Mineral Ridge Trail and Beauty Creek, CDA, ID

Living back in the Pacific Northwest after not being there since 2009 felt odd. I was regularly mixed with feelings of nostalgia and belonging, which honestly made me feel even more restless. I feel more comfortable in the forests there than anywhere else in the country. However, here was always the nagging feeling of “time to move on, time to see more” that I’d always had and been able to accommodate while living in an RV.

After we hiked just about every trail that we wanted to in the Spokane, North Idaho area, we had a hard time picking trails to do twice. Eventually, we would drive farther and farther from town until we were up to 3 hours away to find a new or coveted hike. However, Mineral Ridge and the Beauty Bay area around Coeur d’Alene were areas we returned to several times and would still mark it our favorite ‘hour or less’ trips from Spokane.

You get spoiled in an RV, being able to do new hikes every weekend.

The Trail

Mineral Ridge, just a few miles outside of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is a very short hike with a pretty great view of Beauty Bay on the east side of the lake. Along the trail are little gems like a half-dug mine…or cave, and an old cabin. At the top, there’s a picnic table we use if it’s not occupied, since we always bring lunch on our day trips. During the early days of Covid restrictions, Mineral Ridge was one of the first trails to reopen and be used. However, the parking lot was packed, leaving people parked along the side of the highway, like everyone in the region suddenly discovered nature at the same time. So, there was a year or so where we just drove past Mineral Ridge, but that’s how we discovered so much more in the Beauty Bay/Beauty Creek area.

The hike is usually a great start to a full afternoon in the national forest south of it, and you can move on to Beauty Creek Trail or Trail 79 a short distance away as well as several beautiful pullouts along Beauty Creek with giant cedar trees and ferns.

Beauty Creek Trail

Beauty Creek trail is a long, steady climb to the top of Beauty Saddle and seems to be mostly used by horses and mountain bikes. We start about a mile or two from the top, next to our favorite campsite, and go up from there. Here, you can find everything from morels to huckleberries if you know what you’re doing.

Our favorite campsite is right off a forest service road, about 10 feet above it, with some makeshift stairs and a great little fire pit. There’s a large parking area if you want to bring a toy trailer, and a bathroom nearby. Bathrooms are basically unheard of outside the few official campgrounds in the area, so we think this campsite used to be part of an actual campground. From here, you can follow Beauty Creek until it splits off to the east into the forest and enjoy views like those in the photo to the left.

Trail 79

Another trail in the area, if you make it up the winding roads near Beauty Saddle, is Trail 79. This hike mostly feels like an old forest service road, making it a great Nordic ski and snowshoe area in the winter. We haven’t visited it in winter, however, and the trail would have to be accessed from the bottom because the roads would be closed. We found this amazing warming hut with a wood stove inside.

The entire area is ripe with little jeep-worthy roads, campsites with amazing views, and fun, maintained, and unmaintained trails, with no crowds whatsoever. You can also find your very own favorite berry-picking area or mushroom haul if you look hard enough! Definitely my favorite area near Coeur d’Alene.