One of the clearest large lakes in the Northwest.
Priest Lake is a 26,000-acre glacially carved lake in Idaho's Selkirk Mountains, up to 369 feet deep and one of the clearest large lakes in the Northwest — only its southern half is developed, with the north half protected as national forest.
Priest Lake sits in the Selkirk Mountains of the Idaho Panhandle, 19 miles long and up to 369 feet deep, its glacially carved basin holding water clear enough to see past 30 feet down on calm days. Only the southern half is developed; the northern half remains protected as part of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. The lake takes its name from Jesuit priests who set up a base camp at Kalispell Bay in the 1840s. Elkins Resort, a family-run lodge in Nordman since 1932, carries both the longest-running boat rentals on the lake and its most established restaurant; Crown Jewel Water Sports and Clipper Marina cover Coolin on the south end, alongside the Leonard Paul Store, a general mercantile that's anchored the lake since 1906. Priest Lake State Park's three units — Indian Creek, Lionhead, and Dickensheet — cover the public beach and camping access. This is genuinely remote country: Tamarak Shopping Village in Priest River covers the grocery run, and the nearest real hospital is over an hour away in Sandpoint.
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