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Priest Lake offers remote North Idaho waterfront, classic cabins, luxury lake estates, historic resorts, forested shoreline, boating and exceptional four-season recreation.
There’s a version of North Idaho that hasn’t changed all that much—where the lake is still mostly forest and shoreline, the wildlife can seem to outnumber the people, and winter means real snow. That’s Priest Lake.
If Sandpoint is North Idaho with a downtown, Priest Lake feels a little like North Idaho before there was one.
Located about 62 miles northwest of Sandpoint, Priest Lake stretches roughly 19 miles from north to south, reaches depths beyond 300 feet and lies beneath the Selkirk Mountains only about 30 miles south of Canada. Its exceptionally clear water is fed by mountain streams descending from the surrounding high country.
At the northern end, a narrow two-mile waterway known as the Thorofare connects Priest Lake with Upper Priest Lake. Upper Priest is accessible only by boat, foot or mountain bike, and its primitive shoreline campsites have no road access.
That tells you a lot about this place.
Priest Lake is not a smaller version of Lake Pend Oreille. It is its own world.
Quick Fact | What to Know |
|---|---|
Location | Approximately 62 miles northwest of Sandpoint and 30 miles south of the Canadian border. |
Lake Size | Approximately 19 miles long and more than 300 feet deep. Historic Idaho Fish and Game surveys measured depths as great as 355–369 feet. |
Upper Priest Lake | Connected by the two-mile Thorofare and accessible only by boat, hiking or mountain bike. |
Main Communities | Coolin, Nordman, Kalispel Bay, Luby Bay, Reeder Bay and Cavanaugh Bay anchor different parts of the Priest Lake lifestyle. |
Resorts | Longtime lake institutions include Hill’s Resort, Elkins Resort and Cavanaugh’s, along with smaller lodges, marinas and cabin communities. |
State Park | Priest Lake State Park includes major recreation areas at Indian Creek, Lionhead and the southern lake area. |
Snowmobiling | The Priest Lake area has more than 400 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, with a primary season of December through March. |
Golf | Priest Lake Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 course surrounded by forest and wetlands. |
Wildlife | The basin supports moose, whitetail deer, black bears, bald eagles and other wildlife, while the broader Selkirk landscape also includes grizzly-bear habitat. |
Real Estate | Waterfront estates, classic cabins, condos, resort-adjacent homes, secondary waterfront, acreage, building sites and some unusual state cottage-site ownership structures. |
Updated September 2026
Priest Lake is a small, highly segmented real-estate market, so averages can be particularly misleading.
Realtor.com’s July 2026 Bonner County data showed a median asking price of approximately $697,666 for Priest Lake, while Nordman was approximately $949,900 and Coolin approximately $1.625 million. Those differences illustrate what happens when a small number of waterfront, luxury and cabin listings move in and out of the market.
That is why I would never use a single Priest Lake median price to tell a buyer what waterfront costs.
A small secondary-waterfront cabin, a condo near a resort, an original family lake cottage and a modern estate with substantial private shoreline may all belong in the same search—and have almost nothing else in common.
Priest Lake is one of the places where I would tell you not to shop by price per square foot first.
Here, I care about the land.
The shoreline.
The road.
The dock.
The bay.
The sun.
How protected you are from weather.
How far you are from groceries.
Whether you're coming up every weekend or planning to live here through January.
And sometimes, most importantly, whether the property you’re looking at can realistically be replaced.
There are Priest Lake properties that have been in the same families for generations. Some of the best ones don't turn over very often.
You aren't just buying a house here. You're buying your place on the lake.
Priest Lake real estate changes substantially as you move around the shoreline. Buyers should think in terms of individual bays, roads and communities rather than treating the entire lake as one neighborhood.
Coolin & the South End — Coolin is the historic gateway community at the southern end of the lake and provides some of the area's everyday services, lodging, dining and community activity. Andrew Coolin homesteaded 160 acres here in the 1890s and served as postmaster from 1894 to 1900. The historic Northern Hotel, built in 1900, still stands today.
Kalispel Bay — One of the important west-shore boating areas, with Priest Lake Marina & Resort, moorage, fuel, boat services and both lakefront and nearby residential property.
