Sandpoint is an awesome town , with some awesome activities, great shops and more! Sometimes though, people like to get out of town, and that generally is to visit the larger city of Coeur d’ Alene which is a city of around 50,000 people. The best way to go, is to obviously drive!

So how far is Sandpoint Idaho from Coeur d’ Alene? To drive from Sandpoint to Coeur d’ Alene is 46.3 miles, and generally takes around one hour to drive there. In the meantime, you will get to enjoy some amazing scenery, and some really cool towns on your journey.

How are the roads to Coeur d’ Alene during the winter?

If your plans are to visit Coeur d’ Alene during the winter, the roads are generally quite good! There are a couple spots you want to pay special attention to, specifically around Granite Hill!

That said, for the most part, the roads stay plowed and taken care of all the way through the winter season!

As always though, I highly recommend you get some snow tires from a local tire center like Perfection Tire, Les Schwab and Elite Tire. I have always been surprised at how much of a difference a good snow tire will make these shorter, and longer trips safer!

Why would you want to go to Coeur d’ Alene?

Coeur d’ Alene is a much bigger city than Sandpoint, meaning it has plenty of larger businesses that wouldn’t make it here in our smaller town! While we get to enjoy our small town feel and small town businesses, it is always nice to visit the bigger city every once in a while.

This larger town offers businesses like Costco, Target, TJ Maxx and more for people that need to get some serious shopping going. They also offer restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, and Panda Express.

That said, if you can buy local here in Sandpoint, we always highly recommend you check local stores for their inventory before leaving the town to purchase items!

What towns do you drive through to get to Coeur d’ Alene?

Of course, there are plenty of smaller towns along Highway 95 to Coeur d’ Alene, however the major ones are going to be Athol, Cocolalla, Hayden and Sagle!

1. Athol

You may miss it if you aren’t paying attention on the highway, however this town is quickly growing! It recently has been getting some larger businesses moving in like Autozone, Super 1 and more.

It offers a good in-between point for people wanting to move to this area, and want to easily be able to access the businesses of Coeur d’ Alene, and the outdoors of the Sandpoint area.

Of course, property prices are matching that want as well!

2. Cocolalla

I really like this small town! The town itself sits a little bit away from its namesake of Lake Cocolalla, however there is an awesome view of the lake as you travel through it.

This town is quickly becoming an area that people want to move to that want lake access without the pricing of living in Sandpoint.

3. Hayden

You would be alright if you thought Hayden was actually Coeur d’ Alene as they are basically touching. However Hayden tends to be more of the big box shopping area, while Coeur d’ Alene gives the smaller town feel of restaurants and businesses.

If you want to do your shopping, this is the place to do it!

4. Sagle

Right on the other side of the Long Bridge, Sagle actually has considerably more people living within its city limits than Sandpoint does! It is basically where the people mainly live, and then commute into Sandpoint. It is also home to one of my favorite roads in the area, Lakeshore Drive!

Conclusion

Locals always like to make a quick trip to Coeur d’ Alene as it does have quite a few things that Sandpoint doesn’t! However most of them are more than happy to make their way back to our small town that has plenty of other great things that Coeur d’ Alene.

Either way, it is only a quick road trip of 46.3 to make that happen!