Lights, Eagles and Skiing Await in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, This Winter

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, may be most family travelers’ idea of a summer destination, but come winter, this North Idaho spot transforms into something entirely different. Think more than one million holiday lights reflected across the water, mountains topped with snow for skiing, and migrating bald eagles along the shoreline and on mountainsides.

© The Coeur d’Alene Resort

The magic begins Nov. 27, when downtown Coeur d’Alene hosts the annual Holiday Light Show Lighting Ceremony Parade, complete with fireworks over the lake and the illumination of 1.5 million lights.

Over at Coeur d’Alene Resort, guests can witness the display from the water on Journey to the North Pole, a 40-minute evening cruise that ends at Santa’s waterfront workshop, where Santa greets children by name.

Families can even bring (or rent) skis, as Coeur d’Alene boasts not one but three different ski areas within daytrip distance. Just 30 minutes east is Silver Mountain Resort, offering skiing, snowboarding, tubing and snowshoeing. Or head north to Schweitzer, Idaho’s largest ski resort, spanning 2,900 acres of terrain and offering Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobile tours and tubing. Lookout Pass, meanwhile, lies on the Idaho-Montana border and has more than 450 inches of annual snowfall, as well as more than 1,000 acres of terrain to explore.

© The Coeur d’Alene Resort

And for some wildlife? Coeur d’Alene is the resting place for migrating bald eagles, where they feed on spawning kokanee salmon in the lake. Viewing season usually runs between November and February around Higgins Point and Wolf Lodge Bay.

If your trip coincides around the 12 Days of Christmas and you’re staying at Coeur d’Alene Resort any time between Dec. 19 and 30, you can expect rotating activities of complimentary holiday happenings, from holiday movie nights to a floating lantern release to Santa’s Sweet Shop and seasonal performances.

Don’t forget to keep warm during the resort’s Hot Winter Nights, in which the property’s outdoor infinity pool transforms into a giant lakefront hot tub, surrounded by twinkling lights, private igloos and heated spaces.