got way overheated. Trail heads are clean and well spaced and bathrooms en route. If you can meet some other riders to share shuttling that would be ideal. Really enjoyed the ride.

This is now fully paved, and, with just a few street crossings with crosswalks, will take you downtown to connect with the river, Centennial Trail and Riverfront Park.

We stayed in CDA right by the lake. One day we rode north about 15 miles and turned around. Very nice (except when you go by the gun range - yikes). The next day we rode south about 15 miles. It’s partly on a road but totally safe. Loved every mile both ways. Idaho knows how to do trails!

We parked in Harrison and rode to Plummer. Beautiful ride. Yes, the last 5 miles into Plummer have an incline but not bad. Well worth it. Rode back to Harrison for lunch. 30 miles.