Pacific Northwest - Spokane - Fish Lake Trail - status???

FISH LAKE TRAIL...

Any local Spokane riders up on the current status/progress of construction on the Fish Lake Trail?

I was in the Spokane area in September, checking out the Columbia Plateau Trail. I though the Fish Lake Trail came into the Fish Lake Trail Head and I was going to head from Cheney TH north to Fish Lake TH and then north on the Fish Lake, but no trail at the FL trailhead. The CPT ends there. The FL doesn't start there.

I went up the line, looking for it. There appears to be some blacktop at Marshall amid the RR lines. At S. Marshall Rd. they are blacktopping and it will be nice. Anyone know how far they got with the blacktop? Could not find the N end of the trail by the freeway.

FWIW - Shameless Attaboy Plug - Zip's Drive-In in Cheney. Sorta like In & Out Burgers - but they don't come this far north.

Hmm, I don't know the status of the new construction bridging the paved Fish Lake Trail to downtown Spokane. However, I do know about the paved section of FLT that has been in existence for at least the last six years. The pavement starts at a parking area on Cheney-Spangle Road. The trail proceeds toward Spokane, going by Fish Lake. Somewhere around Marshal the trail turns into gravel and proceeds into downtown Spokane. The last time I checked, the gravel section of the trail that goes into downtown is ridable, but it kind of felt like I was riding through people's back yards.

Went there last week for a quick look and they were doing work on the bridges going over the highway and had the new parking area laid out ready to put some asphalt down. The trail heading towards Marshall also looks like it's been prepped for some asphalt. The new trail head will be at the bottom of the hill on W. Sunset Blvd and Government Way that turns into S. Lindeke St. If you go to Google maps the Fish lake trail is marked when you zoom in close. I haven't ridden down the trail since spring but I plan on hitting it some time soon. One of the area's best trails called "Marshall Rollers" can be accessed from the trail at the small white bridge that goes goes over S. Marshall rd.

Went there last week for a quick look and they were doing work on the bridges going over the highway and had the new parking area laid out ready to put some asphalt down. The trail heading towards Marshall also looks like it's been prepped for some asphalt. The new trail head will be at the bottom of the hill on W. Sunset Blvd and Government Way that turns into S. Lindeke St. If you go to Google maps the Fish lake trail is marked when you zoom in close. I haven't ridden down the trail since spring but I plan on hitting it some time soon. One of the area's best trails called "Marshall Rollers" can be accessed from the trail at the small white bridge that goes goes over S. Marshall rd.

Cool, thanks for the update Steve. I hadn't seen the "spokane side" of the trail in a while. Can't wait to check out the new trail head. ~MJS

I do know about the paved section of FLT that has been in existence for at least the last six years. The pavement starts at a parking area on Cheney-Spangle Road. The trail proceeds toward Spokane, going by Fish Lake.

@@@

That sounds like the northern end of the Columbia Plateau Trail (N. Section).

There is a very nice trail head on the C-S Rd. Gravel to the south for horses down to Martin Rd. TH (Sprague). Ballast to the S. of that to the Snake. Great little ride on blacktop from there to Fish Lake TH. I liked the springs making two brooks out of the culverts.

So there I am at Fish Lake, looking for the Fish Lake Trail so I can ride further. Not there. I though that the overgrown bit of track across the parking lot was the trail bed. Tim, the GIS Guy at RTC, said No. It enters by crossing the active RR line.

Now that I am back in Winter Quarters and have regular web, I can see it is so on Google E.

Enter 47.522876° -117.514766° as a GE search string and there you are. I need broadband in the field. My van has a computer workstation in it. Too expensive.

I believe there is an existing black top section going thru the RR bottleneck at Marshall. Have not been on it. Looks like the Scribner Rd cuts it for access. I know they have been paving further north. I walked part of it. GE: 47.604488° -117.442001° for the end of the paving on S. Marshall Rd. as of late Sept. It went north to ????

Went there last week for a quick look and they were doing work on the bridges going over the highway and had the new parking area laid out ready to put some asphalt down.


The trail heading towards Marshall also looks like it's been prepped for some asphalt. The new trail head will be at the bottom of the hill on W. Sunset Blvd and Government Way that turns into S. Lindeke St.

@@@ I read an online pdf of the proposal for a trail head in this area. 24 parking stalls, loos, etc. in that box between Gov./Lindeke'I-90/onramp. If I read this right, they are already building a trail head there. Is there an existing RR bridge over the freeway?

There was also a WSDOT proposal that I did not understand at all.

"Overview
Construct a new 12' wide trail from Milton Street 4.4 miles southwest to connect to the existing paved trail near the Cheney/Spokane Road and Sherman intersection. This project includes the rehabilitation of 5 bridges as well as a trailhead facility at Milton Street."

Locals can parse this and explain it to me. I am from the San Juans or Newport Beach. (At the moment, the latter.)

I must say that I enjoyed my visit to the Spokane/CdA area. You have a lot of great trails. I need to do the two Centennial Trails. This was a recon trip. Did a bunch of the Trail of the CdA, The Route of the Hiawatha, etc. Already planning for next season. Any public camping in the Cheney area? Could not kick up any.


If you go to Google maps the Fish lake trail is marked when you zoom in close. I haven't ridden down the trail since spring but I plan on hitting it some time soon. One of the area's best trails called "Marshall Rollers" can be accessed from the trail at the small white bridge that goes goes over S. Marshall rd.

May be a while before it hits Fish Lake TH. Probably need an overpass over the RR line there.

May be a while before it hits Fish Lake TH. Probably need an overpass over the RR line there.


I've ridden that part of the rail trail for many years and never had a problem in the RR crossing, even way before they started working on the trail. To me it's like crossing any other active RR line, just listen for the horn and the sound of trains.

I've ridden that part of the rail trail for many years and never had a problem in the RR crossing, even way before they started working on the trail. To me it's like crossing any other active RR line, just listen for the horn and the sound of trains.

@@@

Works for us, but I expect the poor trail manager has assorted liability and easement issues when he wants to cross the RR right of way with a nice newly paved trail. The sum of $6 mil for the project was bruted about. Expect a chunk will be for bridges.

BTW - how far does the blacktop extend in both directions from Marshall?