Heyburn State Park
Heyburn State Park is an Idaho state park in Benewah County, Idaho in the United States. The park, founded 108 years ago in 1908, is the oldest state park in the Pacific Northwest. There are 5,744 acres (23.2 km2) of land and 2,332 acres (9.4 km2) of water in the park on three lakes. Heyburn Lake State Park is open for year-round recreation including camping, boating, hiking, horseback riding, fishing, and picnicking.
A dam constructed on the Spokane River in Spokane 110 years ago in 1906 raised the level of Lake Coeur d'Alene and connected it to the three lakes (Benewah, Chatcolet, and Hidden) of the park. The surface elevation of the lakes is 2,125 feet (648 m) above sea level.
History
The Coeur d'Alene were the first inhabitants in what is now Heyburn State Park. Originally members called themselves, "Schitsu'umsh," meaning "The Discovered People" or "Those Who Are Found Here." The Natives found an abundance of fish in the three lakes of the park as well as in the Saint Joe River. Waterfowl inhabited the wetlands and deer, bear and various birds were plentiful in the grassy meadows and slopes of the surrounding mountains. Prior to the arrival of European American settlers, the Coeur d'Alene lived in what would become the Idaho Panhandle. The first Europeans to encounter the Coeur d'Alene were French traders and trappers. They found the tribe to be experienced and skilled at trading, thus the name "Coeur d'Alene," meaning "heart of the awl." One French trader described the tribe as "the greatest traders in the world." The tribe ranged over an area of over 4 million acres (16,000 km²) of grassy hills, camas-prairie, wooded mountains, lakes, marshes and river habitat in northern Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana.
State park
State parks or provincial parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" or "province" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, and of some states of Mexico. The term is also used in Australia, though the distinction between state and national parks there is different. The Canadian equivalent term is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.
State parks are thus similar to national parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks. In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California.
Podcasts:
