Idaho ski areas offer summer adventures

Eleven Idaho ski areas offer summertime mountain biking. Of those, eight are providing lift-served all season and several others are introducing new trails this season, according to Ski Idaho.

Two local destinations, the Route of the Hiawatha and Silver Mountain Resort, opened their bike trails this past weekend.

The lifts will start turning at Schweitzer on June 16.

Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area has not announced an opening date, but it will not offer lift-served mountain biking this summer.

The Route of the Hiawatha, which Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area operates under a special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service, opened on Friday.

Considered the crown jewel of the nation’s rails-to-trails initiative, the family friendly bike trail celebrated its 25th anniversary last summer and will operate seven days a week through Sept. 17.

Full-moon night rides are planned for Saturday, July 3, Aug. 1, and Aug. 30 by reservation only. In fact, the Route of the Hiawatha staff strongly encourages guests to make reservations for any day riders want to run the route – especially if they plan to rent equipment.

Meanwhile, Lookout Pass will offer scenic chairlift rides up and down the mountain, but the ski area will not offer lift-served mountain biking this summer.

Its woodland hiking trails and the mountain-summit nine-hole Frisbee golf course will remain open.

Lookout Pass will operate Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays through Sept. 4. But the but the ski area has not announced an opening date .

Visit skilookout.com and ridethehiawatha.com for more details.

In Kellogg, Silver Mountain Resort has begun summer weekend operations, which include mountain biking and scenic rides on North America’s longest gondola. Daily operations commence June 16 and run through Sept. 4.

At that point, weekend operations will continue through Oct. 1.

The resort also operates the state’s largest indoor waterpark, Silver Rapids, which opened for weekends over the Memorial Day holiday and begins daily operations June 17.

Access to the waterpark is included in every lodging stay, plus a limited number of day tickets are available on the Silver Mountain website for those looking to enjoy the park for the day.

Visit silvermt.com for more details.

Summer at Schweitzer, near Sandpoint, runs from June 16 to Sept. 4. Details about daily operations and highlights haven’t been announced.

The resort maintains more than 40 miles of mountain bike trails and offers a 2-hour hosted e-bike tour daily.

Schweitzer’s summer visitors also can play disc golf on its nine-hole summit course and enjoy scenic chairlift rides on the Great Escape Quad to the summit.

Other summer activities include hiking and trail running, geocaching, bungee trampolines, a 25-foot climbing wall, gold panning, huckleberry picking and horseback riding.

Community Day is scheduled for June 18, with $10 lift tickets and 100% of the proceeds going to Bonner County Human Rights Task Force.

Race the Wolf returns June 24-25 with four trail races all over the mountain.

The Northwest Winefest at Schweitzer is slated for July 15-16. Guests can sample upward of 80 wines from 20 Pacific Northwest wineries.

Fall Fest returns Sept. 1-4. The annual event offers four days of beer tasting, 10 bands, and more than 80 beers, ciders, seltzers, and even a handful of wines over Labor Day weekend.

Visit schweitzer.com for more details.