Idaho Is Home to Two of the Most Beautiful Lakes in the Nation

🐟 Love Exploring chose 25 American lakes for their list

🐟 Regionally, lakes in Utah, Washington and Oregon made the list too

🐟 Of Idaho's 2,000 lakes, two made the list

While Idaho may border the ocean or one of the Great Lakes, but we are pretty spoiled by the number of lakes we can go play in or on, depending on the season. 

According to the Idaho Department of Water Resources, there are more than 2,000 lakes in the state. With that in mind, narrowing down the 25 most beautiful lakes in the state would be a challenge in itself. So could you imagine how difficult it would be to narrow ALL of America’s lakes down to just 25 of the most attractive? 

READ MORE: How to Find Southern Idaho's Prettiest Blue Lakes

That’s a challenge that Love Exploring recently took on and when they published their list, Idaho really shined! The Gem State put TWO lakes in the Top 25! 

Lake Coeur d’Alene Ranks Among Most Beautiful Lakes in America

If you travel to North Idaho, you’ll find the lake that checked in at #22 on Love Exploring’s list - Lake Coeur d’Alene. In putting Lake Coeur d’Alene on the list, the travel website said: 

Carved from the landscape by glaciers during the last ice age, Lake Coeur d'Alene dazzles today's visitors just as much as it did 19th-century pioneers. Marinas, campgrounds, swimming areas, jet ski rentals and seaplane hangars dot its 135-mile (217km) shoreline, with the classic mountain-and-forest backdrop that tourists expect from the Pacific Northwest. Anglers will find plenty to like, as will golfers – thanks to the Coeur d'Alene Resort's golf course and its famous floating green.

 

While all of that’s true, we learned about something else that makes Lake Coeur d’Alene fascinating while we were on a hot cocoa cruise there a few years ago. One of the guides explained that there were dozens upon dozens of shipwrecks beneath water. 

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At first, that made all of us who were currently on a boat a little bit uneasy, but the crew explained the steamboats were sunk there on purpose. In the day and age of those steamboats, it was easier to remove valuable parts that could be reused and recycled from the boats and then sink them than to dispose of them any other way. You can read more about the shipwrecks and see some photos of what they look like now HERE. 

Redfish Lake Makes An Appearance Top 20 Appearance

Keep scrolling at you’ll find another Idaho lake at #20! This time they traveled toward Stanley and chose Redfish Lake. While sharing the beauty of Redfish Lake, they explained to readers that the lake got its name from the 4,000 Sockeye Salmon that used to swim into the lake to spawn. With how crystal clear the lake’s water is, they were easy to see. 

Today, Redfish Lake is a hot spot for kayaking, paddle boarding, fishing, hiking, camping and more. The water is still as pristine and beautiful as ever. 

Regionally, Utah's Lake Powell and Washington State's Diablo Lake and Lake Chelan made the list. Oregon's Crate Lake took the #1 spot.