I’ve seen this mission many times, zooming by on I-90 on my way to and from Colorado, to and from Montana, to and from Utah….you get the idea. It wasn’t until my friend Laura was here last weekend that we decided to make it a destination, setting off on about a 1.5 hour drive one fine overcast Saturday morning.
The weather could have been better, much much better. It was cold and it was wet, but it was also peaceful and beautiful. Cataldo Mission is at Old Mission State Park, so if you don’t have a Idaho state park pass, there is a small entrance fee. During the winter hours, the visitors center opens at 10. It didn’t say that on the website so we showed up at 9 to a piece of paper taped to the inside of the window informing us of the winter hours. I’m not sure if he just had goodness in his heart or was alarmed at the desperate looks on our faces, coupled with the tightly crossed legs and tapping feet, but the park ranger let us in to use the restroom! Thank you Ranger! After he kicked us back out in the rain, up the hill we went to check out the reason for this little road trip.
Not only is this the oldest mission in Idaho, it’s also the oldest building and well maintained. Most of the missions in my experience have been stucco, this one was wood siding, which took away a little bit of the charm, but totally makes sense in the wet cold climate of northern Idaho.
The inside is dark and drab, but then an amazing thing happens when you take a picture. The alter looks like it is back-lit, a warm glow coming through your lense. I did a double take and had to look at the alter again, then through the camera, naked eye, camera, back and forth a few times, I just couldn’t believe the difference. You’ll have to go see for yourself since I wasn’t able to get a picture without the glow. And no, I didn’t have my flash on. And no, I’m not crazy, I even asked the ranger about it and he acknowledged that it was a weird thing but yes it happened to everyone.
The blue tones were not visible to the naked eye either. 
The floors looked black until I saw them in my photo.
There are picnic grounds, complete with grills, in front of the visitors center and there are a few trails leading off to the side of the mission along with an overlook behind the mission, with beautiful views. Those views were pretty spectacular in the winter when everything pretty much looks black and white, so I know they will be wonderful when I go back in the spring to catch the wildflowers, or summer to catch everything green. Oh, or even in the fall to get the colors changing. Maybe I should do a four seasons photo shoot there? Sorry, I digress. There were turkey tracks everywhere. Of course I didn’t know they were turkey tracks, they were so big! But when I asked the ranger about them later he said there was a big tom turkey living under the back steps to the museum (blue building next to mission) and it was coming out and attacking the caregivers. My Grandma had turkeys and I can attest that they are mean, vindictive birds!
Look like they could be my Italian relatives.
To sum it all up. this is a nice little park with some Idaho history, a great place to stop and stretch your legs during a road trip (about 30 minutes east of Coeur d’Alene). Or make it a destination: pack up a picnic lunch, load up the family and head to the park. Dogs are allowed in the park, just not in the visitors center, so bring Fido along too!
