New York Times, September 2008, "Sandpoint, Idaho: Old West Atmosphere in a Sporting Paradise." and "Sandpoint is a hotbed for active sports, and summer is the busiest season, especially for boating."
New York Times, July 2007, "Idaho: The Last Wilderness."
"I drove once until there was no more road, and then hiked until there was no more trail. Like leprechauns at rainbow's end, we found a deep pool at the base of a waterfall, by a grove of ancient cedars. We caught fish until our arms were tired, and then watched the night sky theatrics. There was river music, white noise for sleep. And I promised never to tell the exact location."
Business Week, July 2006, "Best Places to Retire"
First-time visitors to Sandpoint realize they have entered another world when they cross the bridge that spans the glacier-blue expanse of Lake Pend Oreille. It's there they catch a glimpse of the charming town nestled beneath the mountains of northern Idaho. "It's like turning back the clock 40 years," says mortgage broker Steve Kirby, who moved from San Diego to Sandpoint last year and plans to retire there soon. "With the Schweitzer Mountain ski resort just 12 miles away and a lake that offers boatloads of recreational opportunities, Sandpoint has long attracted outdoor enthusiasts."
U.S. News & World Report, June 2007, " Lakeside Living That's Far From the Crowds."
Sandpoint is one of the nation's top 10 retirement spots "that offer delightful surroundings and amenities but still are easy on the wallet."
Outside Magazine, August 2004, "America's Top Dream Towns: Sandpoint, Idaho: The Cool Northwest's Hot Property"
It's easy to get seduced by Sandpoint. You cross the two-mile bride over Pend Oreille (pronounced Pon-der-AY) and drink in the spectacular Selkirk mountain-scape looming over downtown. But what really reels you in is Sandpoint's small-town sense of community, with the restored Spanish-mission-style Panida Theater and all manner of city-sanctioned excuses to lollygag (like Winter Carnival or the Lost in the '50s nostalgia fest for muscle-car buffs). And then there's the big-town lineup of restaurants: "The best place to eat in Spokane," goes the joke about the city of 194,000 lying 75 miles southwest, "is in Sandpoint." "The twin playgrounds of the lake and 8,000-foot peaks prevent any dead spots on the calendar."
Forbes, August 2004
Forbes.com named Sandpoint, Idaho "one of the best places to live if you can telecommute to work."
Sunset Magazine, August 2006, "Idaho's Lake Country"
"Lake Pend Oreille is grayer and deeper, and easygoing Sandpoint, on its northern shore, provides a more intimate, small-town experience." "I dip my paddle in and out, and I'm reminded of the lake that Sandpoint native Marilynne Robinson describes in her novel Housekeeping; of water that seems "spread over half the world." This is a vast lake indeed, a fact recognized by the Navy in World War II, when it tested submarines in the deep water near today's 4,000-acre Farragut State Park."
USA Today, January 2007
"As of Jan. 10, Schweitzer had reported an astonishing 211 inches of snow this season."
Acura Style Magazine
" You begin to shake off civilization when you cross the two-mile bridge over the northwest end of Lake Pend Oreille and reach Sandpoint."
New York Times, October 2008, "Fall Foliage; Big Leaves, Bright Country."
In Idaho, leaf lovers in the know drive the Pend Oreille National Scenic Byway, which runs east from near Sandpoint, around Lake Pend Oreille, lined with birch, aspen and tamaracks, along the Clark Fork River and on to the Montana border. Ron Gardner, spokesman for the Idaho Travel Council, said that of Idaho's 83,000 square miles of land, 60 percent was public and much of that was covered in forests that become radiant with color in the fall. ''We're pretty proud of the fact that we have more natural back country than any other state in the lower 48,'' he said. ''Most people think it's just one big, huge potato farm,'' he added. ''But we think that from the air, Idaho probably looks like a Norman Rockwell painting just about any time of year.''
USA Today, 2004
"A Norman Rockwell meets Ansel Adams classic." Throw in a thriving arts scene, a top-rated but low-key ski area 11 miles from town, and outdoor restaurant decks filled with tourists schmoozing over huckleberry daiquiris and appetizers of ancho chili and espresso-encrusted tuna, and no wonder this eclectic enclave, some 75 miles east of Spokane, Wash., in northern Idaho's Panhandle, is being touted as the Next Great Place.
Sunset Magazine, January 2004,
"The West's Best Places to Live" Sandpoint, Idaho "Best Small Town."
National Geographic Explorer, August 2008, "Idaho's Last Stand, Lakefront living in a tight-knit mountain retreat."
The only drawback to life in an idyllic adventure haven is that, inevitably, some glossy magazine comes through town and blows its cover. But we wager to say that, given the local character, quiet Sandpoint will continue to fight off land rushes and unsightly sprawl. Sandpoint today is much as it was 20 years ago, when civic-minded residents made a stand and saved the mission-style Panida Theater in the waterfront city center from demolition. These days, foreign films at the Panida, back-alley canine keg-pulls behind the brewpub, and a summertime bluegrass festival keep the town buzzing. "
USA Today, January 2008, "A Ski Lift Named Stella, and Other Tales from the Snowy Northwest"
Schweitzer is the "biggest and most posh of the five hills in the Inland Northwest Ski Association."
Keokee Creative Group of Sandpoint, Idaho
