#4 Hayden Lake, Idaho

Written on

August 14, 2020

in

Metro Spokane Places to Live

2020 population: 623
Drive time to downtown Coeur d’Alene: 20 minutes
Drive time to downtown Spokane: 1 hour

Hayden Lake is one of the lake towns of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene metro

Overall Character: ★★★★★
Urban: ☆☆☆☆☆
Suburban: ★★★★★
Walkability: ☆☆☆☆☆
Market Activity: ★★★★★
Farm Town: ☆☆☆☆☆
Timber Town: ☆☆☆☆☆
Lake / River Town: ★★★★★

Visitors of Hayden Lake's Honeysuckle Beach in high summer — *Hayden Lake's public Honeysuckle Beach is congested during high summer. If you're hoping to use the public boat launch or find a parking space, best to get there early.*

Hayden Lake Community Description

The urbanized Coeur d’Alene area has enveloped Hayden Lake. Like Twin Lakes, Idaho, there's simply not a lot to say, from an urban planning perspective, about a community that is essentially a bunch of lake homes. Twenty-five years ago, Hayden Lake felt like an out of the way destination about 15 minutes north of downtown Coeur d’Alene. These days, it’s 20 minutes north of downtown Cd’A and Hayden Lake no longer feels out of the way -- it’s only a handful of large-scale strip malls, subdivisions, and congested intersections away.

Like most lakes in the metro, on one side of Hayden is more an urban environment yet, on the other side, it’s pretty much the Rocky Mountains. Nevertheless, Hayden Lake is totally surrounded by lake homes, some being palatial. Once upon a time, word on the street was Tom Cruise had a home on the lake. Rumors like that come and go but you can bet there are several homes on Hayden Lake scaled proportionately to Cruise’s budget.

Hayden Lake is ranked high on this list because it’s big. From a “What lake do you own a home on?” perspective, Hayden Lake is one of the metro’s premier answers. It is, indeed, one of the cornerstone lakes of the Spokane metro.