Idaho’s Kellogg My family and I were searching for an asterisk-filled ski vacation last year.
The mountain needed to have enough terrain to accommodate my husband’s and my children’s vastly disparate skill levels. We desired accommodations and, ideally, childcare on-site. Additionally, we didn’t want to go over budget.
We discovered all of that, along with an indoor waterpark, at Silver Mountain in quaint Kellogg, Idaho. I know it seems a bit too good to be true, but listen.
In the Silver Valley of Idaho, Kellogg is a community of around 2,400 people, located about 70 miles east of Spokane. A section of the 73-mile paved Coeur d Alenes Trail runs parallel to the Coeur d Alene River, which flows through the town like a ribbon.
The town, which bears the name of Noah Kellogg, a 19th-century gold prospector, was a major lead ore mining hub. The first veins were found after Kellogg’s burro, Bill, went missing, according to local tradition. Silver Mountain Resort was christened Jackass Ski Bowl in Bill’s honor when it originally opened in 1967.
The ski area saw several ownership changes over the years, including a name change in the late 1970s and financial difficulties in the early 1980s due to the collapse of the local mining economy. At a time when daily lift tickets were $14, the resort was considered too costly to run.
With a multimillion-dollar gondola that spans 3.1 miles from the valley floor to the lodge at Midmountain, the resort reopened as Silver Mountain Resort in 1990.
The atmosphere of Silver Mountain is a little out of date at times. The lodge at Mountain House is simple and unkempt. Double black diamonds are being torn off of jeans. But because of this, it feels almost revitalizing, like a trip back in time to the 20th century. All in all, I see myself going back to Silver Mountain again and again. Here is a summary.
The mountain
A 30-minute gondola journey is required to access Silver Mountain’s exciting snow activities, which include skiing, riding, tubing, and snowshoeing. Consider it a chance for excitement to build and a chance to have a soothing beer or hot chocolate. Before you go on either end, use the restroom, especially if you have small children. The gondola closes at 5 p.m., and the last ride up is at 3:30 p.m. every day.
In addition to skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and snowshoeing, Silver Mountain Resort in Idaho has an indoor water park.The Silver Mountain Resort provided the image.
Adult tickets for the gondola ride alone cost $22.95 (children under three enter free). Adults pay $29 for snow tubing (which includes the gondola ride), children ages 4 to 17 pay $26, and children ages 2 to 3 pay $15. Adult lift tickets start at $68 during the week and peak at $77 during the holidays; children under the age of six enter free of charge (including gondola trip). Students, elderly, and veterans of the armed forces can also receive half-day tickets and discounts.
The gondola disembarks at the Mountain House, which has a rental store, a full-service restaurant and bar called Mogul’s Lounge, an on-mountain daycare center (for children ages 2 to 7), and a cafeteria-style restaurant called Mountain House Grill. It’s a cozy, well-utilized lodge that serves all the best ski-hill fare, including dogs, burgers, fries, and nachos. Strong cocktails and lots of Red Bull are available upstairs at Mogul’s Lounge, along with meals ($12–$16) and a dozen beers on tap.
On the mountain itself, there are 1,600 skiable acres that cross Kellogg and Wardner peaks, five chairlifts, and a covered surface lift.
Silver Mountain has a good variety of beginner, intermediate, and expert courses, as well as plenty of glades to whoosh through, so there’s definitely something for every skier in your family. For those who don’t ride or ski, there are four tubing lanes and a small terrain park for adventurers.
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions caused by last winter’s poor snowfall, the Mountain House was bustling and welcoming when we visited during midwinter break last year. With so much snowfall in the Northwest this year, it should be even better.
Visit seesilvermt.com/ski-ride for comprehensive information about the mountain, including rental and instruction options, trail maps, lift tickets, and more.
The sleepy village
At Silver’s base camp, the Gondola Village was somewhat of a ghost town, in contrast to the bustling Mountain House.
Mo’s Froyo & Joe is a coffee and frozen yogurt cafe, but it doesn’t open until 4 p.m. on weekdays. Other establishments also have restricted hours, particularly if you’re visiting in the middle of the week. The majority of visitors are day trippers from nearby Spokane and Coeur d Alene, according to a Silver Mountain spokesman, which may explain the calm evenings.
On busy days, ski hills in western Washington can feel overcrowded, so my family was amazed by the silence. We virtually gave each other high fives for finding what seems to be a hidden gem in the crazy-expensive world of ski trips when we stumbled into another Seattle family.
We had a great dinner at Noah’s Canteen, a family-friendly restaurant in the Gondola Village that serves everything from flatbreads and burgers to steaks, tacos, and pastas at reasonable prices. The Silver Mountain Sports Shop also had some amazing deals on outerwear and equipment, with plenty of sizes left. A 14-ounce rib-eye with sides costs $40, while a blackened fish taco with chips and salsa is $18.
Yoke’s Fresh Market, a fantastic grocery store in town, is well-stocked and ideal for the fully equipped one-bedroom unit we reserved at the resort’s Morning Star Lodge. The Lodge’s basic rooms start in the mid-$100s throughout the week and go up to the $300s on the busiest weekends. The cost of a complete one-bedroom apartment, such as the one we leased, is $260 per night.
An additional benefit was the Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark, which is free to enter if you stay at the lodge or costs $45 per person if you stay somewhere else in town.
We went to the waterpark one day as a break from skiing, and it was fantastic. Now, normally I would be screaming in a hot, muggy indoor park because of the enormous buckets of water being thrown, the yells, and the eye-burning bleach in the air. However, Silver Rapids was clean without being too harsh. Calm but enjoyable. It wasn’t a sensory overload, even though there were two water features that were constantly filling and dumping. And it was infectious how happy my daughters were as they repeatedly zipped down the waterslides.
Although I’m not quite sold on the indoor waterpark lifestyle, I can see why it’s so appealing now. A few outdoor hot tubs are dotted throughout the Gondola Village for soaking if you’re not into the waterpark vibe.
Whether you have children or not, I believe you will like Silver Mountain’s charmingly nostalgic village, resort, and mountain.
From The Seattle Times, Jackie Varriano
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