Hikes in Washington: The Medical Lake Access Trail

Basic Information

• Name: The Medical Lake Access Trail
• Where: Medical Lake, Washington
• Distance: 3.15 miles
• Max Elevation: 2,438 feet
• Elevation Gain: 89 feet
• Time: 1.5 hours
• More Information: City of Medical Lake

Map of the Trail

Directions

Getting to Medical Lake from Spokane is extremely easy.  Just take I-90 west towards Seattle.  About 10 miles outside of Spokane take the Medical Lake exit on to Highway 902.  Take 902 through the actual village of Medical Lake and then look for the Medical Lake Waterfront Park on the south side of town.

Parking

The City of Medical Lake Waterfront Park has a very large parking lot that I have never seen get filled up even during the summer months, so parking should not be an issue.

Narrative

One of the Christmas Day traditions I have in my family is to take my kids hiking each Christmas afternoon.  This year we decided to make the short drive over to the village of Medical Lake and hike the trail around its namesake lake.  The hike begins at the the Medical Lake Waterfront Park.  This is a very nice park which has a sports field, a playground, and small beach adjacent to the lake:

The park is also where walkers can begin their hike around the Medical Lake Access Trail.  The trailhead is well marked and begins on a nicely paved path:

From the park the path goes around the south side of the lake:

Once the trail rounds the south end of the lake it begins to go north towards the actual village of Medical Lake:

Once the trail enters Medical Lake it turns into a bicycle lane along the side of the road:

As we walked through the Medical Lake we stopped to admire the little Christmas village they had set up in the middle of the town along the lake:

Even the grinch made an appearance in the Christmas village:

As we approached the north side of the lake we saw our first wildlife of the hike which was a bunch of ducks who had yet to fly south for the year:

On the north side of the lake there is a small park called Peper Park:

According to a marker, the park is named after an early Medical Lake family.  The marker also said there used to be a boardwalk on the north end of the lake that extended all the way across the lake. This marker was one of the few around the lake, but unfortunately most of them are unreadable due to weathering.  You would think with such a nice trail around the lake the city would fix the signs:

Here is a panorama view of the north side of the lake from Peper Park:

From Peper Park we continued to follow a sidewalk around the north side of the lake.  Adjacent to the sidewalk was the road that leads to the Eastern State Hospital which was founded in 1891 to house the state’s mentally ill:

The people of the Spokane Tribe had long believed in the medicinal value of the waters of Medical Lake.  The first western settlers to the area in the 1870’s began to make soap and open bathhouses for tourism to the lake.  It was only natural to believe that the waters of the lake would be able to help people with mental handicaps as well.

Besides the water’s health value the lake is also a spot that people can go fishing at as well.  However, there are strict rules that only artificial flies or lures are allowed for fishing:

After passing across the north side of the lake the trail enters into the think forest that blankets the lake’s west side:

On the opposite side of the trail from the lake, steep rock walls can be seen:

Like other lakes and wetlands in the region, Medical Lake was created by the Ice Age Floods that carved out much of the landscape in Eastern Washington.  The receding waters from these floods settled into low lying areas of the terrain like Medical Lake:

Some large rocks can be seen protruding out of the lake that are a remnant of the Ice Age Floods:

Along the trail there are various picnic tables and lookouts for walkers to check out:

At one of the lookouts someone put a memorial marker:

This lookout had a stone bench that also served as a memorial:

From the stone bench we spotted this large pile of rocks that looked like a manmade island:

The entire trail was paved the entire way around the lake:

As we continued to walk south back towards the trailhead, we continued to have very nice views of the lake:

As we got near the trailhead the trees thinned out:

Soon enough we were back at Waterfront Park.  Normally my kids would go play at the playground for a while, but after this hike they just wanted to get back into the truck because of how cold it was:

Conclusion

The Medical Lake Access trail has some nice views of its namesake lake but almost half the hike is walking through the town. Most people don’t go hiking to walk through the middle of a town.  That makes this trail better as a run route or bike ride which would allow you to more quickly pass through the town.  When not hiking through the town the trail does offer some nice views of Medical Lake and makes for an enjoyable, easy 3-mile walk.  If hiking with kids the playground at the end of the hike makes for a nice reward.