| Coeur d'Alene River | |
| Pushpin Map: | Idaho#USA |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Coeur d'Alene River in Idaho |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Idaho |
| Length: | 37miles |
| Discharge1 Location: | river mile 2.5 (RKM 4.0)[1] |
| Discharge1 Min: | 230cuft/s |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 2521cuft/s[2] |
| Discharge1 Max: | 27300cuft/s |
| Source1: | Confluence of North and South Forks |
| Source1 Location: | Pinehurst, Shoshone County |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 47.5572°N -116.2561°W[3] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 2172feet |
| Mouth: | Coeur d'Alene Lake |
| Mouth Location: | Harrison, Kootenai County |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 47.4619°N -116.7944°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 2129feet |
| Basin Size: | 1453sqmi |
| Tributaries Left: | South Fork Coeur d'Alene River, Latour Creek |
| Tributaries Right: | North Fork Coeur d'Alene River |
The Coeur d'Alene River flows [4] from the Silver Valley into Lake Coeur d'Alene in the U.S. state of Idaho. The stream continues out of Lake Coeur d'Alene as the Spokane River.
Before the Bunker Hill Smelter in the Kellogg area, which mined lead and silver, was forced to adopt environmental controls in the 1970s, there was so much lead in the river in the Kellogg area the locals called the stream "Lead Creek."
Salmon levels continue to remain high in the area, and it is a popular destination for water-skiing, tubing, and swimming for locals.
All of the real bodies of water in the film Dante's Peak were either the Coeur d'Alene River or one of its tributaries, as Wallace, Idaho, where the movie was filmed, is in the Silver Valley.
Environmental concerns have come from upstream hard rock mining and smelting operations in the Silver Valley. The Coeur d'Alene Basin, including the Coeur d'Alene River, Lake Coeur d'Alene, and also the Spokane River is polluted with heavy metals such as lead and was designated a superfund site in 1983 that spans 1500sqmi and of the Coeur d'Alene River.[5] The majority of the lake bed is covered in a layer of contaminated sediment and local health officials at the Panhandle Health District advise the lake's visitors to wash anything that has come into contact with potentially lead-laced soil or dust in the Coeur d'Alene River basin.[6]