‘Does it get any better than this?’

A cabin in the woods; a few days away from home staying in a log cabin with an awesome view of a lake with the sun rising over the mountains to the east. A cabin with a crackling wood fire keeping the winter cold at bay. You can smell the bacon drifting through the room as breakfast is prepared. Staying at Elkins Resort on the west shore of Priest Lake begs for the question, “Does it get any better than this?”

The accommodations at Elkins are all stand-alone cedar log cabins. Elkins has been recognized nationally as the Northwest’s finest log cabin resort. Here’s where you can find that dream lake cabin with a view you have always wanted but can’t afford. Well, live your dream at Elkins Resort even if only for a couple of days.

Twenty-five of the 34 cabins are located at lakeside with five more built along rushing Reeder Creek. The cabins were built in the 1930s and have been well maintained. The cabins all have a rustic, cozy look to them inside and out. Most have fireplaces. They have complete kitchens with stoves, microwaves, full-size refrigerators, dishes, flatware, pots and pans. There is a dining area and living room. The larger cabins can sleep several people with one or two bedrooms downstairs and two to four bedrooms upstairs. There are one or two bathrooms, with one upstairs and one downstairs. Linens and towels are supplied but there is not daily maid service.

You can cook your own meals or visit the resort’s full-service restaurant and lounge.

Besides having large windows allowing great views of Priest Lake, the restaurant serves award-winning dishes that newcomers to this remote area may not expect to find. A recent menu included blackened shrimp with avocado salad, huckleberry-whiskey barbecued chicken breast, baseball top sirloin, and macadamia nut-encrusted mahi mahi.

The restaurant is open daily all summer, during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and on most weekends during the fall and spring. It’s open other off-season weekends, depending on the number of guests who have reserved cabins. In the winter months it’s best to call ahead if you want to confirm the status of the restaurant.

With all these available comforts, the cabins are still in a very primitive area of Idaho. While the chances of seeing grizzly bears and woodland caribou are extremely unlikely, the area from Elkins Resort north to the Canadian border is only one of six places in the Lower 48 states where an occasional grizzly bear can find enough remote space to live. The same critical habitat allows a small herd of woodland caribou to survive.

Winter activities include cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. There are more than 400 miles of snowmobile trails, mostly on U.S. Forest Service land. Many of the frequently used trails are groomed. A map of the accessible trails, “Priest Lake Idaho Winter Recreation Trails,” is available at the resort and the Forest Service ranger station located between the small town Priest Lake and the one-building (cafe, bar and post office) town of Nordman. Snowmobile, cross-country trails and warming huts are indicated on the map. Snowmobiles can be rented at Elkins Resort but must be reserved before arrival.

If you are planning a visit, check out the Web site. Each cabin is listed with the number of beds, bathrooms, etc. Also a map of the cabin locations on the property and its floor plan allows a guest to pick out which lakeside or creekside cabin to choose.

There are other choices for accommodations on the west shore of Priest Lake but Elkins offers comfortable, cozy, quaint, rustic log cabins in the woods by the lake. Elkins has an irresistible combination for a few days away from home. It really doesn’t get much better.