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Overview
Lake Coeur d'Alene is a roughly 32,000-acre natural lake in northern Idaho whose outlet level is regulated at Post Falls Dam on the Spokane River by Avista Utilities. The lake is a defining recreation water for Coeur d'Alene, the Idaho Panhandle, and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's homeland. The Coeur d Alene Tribe relationship to the lake is foundational; tribal and state jurisdictions both matter on the water.
Average depth is about 120 feet and maximum depth about 194 feet, with roughly 109 miles of shoreline mixing city waterfront, forested bays, and the long southern St. Joe / Coeur d'Alene river arms. Southern river arms can fish like separate lakes from the broad northern basin by the city waterfront.
Chinook, kokanee, bass, and other species support a major fishery managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. City parks, tribal access, and public ramps provide extensive boating access. Tubbs Hill, city beach, and Higgens Point illustrate how urban and wild shoreline sit only minutes apart.
Avista typically operates between a summer full pool near 2,128 feet and a winter pool near 2,121 feet. Even a few feet of drawdown changes docks and beaches - monitor current lake levels through the season. A roughly seven-foot licensed operating band between winter and summer pool is small but highly visible to dock owners.
Lake Coeur d'Alene is a 31,872-acre reservoir on the Coeur d'Alene River managed by Avista Utilities (Post Falls Dam); Idaho Dept. of Water Resources gage cooperation.