Luby Bay — Home to Hill’s Resort, one of the lake's best-known destinations. The surrounding area offers cabins, homes, wooded property and convenient access to dining, boating, beach recreation and the nearby Priest Lake Golf Course.
Reeder Bay & Nordman — Farther north, the landscape feels increasingly forested and removed. Elkins Resort, established in 1932, sits on the sandy shoreline of Reeder Bay, while Nordman remains a tiny year-round community and important northern-lake service point.
Cavanaugh Bay — A classic east-side Priest Lake setting known for lake recreation and Cavanaugh’s waterfront dining. This part of the lake can feel particularly removed from the more developed west-side corridor while still offering a social lake destination.
Upper Lake Country — Once you move toward Lionhead, the Thorofare and Upper Priest Lake, development gives way increasingly to public forest and backcountry. Upper Priest itself is not a conventional residential waterfront market—which is exactly why it remains so extraordinary.
Waterfront is the defining real-estate category at Priest Lake—but not all Priest Lake waterfront lives the same way.
Buyers may find:
And this is where experience matters.
A gorgeous home can sit on shoreline that doesn't work for your boat.
A modest cabin can sit on spectacular sandy frontage that is almost impossible to replicate.
A property may get beautiful morning sun but lose afternoon light early behind the mountains.
And depending on the location, getting from the house to the water might mean ten flat steps—or a serious climb.
At Priest Lake, I would choose the shoreline very carefully. You can remodel the cabin later.
This is important enough to deserve its own section.
Not every Priest Lake cabin has historically involved ordinary fee-simple ownership of both the home and land.
For decades, the Idaho Department of Lands has leased state endowment land around Priest Lake as residential cottage sites. In those situations, a private party could own the improvements while leasing the underlying land from the State—a form of split ownership substantially different from buying an ordinary private parcel.
Many former cottage sites have since transitioned into private ownership. By September 2025, Idaho reported that 342 Priest Lake cottage sites had transitioned through the state's disposition process, although a small number of active leases remained.
So when Michael and I look at an older Priest Lake property, one of the questions is simply:
What exactly do you own?
Land, improvements, lease rights, shoreline rights, dock rights and recorded easements all need to be understood before you fall in love with the porch.
Priest Lake has been a vacation destination for a very long time, but it has never developed into a conventional resort town.
Instead, individual lodges became landmarks.
Elkins Resort began in 1932 and still operates from its cedar-log setting on Reeder Bay.
Hill’s Resort grew from one family's long relationship with Priest Lake into another of the area's best-known lake destinations, with cabins, condos, marina access, dining, beach activities and connections to golf and winter recreation.
Cavanaugh’s remains another waterfront gathering place, while Priest Lake Marina & Resort, Granite Creek Marina and The Narrows Marina support the boating culture around the lake.
That gives Priest Lake a social life without making it feel urban.
There isn't one downtown. The lake itself connects the community.
Summer is when Priest Lake changes completely.
Cabins reopen. Boats return to the water. Campgrounds fill. Docks become gathering places. Families that have been coming here for decades return to the same shoreline.
Days revolve around:
Hill’s Resort even describes generations returning to Priest Lake for boating, waterskiing, hiking, biking and summer evenings around beach bonfires.
And that's the piece I think is hard to explain until you've experienced it.
At Priest Lake, the dock can become the second living room.
People come over by boat.
Kids swim off it all afternoon.
Someone puts music on.
Dinner gets later.
Nobody is particularly concerned about what time it is.
Priest Lake does not simply become a quieter version of itself in winter. It becomes a different place.
Idaho Parks and Recreation identifies Priest Lake as one of the state's major snowmobiling destinations, with more than 400 miles of groomed trails ranging through heavy timber, mountain ridges and snow-filled bowls. The designated riding area ranges from roughly 2,500 to 6,500 feet in elevation, with the primary season running December through March.
Even more unusual, much of the trail network can be reached directly from resorts and lodging rather than hauling a snowmobile to a distant trailhead.
There is also extensive Nordic skiing and snowshoeing, including groomed systems around Hanna Flats, Indian Creek and the Priest Lake Golf Course.
Summer belongs to the boats.
Winter belongs to the snow.
