The Pacific Northwest is renowned as an outdoor recreation paradise. Tucked along the Washington-Idaho border, under an hour from downtown Spokane, is a dazzling lake that perfectly fits that description. Although it’s not the largest water body in the region, Hayden Lake delivers big outdoor adventure and is an ideal destination for fishing, swimming, camping, and water sports. Even better, these activities can be enjoyed in one of the most breathtaking settings imaginable.
Hayden Lake is a relatively long, narrow, natural lake with an irregular shape and multiple coves and peninsulas. The main part of the lake, which stretches seven miles long, was originally formed by flooding at the end of the last ice age. A dam was added in the early 1900s to maintain consistent water level in the lake throughout the year. Today the lake sprawls across 3,800 acres and is ringed by 40 miles of shoreline. The water in Hayden Lake, which is known for being exceptionally clear, averages 100 feet deep and reaches 185 feet at its deepest point.
The shoreline surrounding the lake is filled with towering pines that are accented by a variety of wildflowers during spring. There is also a number of sandy beaches along the water’s edge. Additionally, Coeur d’Alene Mountains, part of Bitterroot Mountain Range, envelope three sides of the lake, providing a picturesque backdrop of mountain peaks upward of 6,000 feet.
Fishing and swimming at Hayden Lake
Given Hayden Lake is sandwiched between Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake surrounded by artsy towns, to the north and the state’s second largest lake, Coeur d’Alene Lake, to the south, it’s easy to overlook this smaller body of water. However, Hayden Lake has a strong reputation among anglers due to the quality and diversity of fishing, with more than a dozen species of warm- and cold-water fish, including large and smallmouth bass, northern pike, tiger muskie, chinook salmon, and kokanee, as well as rainbow trout, with anglers occasionally catching brook and bull trout…