Coolin, Idaho

The village

Coolin is less a town than a bend in the road where the lake begins. It has a post office, a general store, a marina, a few restaurants that keep summer hours, and a public beach and boat launch where the Priest River leaves the lake. Most of what you need for a week on the water is here, and most of what you can't get here you should have bought in Priest River.

The community grew around the Northern Inn and the steamboat landing in the early 1900s, when the easiest way up the lake was by water. That geography still holds. Coolin is where the barges load, where the mail boat once ran, and where a lot of east-shore cabin owners keep a second car.

Cavanaugh Bay and the east shore

Just north of Coolin, Cavanaugh Bay is a broad, shallow bay with a marina, a small airstrip and one of the lake's better swimming beaches. Beyond it the East Shore Road runs north toward Indian Creek, the state park's main campground, passing the mouths of Hunt and Soldier Creeks and a string of cabins that get quieter the farther you go.

The east shore is the sunset side. Evenings here look west across the water to the Nordman shore and the ridges behind it, and the Selkirk Crest is at your back, close enough that the peaks catch the last light after the lake has gone dark.

Things to do from Coolin

Launch a boat and head for Kalispell Island, the largest of the lake's islands, for a boat-in campsite or a day on the beach. Rent a kayak and paddle the shoreline south of Cavanaugh Bay. Play nine holes at the golf course on the road out of town. Drive the East Shore Road to the trailhead for Hunt Lake, a steep, rewarding climb into the Selkirks.

• Boat launch and public beach at the south end of the village
• Kalispell Island boat-in camping (Forest Service)
• Indian Creek unit of Priest Lake State Park, about 11 miles north
• Hunt Lake and Lookout Mountain trails
• Fuel and groceries in the village; last services on the east shore