[4] It is part of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entire county.

Several miles east of the city is the historic Farragut State Park, located at the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille.

[7] The City of Athol website details a brief history as follows: Until the early 1800s when explorers/trappers began coming into the area, Native American tribes, primarily of the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Tribes, had exclusive use of the land as they migrated through the region en route to their encampments near the area's many lakes and streams.

All this changed when the Northern Pacific Railroad station was built in Athol in 1882, and settlers hoped for a vast agricultural paradise.

In 1895, town residents consisting of mostly railroad employees and homesteaders successfully petitioned postal authorities for a post office.

[citation needed] The white pine forest first attracted early settlers to Athol, and logging, milling, and agriculture created prosperity.

The mill became the city's largest employer and had the capacity of producing 25,000 board feet of lumber per day.

By 1903, there were many businesses opened, including the Pacific Hotel, a drugstore, a smithy, a jewelry store, restaurants, a mercantile company, and a saloon.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.79 square miles (2.05 km2), all of it being land.