Idaho
Under the water of an Idaho lake, at a spot you can still point to
Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint, McCall and Payette Lake, Boise, Meridian, Eagle and Bear Lake
Tubbs Hill in Coeur d'Alene has the lake on its west, south and east sides. Ponderosa State Park sits on a peninsula that extends into Payette Lake, and City Beach in Sandpoint looks down Lake Pend Oreille. With a lost wedding ring somewhere under that water, what counts is where you were standing when it went.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Idaho with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
What holds for a lost ring holds for engagement rings, Oura rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, chains, watches and Apple Watches, phones, keys and key fobs, metal-framed glasses and hearing aids, on the Boise River float or a Meridian lawn as much as at a lake beach.
While you can still point at the water
Before anyone goes home, stand where you stood when it came off. Pick two fixed things you can line up from there, a dock post and a boat ramp, say, and photograph each from your spot. Judge the depth against your own body: knee, waist or chest. If a phone is dry, drop a pin. Open water leaves you nothing to walk back to tomorrow, so the photos do that job.
Then write to us on WhatsApp with the item, the place, the day and the hour. Bartek reads it, asks about whatever is missing and starts looking for a metal detectorist who can reach that lake, river or park.
Areas and towns we cover in Idaho
- Coeur d'Alene
- Boise
- Meridian
- Eagle
- Sandpoint
- McCall
- Lake Coeur d'Alene
- Lake Pend Oreille
- Farragut State Park
- Payette Lake
- Ponderosa State Park
- Boise River Greenbelt
- Quinn's Pond
- Lucky Peak State Park
- Eagle Island State Park
- Bear Lake State Park
- St. Charles
- Redfish Lake
- Craters of the Moon and Arco
- City of Rocks, Almo
Idaho's swimming beaches, docks and river parks
Each card ends with what to put in your first message.
Coeur d'Alene's downtown shore and Tubbs Hill
City Park has a swim beach, a playground and a summer concert series. It connects to Independence Point, near the Coeur d'Alene Resort, which has a beach and swim area of its own. McEuen Park has a boat launch, mooring and a grassy area, and from its south-western corner a trail leads onto Tubbs Hill, where a 2.2 mile (3.5 km) path follows the edge of the hill. Sanders Beach is in the city too. Tell us which one, and whether it was sand, grass or the swim area.
City Beach in Sandpoint and the south end of Lake Pend Oreille
City Beach, at the end of Bridge Street, is where Sandpoint holds community events. Sandy beaches and grassy lawns ring the park, and the Windbag Marina is alongside. At the south end of the lake, Farragut State Park has the Eagle Boat Launch. For City Beach, tell us lawn, dry sand or water.
McCall's town beaches on Payette Lake
Legacy Park is the centrepiece of downtown McCall, with a beach, an enclosed swimming area, an amphitheatre and a public boat ramp. Art Roberts Park has a municipal dock, a grassy slope and a beach on Payette Lake, and Rotary Park has a swimming beach. At Legacy Park, say whether you were inside the enclosure or outside it. On a dock, count the boards from the end.
The Boise River float, Quinn's Pond and Lucky Peak
The summer float down the Boise River runs from Barber Park to Ann Morrison Park, where the take-out is on river left just before the bridge. At Quinn's Pond people swim, paddleboard, kayak and fish. Lucky Peak State Park, a 10-minute car ride from downtown Boise, has Sandy Point Beach for a swim, Discovery Park for a picnic and the boat ramps and marina at Spring Shores. For the float, tell us where you last had the item.
Park lawns in Meridian and the beach at Eagle Island
Settlers Park, at Meridian and Ustick Roads in Meridian, is a regional park with athletic fields, a splash pad and picnic shelters. Eagle Island State Park, near Eagle, is a day-use park with a swimming beach, a grassy picnic area, a waterslide and trails. Give us the nearest corner, shelter or stretch of beach.
Craters of the Moon and City of Rocks
Craters of the Moon, about 19 miles (31 km) west of Arco, keeps its best-known lava flows, cinder cones and caves along a 7-mile (11 km) Loop Road. City of Rocks, at Almo in the south, has granite spires, 23 miles (37 km) of trails and hundreds of climbing routes, so keys or a phone can drop at the foot of a climb or at a campsite. Give us the pullout, the trailhead, the route or the site number.
