Downtown CDA was built to attract tourists coming from around the world to visit Coeur d’Alene and to entertain locals. The beautiful lake and thousand acre forests provide tourists with experiences with the outdoors and with wildlife. There are more than 125 different shops and restaurants, a resort, and beautiful beaches that make Downtown Coeur d’Alene a tourist’s dream destination. 

In the summer, Coeur d’ALene Lake becomes busy with swimmers and boaters from all around. The lake is almost 50miles long and reaches up to 220ft at its deepest points. Tourists can enjoy lake activities such as cliff diving, boating, fishing, tubing, wakeboarding, and scuba diving. What many of the tourists don’t realize about the beautiful lake is how many pollutants are in the water. From 1886 to 1981 Bunker Hill Mines and Smelting Complex would use the river to dump tailings from the mine. Over the years, the bottom of the lake accumulated 75 million tons of sediment polluted with lead, cadmium, arsenic, and zinc. Almost no effort has been done to clean up the lake due to risk of unearthing all of the hazardous mine tailings to the surface. Currently, there are no serious health effects associated with swimming in the lake. 

The CDA Resort has been a prime spot for tourists activity. The building features restaurants, pools, and a boardwalk that stretches along the marina. Guests of the resort can stay in one of the 338 rooms the hotel has to offer. The Resort Golf Course was opened five years after the resort in 1991. Duane Hagadone and Jerry Jaeger built The Coeur d’Alene Resort in 1986. For being built over 30 years ago, the building has been refurbished and continues to provide a luxurious lakeside experience.

With there being over 152 local shops and restaurants in downtown CDA, tourists tend to take a stop and buy a souvenir to remember their time in Coeur d’Alene. Mrs. Honey Peeps Sweet shop is one of many stores in the downtown CDA area. This dreamlike candy shop holds over 250 different types of candy along with an 8ft gumball machine that contains over 20,000 gumballs. Both the locals and visitors stop by to enjoy a delicious sugar cone or grab a bag of assorted treats. A few blocks down from a Fig Pickles Toy Emporium. This toy is decorated with assorted toys and a small library surrounded with trees connected by fairy lights. These two shops are two of many included in a small building called The Shops. Since this group of stores are connected to The Resort, tourists will often bring their children to explore or even go to admire the spectacular visuals Mrs.Honey Peeps and Figs Pickles have to offer. 

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