Lake Cascade State Park is calling adventurers
Christian Ryan Correspondent | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 5 months AGO
This week on our journey through eight of Idaho’s state parks between June and July, we’ll explore the beauties and spectacles that lie in Lake Cascade State Park, a crown jewel of the state in and of itself.
Seventy-five miles or so north of Boise lies Lake Cascade State Park, which contains a beautiful chunk of the southern Idaho ecosystem of pine tree-covered mountains and its namesake, Lake Cascade. The best way to get there by car from Coeur d’Alene is to take U.S. 95 south for 304 miles.
Lake Cascade is roughly 41 square miles with 86 miles of shoreline. It isn’t a 100 percent natural lake, but rather a reservoir that was completed in 1943. In fact, the lake was originally called Cascade Reservoir until it was officially changed to its current name in the 1990s.
People visit Lake Cascade State Park all year round because there are activities for them to participate in no matter the season. In winter, park visitors can cross-country ski, snowmobile, and ice fish. In the spring, summer and fall when the lake isn’t covered in ice, even more options open up; for water-lovers, boating, sailing, swimming and windsurfing are all enjoyable activities.
As you spend time in and around the water, take note of all the aquatic life you can find. Coho salmon, rainbow trout, perch and smallmouth bass all call Lake Cascade home. Waterfowl, like wild ducks, geese and herons, are particularly plentiful too.
If dry land is more your style, you can try spotting wild animals along the hiking trails that meander through Lake Cascade State Park. Be sure to bring your camera along! You’re going to want it if you happen upon a skunk, black bear, deer, elk, cougar, raccoon or even a badger.
Birdwatching is on the bucket list of many people who visit the park, and there are plenty of birds to find and/or photograph, from songbirds to predatory birds like owls, eagles and hawks. Lake Cascade State Park lies right in the breeding range of Idaho’s state bird, the mountain bluebird. These birds are omnivores and will eat anything from flies, grasshoppers, and other insects, to seeds and small fruits. What types of food do the bluebirds of Lake Cascade State Park in particular like to eat? Track down a mountain bluebird and find out! (But don’t get too close, otherwise they will be spooked off.)
There is so much to see and do at Lake Cascade State Park this summer that it just might take all summer to do it. So what are you waiting for? Get out there, explore and have fun!
LAKE CASCADE STATE PARK
SCAVENGER HUNT
As you explore Lake Cascade State Park, see if you can find all of the items on this list. You may want to ask a ranger or park employee if you need help identifying one or more of the items on this list. Be sure to check them off as you go!
[ ] A park sign
[ ] A mountain bluebird
[ ] Something bluebirds like to eat
[ ] A spider web
[ ] A bird of prey (e.g. eagle, hawk, owl or falcon) in flight
[ ] Pikeminnows have caused problems for Lake Cascade in the past; ask a ranger and find out why
[ ] A sound a species of waterfowl makes
[ ] A pine cone
[ ] An animal with paws
[ ] An animal footprint
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