Clearwater, Idaho — Small Community With a Very Large Name

Clearwater is a small Idaho County community carrying the name of one of north-central Idaho's defining river systems.

The Clearwater River and its tributaries drain an enormous region and hold deep importance in Nez Perce history. Later, the same watershed became central to transportation, logging and non-Native settlement.

Clearwater the community is much smaller. It sits in upland country shaped by timber, rural roads and the transition between prairie and mountain watersheds.

That difference in scale can be surprisingly confusing. “Clearwater” might mean the locality, the river, the basin or even neighboring Clearwater County depending on who is talking.

The little community has the same problem as a child named after a famous relative: the name enters the room before it does.