• Post Falls Dam

  • Photographed by Tom Holman

Blanchard

The town of Blanchard, located on Idaho State Highway 41 6.5 miles (10.5 km) northwest of Spirit Lake was named for Joe Blanchard, an early settler who moved away to Kootenai Lake  in Canada.   Blanchard is 35 miles north of Coeur d'Alene and 40 miles south of Sandpoint, in North Idaho and has a post office with ZIP code 83804.

R. C. Blackwell of the Panhandle Lumber Company, which operated sawmills at Spirit Lake, Idaho and at Ione, Washington, promoted the railroad, which came through Blanchard in 1908.  This increased the prosperity of the settlers and brought many new people into the community.  Soon all available homesteads on both sides of Spirit Valley were taken. The original one-room log schoolhouse was replaced by a larger one-room frame building, and school was extended up to nine months each year.

In  1912,  Louis  M.  Poirier,  J.H.  Presnell,  Frank Rusho and Elmer Boehm  organized the Blanchard Trading  Company, Ltd. and started operating a general  merchandise store. Fielden L. Poirier, Louis Poirier's son was employed there as a clerk.  Later, he bought the store and operated it until 1954. then sold it to Claude Blanchard,  grandson of the man  for whom the town had been named. Fielden was  assistant  postmaster and then postmaster postmaster from 1912 to 1954.


Sights nearby:

Stone Ridge Resort

Stoneridge Resort is a timeshare resort with houses nearby for purchase, RV park, golf course, and other amenities. There is a large pond that is perfect for boating/sailing.

Lake Sans SouciLake Sans Souci

Lake San Souci is just southwest of Blanchard Idaho in the private housing development resort of Stone Ridge. This is a private lake with public access. Kayakers and non motorized fishing boats frequently access this lake. There is no boat launch so launching is done at the public access site over the bank (A sign there indicates that fishing from the shore is only allowed between the designated signs).

Fishing: No fish species info available. The sign at the public access site indicates that the following activities are not allowed: swimming, camping, fires, animals, loud noises, gas-operated motor boats.  

Hoodoo Lake

The lake is about 1.5 miles long during the spring high water and is 15' deep at its deepest. Fishing is done on this lake but hunting water foul is not allowed due to private and forest services land use rules. There is a primitive non-maintained fine gravel and mud boat launch to this lake with no restroom or running water. People do camp near this boat launch location.
Access to this lake is tricky as there are no signs, no physical land marks, etc. East of Blanchard on HWY 41 is  The lake is just north of Harlem, ID. Just a couple of miles north of Spirit Lake Idaho on a major bend in HWY 41 you will see to your left/east Spirit Lake Cutoff Rd. follow this road until it comes to the intersection of Blood and Ahlers Road. Turn right/south onto Bloods Road. Once on blood Road traveling south the road will curve to the east and back to the south. Once you are travel south again on a small straightaway after the east curve in the road you will see a dirt road to the left (east) about 200 ft down the road after the curve. Follow this dirt road to the lake, its a rough road best suited for 4x4 vehicles

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