Bear Lake from the Idaho side and Redfish Lake
Bear Lake is shared by Idaho and Utah. Bear Lake State Park is on its north and east shores, reached from US 89 at St. Charles by the North Beach and East Beach roads, and families camp, sail, water ski and swim from its public beaches. Tell us which beach, and how far along it you were. Redfish Lake, or any other Idaho lake beach, starts the same way: the beach by name, the depth and the day.
What stays the same from Sandpoint to Bear Lake
The same person reads every message
Every WhatsApp message goes to Bartek. He asks about the dock and the depth, looks for a detectorist, and writes to you when the search is over.
What the detectorist has in hand before the day
The pin, the two landmarks you lined up, the depth and a picture of the ring reach the detectorist before the day, so they know which side of the dock to begin on.
An opinion on the odds, given early
A band dropped in knee-deep water beside a dock is one kind of search. A chain that came off out on Bear Lake is another. It may be a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Costs belong in the first conversation
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Seeing the bottom, moving water and snow on the beach
When you can see the bottom
If the bottom is in view where you are standing, at Payette Lake, Coeur d'Alene or Pend Oreille, the pull is to keep diving. Take your marks first: two things on shore lined up from your spot, and the depth against your body. Seeing down makes the spot easier to point at. It is no promise that a ring will show from above, so mark the place anyway.
Where the water is moving
Lake Coeur d'Alene takes in the Coeur d'Alene River from the east and the St. Joe River from the south, and the Spokane River leaves it to the north. On the Boise River float, a light item such as a pair of glasses could be carried on from where it went in, so tell us the hour too.
Snow over the same beaches and trails
Ponderosa State Park becomes a Nordic ski area once the snow falls, and the east-facing beach at Sandpoint's City Beach is used as an informal sledding hill. If a key or a ring goes into the snow, tread a mark around the place, photograph it with a trail sign or a fence in view, and send the pin.
Questions about a ring, a chain or a watch lost in Idaho
My husband's wedding band came off as he climbed onto the dock at Art Roberts Park in McCall. We can see the bottom. Should he keep diving?
He can stop. Fixing the spot helps more: which side of the dock, how many boards from the end, how deep he was. Photograph the dock from the shore as well.
My engagement ring came off in the swim area at Independence Point in Coeur d'Alene three weeks ago. Typing lost ring in lake into my phone got me nowhere. Who actually goes in after a ring?
A metal detectorist who works in water does, and finding one who can get to Coeur d'Alene is our side of it. Yours is which side of the swim area you were on, how deep you stood, and what on shore you were level with.
My husband's band flew off while he threw a football on the lawn at City Beach in Sandpoint an hour ago. My phone is offering metal detector rental near me. Do we start with that?
Yes, and it may be all you need. Grass, an hour ago, a patch you can pace out: a rented detector is made for that, and it copes with dry sand as well. Where it stops being enough is wet sand, water, a big area or something as small as an earring. Then ask us for a detectorist.
A small gold stud earring came out while we dragged the raft up the bank at the Ann Morrison Park take-out. How would a search for that even start?
With a small area, because a small item needs one. Tell us which side of the take-out you came up and how far you carried the raft.
My necklace came off when I fell water skiing off North Beach at Bear Lake, on the Idaho side. Can anything be done with open water?
Some, if you can tie it to something: how far off the beach the boat was running, what on shore you were level with, whether anyone on board dropped a pin. You will have our view before anything is arranged.
My watch strap broke somewhere on Tubbs Hill in Coeur d'Alene, between the McEuen Park trailhead and the 10th Street end. Can that be narrowed down?
It can, by you. Think back to where you stopped: a viewpoint, a place you took your pack off. Then open your camera roll: the last picture with the watch on your wrist puts a time on it, and anything taken after it shortens the stretch of trail to look at.
My Oura ring came off between the waterslide and the swimming beach at Eagle Island State Park. I only noticed in the car. How do you search when I cannot say where?
By working back with you to the last moment you are sure it was on. Tell us the route you walked from there and what was underfoot on each part: grass, sand or water.
Idaho
Start with the lake, the dock and how deep you stood
Add the day, the hour and a photo of what is missing.
A lost ring off a dock in McCall or keys on a lawn in Meridian: write to us on WhatsApp with what it is, where and when. Our first reply tells you what else would help.