This past weekend, the family packed into the family roadster and hauled the good ole tent trailer for a quick getaway to Heyburn State Park in Northern Idaho. This park is located 9 miles east of a town named Plummer.
Prior to the park’s inception the area was a place the Coeur D’Alene Indian tribe would meet and gather. Heyburn State Park was created in 1908 and is the oldest park in the Pacific Northwest. Heyburn is large, about 5,500 of land and according to their website it has about 2,300 acres of water. This park is a wonderful habitat for bird watching.
There is a great bird watching observatory and interpretive trail just North of Hawley’s Landing campground. You can take a quiet stroll along the boardwalk which meanders through the wetlands. It was relaxing to be able to hear the sounds of birds and the wind whispering through the wetland grasses.
There are several hiking trails and even horse trails. If you are a mountain biker there are plenty of trails to fill your needs. The Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes runs through Heyburn Park.
The Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes is a topic for another day but briefly it is a bike path that extends about 72 miles from Plummer up the Northern Panhandle region of Idaho.
Hawley’s Landing Campground
We stayed at Hawley’s Landing. This campground is probably the best choice of the three campgrounds in the park. The other two campgrounds are Chatcolet and Benewah Campgrounds.
If I were going to recommend a campsite at Hawley’s it would be space number 43. The space is more private than the rest and offers a nice partial view of the wetlands.
When we arrived, there were mostly small motor homes and travel trailers with exception of a group camping in tents. We were a little concerned about this group because as we drove by their camp I saw they had two large sized pit bull dogs, and instantly I thought “there goes the neighborhood”.
We ended up finding a good distance away from them. I wasn’t too impressed with the overall conditions of the campsite we ended up renting. It was littered, and the things I can’t stand the most are people who do not pick up their garbage including cigarette butts.
After we set up camp we went on a hike through the woods and checked out the habitat interpretive area. We like to geo-cache, and saw there was hidden somewhere in the park. Oh and by the way. Bring your own water. There are E-Coli warnings posted on every spigot including the bathrooms all through the camp.
After we returned to our campsite it began to rain, and rain and rain. We spent the night in our tent trailer. We spent the evening playing board games and really enjoyed ourselves.
As the night went on, the campsite with the pit bulls became louder and louder, at around 2:00 a.m. I could still hear them being carrying on and using foul language.
We were quite a distance from them and if I could hear them I felt sorry for the campsite right next to them.
Overall Rating
My overall rating for this campground is 2.5 out of 5. I was not impressed with the proximity of the campground to the hi-way which means allot of road noise. The E-Coli warning was a concern being as though I was required to still pay for full services for my campsite.
The somewhat non-existent camp host did nothing to try to quail the loud campsite. The presence of the pit bulls dogs really made me uncomfortable.
I loved the trails and especially enjoyed the interpretive walk. This campground is a great place for a quick getaway for those people who are looking for a short trip out of town.
Rates:
Standard Campsites – $12 per night (plus Idaho State Sales Tax) Serviced Campsites/W, E – $20 per night (plus Idaho State Sales Tax) Serviced Campsites/W, E, SWR – $22 per night (plus Idaho State Sales Tax) If you are interested in learning more about Heyburn State Park click here. If you would like to make a reservation click here and you will be directed to the Idaho Parks website
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
The rain is no good, but if the dogs are that big of a problem find another campground. Most people are easy to work with and asking nice to keep it down works you just have to try. E-coli not cool.
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