North from Sandpoint, US-2 and US-95 run together through broad flat valleys dotted with small timber towns. The largest of these, Naples, draws travelers to its friendly HI Hostel (208/267-2947), housed above the general store. Next door, the Northwoods Tavern is a great place to meet locals over a beer and a game of pool (or three).
Ten miles north of Naples, and named after a ferry service across the Kootenai River that started here in 1864, Bonners Ferry (pop. 2,515) is a busy blue-collar town with a natural resource–based (read: logging and farming, especially hop-growing) economy. The Kootenai River Inn ($65 and up; 208/267-8511) is an Indian-run casino and Best Western.
One roadside sight to see is the Barber Ship, on US-2 at the center of town, not a typo but a land-locked houseboat now housing a barber shop. Away from the highway, there’s an equally unusual accommodation option, too: the Shorty Peak Fire Lookout, way up in the wild Selkirk Mountains, where two people can spend the night and take in the panoramic views for a bargain $20 a night. For reservations, and information on hiking in the surrounding wilderness, contact the USFS ranger station (208/267-5561) on US-2/95 at the south edge of town.
Between Bonners Ferry and the Montana state line, US-2 crosses the once-wild, now-dammed Moyie River on a 450-foot-high bridge.
