Coeur d'Alene is a true outdoor playground. Twenty-five miles long, glacier-dug Lake Coeur d'Alene is the center of activities. Boating, sailing, jet-skiing, water-skiing, fishing, and anything else you can do on water are available. In fact, the world's first water skis were used on Lake Coeur d'Alene in the 1920s. Today you can also jet-ski, take a seaplane tour with Brooks Seaplane Service (tel. 208/664-2842), or parasail with Coeur d'Alene Parasail (tel. 208/765-5367) on the lake. Lake Coeur d'Alene Cruises offers a variety of lake cruises, including a sunset dinner cruise (tel. 800/365-8338).

A summer visit means you can tee up on the Coeur d'Alene Golf Course (tel. 800/688-5253), one of only 16 golf resorts in America to receive the "five-star" designation by Golf Digest and one of 20 with a Golf Magazine Gold Medal. The course is unique for its famous Floating Green, anchored to the lake bottom and reachable only by boat.

Winter in northern Idaho means skiing. A short 30-mile drive east of Coeur d'Alene brings you to Silver Mountain Ski Resort, near Kellogg (tel. 800/204-6428 or 208/783-1111), with the world's longest gondola operating year-round. Summer concerts are also held at Silver Mountain. Schweitzer Mountain Resort (tel. 800/831-8810), 44 miles north in Sandpoint, offers stunning views of Lake Pend Oreille. Schweitzer also offers golf packages in summer.