Mt. Spokane State Park is a 2.5 mile loop trail located near Mead, Washington. The trail is good for all skill levels and is primarily used for hiking and mountain biking. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
The Discover Pass is required for vehicular entrance to this park. An Annual Pass costs $30 and a Day Pass is $10.
My wife and I took our 11 month Boyce down the quick loop and although the beginning is quite an uphill battle, the trail overall is very moderate with plenty of open views into nature. The trail itself was unkept well and there were no sketchy areas to cross. Luckily, today wasn't a hot day, but this is a great path during the summer months with phenomenal tree coverage. Would recommend for anyone trying to get out and be one with nature, but not hike to far to get there.
Pros: Accessible from Spokane, Protected area, Multi-Use trails Cons: Entering the park requires a fee or pre-purchased pass, the scenery isnt that different than other free-access local areas, no large bodies of water to see or hike to This is an area that I likely wont frequent that often, being an Idaho resident. I have driven through the park a few times and hiked there once. I started at trail 110 trailhead, and mostly ascended on 110 with brief time on neighboring trails as well. I enjoyed the hike, despite the bad weather , and I especially enjoyed the groves of mature cedars at the lower elevations, but the trail wasn't unique enough to really stick in my mind or prompt a return visit. I would likely come here far more often if I were a Spokane resident, but I have access to enough forest land in Idaho that I will go there instead, for the same , and often more spectacular, scenery.
This is a must go during the berry season! The best way to approach this is to ask the guy who runs the lodge at the bottom to give you a ride to the top and in return you will buy lunch when you get back down. Start from the top and go over the back side of the Mountain by the parking lot! This is a great mountain bike bath but also a beautiful way to hike back down! lots of streams, views, and of course huckleberries!
As I was walking along one of the trails looking down for mushrooms I came around a bend in the trail and saw a huge moose about 50 yards in front of me.When he saw me to took off down the trail in the opposite direction about as fast as he could run.He was long gone before he had any chance to get a photo.I was able to get some good Fall color photos and some wonderful mushroom photos.It was a beautiful day to be in the woods with sunny weather and tempertures in the low 70's.
Today was a beautiful day to be hiking on Mt. Spokane. The weather was great with tempertures in the mid 70's and hardly a cloud in the sky.I was up there looking for Fall mushrooms and was able to find a wide variety-Puffs Balls,Corals,Russulas and Mica Caps just to name a few.A couple of the trails had some damage caused by some heavy rain a couple of weeks ago but the rain did bring out a lot of fungi.
Mt Spokane is always a good place to go for a short hike and today was no different. The weather was perfect(cloudy with tempertures in the high 60's to low 70's)Saw a lot of Indian Paintbrush,some Yarrow,some Indian Pipe and also a lot of Thimbleberry and a few mushooms.Plan to go back in about a month to look for more mushrooms to photograph.
I spent Saturday morning(June 26th) hiking on Mt. Spokane.I saw hillsides covered in lupine,yarrow and bear grass plus I found some yellow coral mushrooms. The best part of the day came just after I stopped for lunch. I took a short walk along the creek looking for mushrooms and hit the mother lode when I came upon an old log covered in about 100 Mica Top mushrooms. It was an awesome sight!!!
Mt. Spokane State Park is a great place to go mountain biking or hiking.There are many miles of trails to explore and a lot of them have picnic tables along the way so be sure and pack a lunch and bring your camera along to photograph the many wildflowers you are likely to see and maybe even some mushrooms and wildlife.