And the year-round people who love Priest Lake generally understand that both are part of the deal.
Priest Lake has enough outdoor recreation that it would be easier to list what you can't do.
On the water: boating, sailing, swimming, paddling, water skiing, tubing and exploring the lake's bays and islands.
On the trails: hiking and mountain biking range from lakeside routes to mountain climbs such as Lakeview Mountain Trail, which rises to panoramic views over Priest Lake and the surrounding Selkirks.
In the forest: camping, hunting, wildlife viewing, huckleberry picking and exploring old-growth cedar country. Near the north end, the Granite Falls area includes ancient western red cedars estimated at 1,000 to 2,000 years old.
On the golf course: Priest Lake Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 course stretching roughly 6,500 yards through ponds, wetlands and forest.
In winter: snowmobiling, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and winter trail recreation take over.
Priest Lake isn't a place where someone had to build a lifestyle.
The landscape already did that.
This is genuinely wild country.
Priest Lake State Park regularly identifies whitetail deer, black bear, moose and bald eagles among its year-round wildlife. The surrounding Selkirk landscape is also part of an important grizzly-bear recovery area.
Historically, the southern Selkirks were also woodland-caribou country. That is important Priest Lake history, but I would not tell buyers that caribou currently inhabit the lake basin; the U.S. southern Selkirk population is now considered extirpated.
So yes—you may see a moose near the cabin.
You may see eagles above the lake.
And you should live here with the understanding that the forest is still functioning as forest, not as landscaping.
And then Priest Lake has one of the strangest chapters in North Idaho history.
In the early 1920s, silent-film pioneer Nell Shipman moved her film company from Southern California into the Priest Lake wilderness.
She established Lionhead Lodge, an isolated movie-production camp near what is now the Lionhead area of Priest Lake State Park, and brought with her a large menagerie of animals to appear in wilderness films. University of Idaho records describe more than 100 animals accompanying her production company.
There were no convenient roads to the studio. Historical accounts describe the lodge as roughly 21 miles from a road and 50 miles from the railroad, with sled dogs used to travel across the frozen lake in winter.
Her Priest Lake production included The Grub Stake, filmed in 1922. Financial difficulties ultimately ended the experiment, but the story remains embedded in Priest Lake history. Idaho State Parks notes that the site where Shipman established her movie operation is now part of the Lionhead area of the state park.
Think about that for a moment.
A woman left Hollywood a century ago because she thought this lake was cinematic enough to build another Hollywood here.
She wasn't entirely wrong.
For such a geographically spread-out place, Priest Lake has a surprisingly active community calendar.
Recurring and recent events include the Priest Lake Spring Festival in Coolin, Priest Lake Triathlon, Priest Lake Marathon, Dry Rot Wooden Boat Show & Parade, community potlucks, art events, vintage snowmobile gatherings and seasonal programs through the Priest Lake Museum and local organizations.
The Coolin Community Hall, historic resorts and other small gathering places matter because Priest Lake doesn't have one centralized town square.
The community gathers where it always has:
at the lake, at the resorts, in Coolin and Nordman, and wherever somebody is putting something on.
Both are extraordinary North Idaho lakes, but they solve very different problems.
If This Matters Most… | Explore… |
|---|---|
Maximum wilderness feeling | Priest Lake |
Downtown restaurants & shopping | Lake Pend Oreille / Sandpoint |
Remote forested shoreline | Priest Lake |
Broadest variety of waterfront markets | Lake Pend Oreille |
Resort cabins & generational lake culture | Priest Lake |
Marina / condo / urban lake options | Lake Pend Oreille |
Rural waterfront + acreage near a larger town | Sagle / Lake Pend Oreille |
Upper-lake backcountry | Priest Lake |
Schweitzer access | Lake Pend Oreille / Sandpoint |
Major snowmobiling culture | Priest Lake |
Restaurants, healthcare & everyday services nearby | Lake Pend Oreille / Sandpoint |
“Get away from it all” feeling | Priest Lake |
Lake Pend Oreille gives you more ways to connect waterfront with everyday life.
Priest Lake gives you more ways to leave everyday life behind.
That's the distinction.
Priest Lake is for someone who wants the lake to feel like an escape rather than a backdrop.
