Need opinions on Hayden Lake, ID.

[killerbren]

Hi guys,

I'm planning a trip for late August next year and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on Hayden Lake?

I've heard good things about the lake, heard the water is pretty warm, but how are the weeds? The north end of the late can get quite weedy and im guessing it gets worse towards the end of the summer, but how is the rest of the lake late into the year? I'm kind of liking the close proximity to restaurants, shopping, etc.

Also looking at Lake Blaine which is just east of Kalispell, if anybody has any opinions on that lake it would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,
Brennen

P.s. Just trying to schedule this holiday is putting me into serious boating withdrawal. Only 6 more months! (...that seems so long away)

[IDBoating]

Our lake is quite near Hayden Lake. Right up front, I'll say that Hayden is very nice, with clear blue water. It's been one of the area's "premiere destination lakes" for a couple of decades.

Downsides are that they've been having algae bloom problems every summer lately, it's a rather large lake which means winds and the resulting waves, and it can get VERY crowded especially on the weekends with non-resident traffic.

My brother used to rent a slip on Hayden every summer and keep his MasterCraft there. He stopped as of last year, in part because of the above reasons.

If you time it right, Hayden can be a nice lake to visit. But I would shy away from buying property there, for example. A recent real estate report for waterfront property in the area listed Hayden Lake as the only one where property values were expected to decline over the next few years. It didn't say if that was because of the above problems, or because property values had already become overinflated and a correction was due, or other reason(s).

Just be careful.

[sandm]

kalispell is an absolutely beautiful place. I would pick that location over hayden to spend time in glacier park. lived there for a year and it was amazing. it has lost some of it's charm with the influx of out of stat'ers bringing big money there so it's somewhat expensive but the scenery is worth the trip..

[Ewok]

I live in Spokane Valley and Hayden is our favorite lake in the region, not including Flathead lake near Kalispell, I'm only talking the greater Spokane/Coeur D'Alene (CDA) region. Here are the cons and pros:

Cons:
- Only 1 real ramp for pleasure boats, it's $10/day (60 for the season) launch fee plus the invasive species sticker.
- The ramp gets busy in the afternoons with lots of people trying to go home, it's a real $hit show on a warm Saturday.
- Limited parking at the ramp, if you don't get there early enough you could have a 1/2 mile walk down the street to find a place to park along the road.
- Weeds are only in the northeastern part of the lake and that part of the lake is pretty shallow anyhow, you wouldn't be in that area at all.
- When the lake gets busy, most of the Wally's stay near the boat launch area and churn up the water pretty bad.

Pros:
- For my family's purposes, it's a perfect medium size lake. It's quite a bit smaller than CDA so it's not affected by the wind or big cruisers as much as CDA or Pend Oreille. It's also a good bit bigger than Hauser, Twin or Spirit Lakes, so there is more cruising time for my little ones to take a nap in the afternoon.
- The size of the lake is also good because there is lots of room to spread out and avoid the Wally's who usually hang out near the boat launch.
- The water is very clear and usually a little bit warmer than CDA, but not drastically, at the most it's usually 1-2 degrees F warmer than CDA.
- The expensive daily launch fee and the crowded ramp usually keep most people away, so even when the lake is really crowded, it's not bad at all compared to CA and AZ lakes. It's mostly lakehouse owners on the lake and they aren't on it all day, they head out, get a few sets, and head back to their houses.
- Unless you are renting a house in the lake, you can also explore the other lakes in the area. One of the things my kids love to do on CDA is put the boat in the water near downtown CDA, then cruise down the lake to the town of Harrison. There is a nice playground, beach and ice cream shop that my kids love and we do that cruise about 2-3 times a year. I love to take by boat to any type of restaurant that is accessible by the water and there are quite a few places like that in the area. Sandpoint, ID is another coastal city like that with parking for boats near the downtown restaurant/shopping district.

If the weather craps out you could also spend a day at Silverwood, a small amusement park that has lots of rides for little kids, and a few good coasters for the grown ups. It's definitely not Disneyland, but it's a good alternate thing to do if you want to take a break from boating.

If you have any more specific questions, don't be afraid to ask and/or PM me if you come this way, it would be cool to have a little TO meet up sometime.

[Tulsah]

I would recommend many of the lakes of northwestern Montana. We've boated Flathead in a sterndrive, and it was not pleasant on account of the unpredictability of the water/weather ... no way I'm going back with the Tige. Two summers ago, we were on Hungry Horse Reservoir - this is an amazing lake with exceptionally clear and warm water. It is huge and not well known, so not terribly busy. It's about a 15 minute drive from the town of Hungry Horse and is within 30 miles of Kalispell. This past summer, we spent a week on Koocanusa, and it was our favorite yet. The same clear and warm water of Hungry Horse, but also with white sandy beaches for the kids.

[duffymahoney]

What about Lake Pend Oreille? Bigger, less boats, cheaper to stay at. Only 40 minutes from Hayden. It's my home turf

[CDAWaves]

We keep our boat in a slip at Hayden Lake Marina. It’s a great lake that is deep, clear and it warms up faster than the other larger lakes here. It doesn't have any big in-flow rivers that dump ice cold snow melt water into the lake other than early spring. If you’re coming in August it won’t matter too much on temperature. Weeds are only a problem in the northern most bay, so if you are renting a house, that would be a consideration.

There would be several other lakes you could explore while in this area. Lake Coeur D’Alene, Lake Pend Oreille and Priest Lake are all great options to explore and easily done along with Hayden if you are in the area for a week or so. Priest would be a bit out of the way but the others are right there.

If you decide to come to the area let me know. (my wife is from St. Albert and she has family in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge) I would be happy to pass on information about the area and places to hit while you are here. Just send me a PM. We are out on Hayden nearly every day in the summer and it’s our favorite lake in the area mostly because we are just a few miles from our boat slip, but also because it’s not too big or small and while there isn’t much access for public boat launches, it does make for a less busy lake.

[IDBoating]

We keep our boat in a slip at Hayden Lake Marina.

Do you have any additional insight on the algae blooms they've had in the past few summers? I've had quite a few people on our lake say they came here instead of there to avoid that specific problem. Since we have lakefront property here, we never go to other lakes so I don't have first-hand knowledge of the situation.

Thanks for anything you can share.

[CDAWaves]

Yeah, there has been a bluegreen algae warning the past 2 summers on Hayden and it has been localized to the 2 north bays. North of Rockaway Beach and in the back part of Monkins Bay (in the very back by the lilypads and not near the sand bar). We spent a crazy amount of time there with the family and the dog and there were no problems we had or heard of. If you are not in the shallows of the north bay (you probably don't want to be there with all the weeds anyway, especially with an inboard) you are safe. I think that if you look at the water and it looks nasty with mats of algae and green water....don't jump in!

Here is an article that ran in July. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...n-hayden-lake/

[killerbren]

Thanks for all the replies guys, all of it is super helpful. Sounds like all the issues have been isolated to the north end of the lake. I've never been in the area before but am really excited to see it first hand. Heard nothing but good things. We have also been looking at pend orielle, but found a really good deal on Hayden lake hence the original question.