River Dance Lodge - Coeur d'Alene
River Dance Lodge is the premier outgrowth of ROW (River Odysseys West), the largest whitewater rafting company in Idaho (in terms of numbers of rivers run and gross income).
The company founder, Peter Grubb, began working as a whitewater rafting guide at the age of 20. He founded ROW about two years later. His professional experience has been learned through 25 years on the job. During that time, Peter has been able to market ROW's adventures very successfully and build a large and loyal following, not only in the three-state market of Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, but nationally and internationally as well. ROW's international division offers yachting trips in the Mediterranean, is a broker for barge-vacation companies in Europe, and has a rafting program in Ecuador.
In 1984 ROW was granted a U.S. Forest Service permit and State of Idaho outfitting license to conduct rafting adventures on the Lochsa River, one of Idaho's most extreme whitewater rivers. In August 2002, Peter and his wife and partner Betsy Bowen, purchased the old Syringa Café and five acres, located on the middle fork of the Clearwater River.
They envisioned building an upscale log cabin resort unlike any other in the area, with a focus on outdoor recreation. They named it the River Dance Lodge – Idaho's Outdoor Adventure Resort, and started planning.
As the project unfolded, the biggest challenge became finding adequate financing, so Peter turned to John Lynn at the Idaho SBDC in Post Falls for help. John helped Peter develop the numbers for the project. John also created complex financial spreadsheets, which have been critical to the success of the loan process. Financing was ultimately obtained through Wells Fargo Bank and a USDA rural development loan guarantee program. Additional funding is currently being sought through the SBA.
The handsomely updated restaurant opened in 2004. A local contractor is ready to start on the lodge. Logs have been ordered and all marketing wheels set in motion for opening in the spring of 2005.
