[Soccer_Dad]

Let's call this a preliminary report on a pretty darn interesting area of northern Idaho. The high country of the Idaho Selkirks is probably just about unfrozen now, but I had time for only a short hike, so my wife (she hikes rivers, my daughter prefers ridges) and I decided to explore the cascades on Lion Creek, known as the Slippery Rocks. They were a total accidental discovery by me - I was looking into hikes in the Lookout Peak area, and came across a few intriguing photos on Google Earth. The area didn't disappoint, although I would caution that you might find the area to be too popular for you. We went in on a Friday, and there were two other groups there - one with about 7 parents and 12 kids, and another family of 4. I imagine that, on a really hot weekend, you might find the area overrun by locals getting cool in the streams. [I apologize for the picture quality - I forgot my camera and ended up getting these with my cell phone] Anyway, it's a short 4/10 mile walk to the first cascade. It's a nice series of pools and short cascades and falls.

Lower part of lower Lion Creek Cascades

Upper part of Lower Lion Creek Cascades

Looking down from the middle of Lower Lion Creek cascades

Another 1.1 miles gets you to the end of the "road" - the portion that was once a dirt roadway. It's a single track trail after this point. But it was a great spot to stop for lunch. There's a nice cedar grove here, with trees 3-4 feet in diameter, and there are large boulders in the creek to sit on and have lunch. We didn't cross the creek here, but it was clear that there was a trail on the other side. It turns out we were very close to the confluence of Kent Creek - more on that in a bit.

Cedar Grove near the confluence of Lion and Kent Creeks

We chose to stay on the north side of Lion Creek, and walked another 100 yards or so to the next cascades. These were a bit larger and more spread out, but we also had more company, so we snapped a couple pictures and moved on.

Upper Lion Creek Cascades

We kept on the trail on the north side of Lion Creek for about 2/10 mile, enough to find a nice cascade/waterfall (poor picture - sorry). It looked like the trail kept on along the creek, but the trail quality was getting sketchy, and we wanted to turn around to spend more time back at the cascades.

Small Waterfall on Lion Creek

Now, back to the creek crossing. When I got home, a couple of the google earth pictures looked like they were located just across the creek, along Kent Creek. Perhaps those were a third set of "slippery rocks". I'll let you know if I go back. The intriguing areas for exploration are the ones with no mapped trails - further along Lion Creek (maybe all the way to Kent Lake?), up along Kent Creek, and it would be fabulous to have a good route onto Lion's Head ridge (the ridge just north of the creek). The ridge looks to be a sparsely forested (i.e. 360 degree views) 3-mile-long granite ridge that leads straight up to the Lion's Head buttresses.

West Lions Head from Lookout Mountain (fall 2008)

In theory, you could have a major near treeline loop that takes you out to Lion's Head, back to Lookout Mountain (probably 3-4 hours of ridge walking with views of the whole northern ID Selkirks), and then down the "access road" (closed to vehicles) back to Lion Creek. To get there, take Highway 57 north out of Priest River Idaho. Turn off toward the east side of the lake at the Coolin turnoff. Follow the main road on the east side of Priest Lake until just after the pavement ends. After a couple miles, you cross a bridge over Lion Creek, and the next right takes you alongside the creek. Stay left at the road intersections (but stay on the well-graded roads) until the road loops back to the left to the trailhead parking. It's 2:30 from Spokane, but if you are already on the east side of Priest Lake, don't miss it. It's a great spot to spend a hot afternoon. John

[trailjunky]

Wow, just discovered this TR for an area I have been wanting to visit forever, those granite slabs look awesome. It was an option for a dayhike this 4th of July weekend, but I think I will save until later to avoid the crowds.

[Spotly]

If you continue across the creek, the braided trail goes up for maybe half a mile or so then deadends at an area called Devil's Slide. Many of the locals haul up garbage bags to slide down on (and many leave their bags there too!). The rock is nice and smooth for some long slides in that upper section but watch for snags laying across the creek.

[harrymalamute]

thanks for the tr. soccer dad, i've known of this but have never been, looks like a great choice for a cool family outing. (benson& buckwheat go get your swim trunks and doggles were going swimming) woo-who!

[Soccer_Dad]

[Chief Joseph]

Haven't been to these natural water slides, but will probably check them out next Summer. Recently a group of men were trying strongarm tourists into paying to use the slides and also some area logging roads. Strange but true news stories... http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/local_news/20180726/security_upped_at_pl_slides https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=priest%20lake%20slides%20