It deserves a serious look if you want:
It may not be the best match if you need extensive shopping, immediate hospital access, a major restaurant scene, a walkable downtown or quick airport access.
And that isn't really a criticism.
Convenience is not what Priest Lake is trying to sell you.
Priest Lake deserves more due diligence than simply inspecting the cabin.
For waterfront property, Michael and I want to understand shoreline, dock permitting, water depth, seasonal water levels, beach composition, sun exposure, wind, septic, parking and access.
For older cabins, we need to understand utilities, water source, septic, foundation, winterization and whether additions and shoreline improvements were properly approved.
For cottage-site or historically leased property, we verify whether the land is fee simple or leased, what rights transfer and what recorded easements or obligations exist.
For remote and northern properties, we pay particular attention to winter access, private-road maintenance, snow removal, power, internet, wildfire exposure and emergency services.
And for second-home buyers, there is one more question:
Who's watching the property when you're not there?
A lake cabin needs care whether you're sitting on the dock or 1,000 miles away.
Priest Lake State Park is approximately 62 miles northwest of Sandpoint, reached primarily by traveling west toward Priest River and then north on Idaho Highway 57.
Priest Lake is approximately 19 miles long and more than 300 feet deep. Historic Idaho Fish and Game surveys measured depths up to approximately 355–369 feet.
Upper Priest Lake is a remote lake north of the main body of Priest Lake, connected by the approximately two-mile Thorofare. It can be reached only by boat, foot or mountain bike.
The primary communities and lake areas include Coolin, Nordman, Kalispel Bay, Luby Bay, Reeder Bay and Cavanaugh Bay.
Yes. Priest Lake has private waterfront homes, cabins, luxury estates, building sites and other waterfront ownership opportunities. Some historic cottage sites involved leased state land, so ownership structure should always be verified.
Yes. Hill’s Resort and Elkins Resort are two of the lake's best-known historic resort destinations, along with Cavanaugh’s and other smaller lodges, marinas and accommodations.
Very. Priest Lake has more than 400 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, along with Nordic skiing and snowshoeing. Winter is a major part of the Priest Lake lifestyle rather than an off-season afterthought.
Yes. Priest Lake has fewer services, less development and considerably more forested and backcountry surroundings than Sandpoint or most of Sagle. Sandpoint provides a conventional town and Sagle keeps buyers much closer to it; Priest Lake is the choice for people who actively want more separation.
Yes. Silent-film pioneer Nell Shipman operated a wilderness film studio at Lionhead in the early 1920s and filmed The Grub Stake at Priest Lake. The former studio area is now associated with the Lionhead portion of Priest Lake State Park.
Priest Lake is a specialized North Idaho waterfront and second-home market served by Julie Lynn, Broker/Owner of Territory Real Estate and a 30-year real estate professional, and Michael Olivieri.
Michael and I understand that buying here isn't just about finding a pretty cabin.
It's understanding which part of the lake, which shoreline, which road, which ownership structure and which version of Priest Lake fits the life you're trying to create.
A cabin in Coolin.
A waterfront estate.
A place near Hill's.
A property around Nordman or Reeder Bay.
Secondary waterfront.
A building site.
Something you use every July.
Or the place your children and grandchildren still come back to decades from now.
Priest Lake isn't a smaller Sandpoint or a farther-away Sagle.
It has its own rhythm, its own buyers and its own kind of real estate.
And if what you want is the wildest, most forested, most genuinely get-away-from-it-all version of North Idaho lake life, this is where I would start looking.
Explore current Priest Lake real estate, including Priest Lake waterfront homes, Coolin homes for sale, Nordman real estate, lake cabins, luxury waterfront estates, resort-area properties, secondary waterfront, acreage and building sites.
If you're considering a cabin, waterfront estate, second home or land at Priest Lake, Julie Lynn and Michael Olivieri of Territory Real Estate can help you understand what is available—and what makes one Priest Lake property substantially different from another.
Tell us how you want to use the lake. We'll help you find where you belong on it.
A reputation for unrelenting work ethic, integrity, and honesty backed up by unparalleled knowledge of the marketplace.
Reach out today to start the conversation. We’re ready to guide you toward a successful buying or selling experience.
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