Did you know that the Center of the Universe is in Idaho?  We found that out, and more when we met up with our friends in Wallace, Idaho.  Chris and I spent over 20 years in the military being away from family and friends.  When we found out that our friends were going to be visiting Wallace for a few days, we jumped on the chance to see them and had a great time in this historic town. Who knew it had so much to offer?!

Wallace RV Park

Our first stop before visiting Wallace was to park Dutch at the Wallace RV Park.  It took a few minutes because there was an auto show going on and many of the roads were either blocked off or one way.  Wallace RV park is small but offers 41 full hookup sites, rental cabins, and tent sites and at $33 a night, it’s a bargain.  The park has free WIFI, showers, and restrooms, and some sites are creekside.  We found it to be a very nice, quaint park with friendly staff and neighbors.  The park is also conveniently located next to City Limits Brew Pub & Grill which has amazing food and pie!  The meals are good sized and delicious, and they have a huckleberry-strawberry rhubarb pie that’s to die for!  The park is also within walking distance to visit Wallace. 

Visiting Wallace

Wallace is a small town in northwest Idaho near the national forest. With a population of only 800 people, it’s small, but it makes up for it with tons of things to do.  It’s close to the Bitterroot Mountain ski resorts, biking, hiking, fishing, and nearly every other outdoor activity you can think of.  The town is historic with every downtown building on the National Register of Historic Places.  The highway used to come through the town and when the new interstate was constructed, the people of Wallace decided they wouldn’t let the buildings be bulldozed.  The interstate goes around and over the town instead but there’s still an exit for visiting Wallace.

Center of the Universe

Wallace called itself the “Silver Capital of the World” until 2004.  With over 1.2 billion ounces found nearby, it’s no wonder why.  The first mining began in 1884 and consisted of four primary companies: Hecla Mining, Coeur d’Alene Precious Metals, Sunshine Silver Mine, and Bunker Hill Mining Company.  In 2004, the mayor of Wallace declared Wallace the “Center of the Universe” stating that if you can’t prove it, how can you disprove it.  Now all the original mining companies are represented at the center of the universe with their initials on the manhole cover.  

The town of Wallace has a movie career as well.  Do you remember the blockbuster thriller Dante’s Peak?  The one with Pierce Brosnan?  It was filmed here. (No, the volcano is NOT here. That was Hollywood FX at work.). Tornado and Heaven’s Gate were also filmed here against the beautiful backdrop of the mountains and valleys surrounding the town.  Actress Lana Turner was born and raised in this town.  You may remember her from the original A Star is Born movie as well as many others from her 50-year acting career.

If you want to spend time visiting Wallace, there are many museums including a mining museum, train depot museum, and a bordello museum.  Yes, Chris really wanted to go in that one but we decided Corbin was too young.  We ended up going to the mining museum and taking a silver mine and town tour instead.

Sierra Silver Mine

The Sierra Silver Mine Tour provides educational tours about the methods of mining.  Tours take place every 30 minutes and cost $16 for adults and $8.50 for children.  The tour starts with a ride on a trolley learning about the history of Wallace and how mining began there.  Once you arrive at the mine, a retired miner talks about the different types of core samples and rocks you can find as a miner.  He also showed us the equipment and clothing the miners wore.  He explains the personnel accounting system they used to ensure everyone knew where all the miners were at all times.  

Next, we donned our hard hats and entered the mine.  It was great having an actual miner as our tour guide! He showed us how to use some of the tools they used to collect the silver. The drill was really loud and we couldn’t imagine having to listen to that sound for hours and hours every day. I’m sure the miners had some hearing issues after years of working underground. Corbin got to send a sled out and back to scrape for silver. The miner showed us a light panel simulating how the dynamite would’ve been set up to properly blow the wall. He wasn’t allowed to use it though. Darn!! At the end of the tour, Corbin picked out a core sample to take home and despite its small size, it was quite dense and heavy!

Ride the Hiawatha

While visiting Wallace, we met up with our friends to Ride the Hiawatha.  The Route of the Hiawatha is a 15-mile bike ride through 10 train tunnels and on 7 train trestles.  Tickets can be reserved online but you still have to pick them up at the Lookout Pass Ski Area before you start.  You’ll need tickets for the trail itself and then shuttle tickets if you don’t want to bike back up the long trail. Here’s a breakdown of the prices: Adult: Trail- $13, Shuttle- $12; Children (5-12) Trail- $9, Shuttle- $8.  There are also multiple bike rental options to choose from if you need one. Once arriving at the trail you show your tickets, get snacks, and then it gets interesting. 

Wicked Long Tunnel!

The St. Paul Pass Tunnel goes through the Bitterroot Mountains and connects Idaho to Montana. You need a light for your bike and warm clothes because the first part of the trip is biking 1.66 miles through this dark, damp, and cold train tunnel.  It was a little bit unnerving at first but after your eyes adjust, it was fun.  Just follow the person in front of you, closely, but not too closely.  It was really muddy so you can get sprayed with mud from the bike tires.  (See Chris’s picture below.) There are no cars to worry about, only the folks coming from the other direction and the drainage ditches on the edges.  It’s plenty wide enough though.  It seemed to take forever to see the light at the end of the tunnel but it did eventually come. 

Downhill for 13 Miles!!

Next, it’s pretty much all downhill…for almost 13 miles!  Fun, right?  Easy riding for everyone, including kids.  Riding along, looking out over the mountains or down over the trestles.  Not the best ride for exercising as there’s hardly any peddling required but it was super fun zipping down the mountain.  There are quite a few places to stop along the way because of the views.  Many of the trestles have views of the Bitterroot mountains and valleys.  

There are interpretive signs and other signs describing the tunnels, trestles, and views.  You can see many animals along the way and they aren’t shy because they occasionally get snacks from the riders.  When we stopped for a restroom break a deer came right up to us and sniffed our hands.

At the bottom of the trail, you hang your bike in the back of a truck and wait in line for the next bus back to the top.  The bus ride is interesting as well because the bus driver tells you the history of the area. Wait until you hear about The Great Fire of 1910! The bus brings you back to the end of the St. Paul Pass Tunnel where once again you get to don your cool weather clothes and lights to ride back through the tunnel.  It was a very exhilarating ride overall and we highly recommend it! 

Home to Spokane

Our time visiting Wallace marked the last stop before we headed to Chris’ hometown of Spokane for 3 weeks. We needed to see family, get our daughter off to college, and relax…and maybe think about a big change. Check out our next blog to see what it is!

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