Hikes in Washington: Fishtrap Lake Trail

Basic Information

• Name: Fishtrap Lake Trail
• Where: Fishtrap, Washington
• Distance: 3.2 miles
• Elevation Gain: 144 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 1-2 hours
• More Information:Day Hike Spokane

Google Earth Map of the Route

Directions

To get to the Fishtrap Lake Trailhead, drive south from Spokane on I-90 for about 30 miles to Exit 254 labeled Fishtrap.  After exiting make a left across the highway bridge and stay on Sprague Highway Road for about 4 miles until reaching Fishtrap Road.  Turn on to Fishtrap Road and the trailhead will be visible about a 1.5 miles down the road.  It is very easy to see and can’t be missed.

Parking

At the trailhead there is a large gravel lot that can hold many cars.  The lot is even big enough to accommodate anyone bringing a horse trailer to park there since horses are allowed on the trail.

Narrative

An easy and kid friendly hike in the greater Spokane area can be found at Fishtrap Lake.  The lake is part of the channeled scablands that stretches across eastern and central Washington state.  The scablands were formed by great Ice Age floods that tore up the land and left the many canyons and lakes visible in the area today.  Fishtrap Lake is one of these lakes that is a remnant of the Ice Age floods:

Today the lake has a small campground resort located at one end of the lake.  Seeing more of the lake requires either kayaking or hiking the adjacent trail.  Since it was winter time my kids and I were not about to go kayaking in that cold water, so we instead headed down the Fishtrap Lake Trail:

Since it was winter time it was below freezing during our hike which meant all the puddles of water from recent snow melt was frozen solid along the trail.  My two young kids had fun jumping on the ice and cracking it during our hike:

About a half mile up the trail there is a fork from the main trail that leads to a small pond.  We decided to take the right hand fork up a small hill to access the pond:

The pond was completely frozen over, but a nice little site for my kids to check out:

On the far side of the pond the trail comes to a small canyon where part of the ancient lava dome that covers eastern and central Washington can be seen:

My kids had fun climbing around the rocks pretending to look for fossils.  From the top of the lava rock walls I could see the trail stretching out in the distance towards Fishtrap Lake:

We followed the trail from the pond until it intersected again with the main trail that crosses more grassland:

Much of central and eastern Washington is covered in grassland except for areas where the lakes or rivers are located.  The increased moisture in these areas supports lush pine forests.  Fishtrap Lake is one of many examples of this.  We next came to a section of trail surrounded by high grass:

Shortly after passing through this section of the trail we spotted a trail on the left that led down to a viewpoint of the lake:

This viewpoint is of the upper portion of the Fishtrap Lake.  We could see the chokepoint to the south that divides the lake into an upper and lower sections:

The trail actually continues about a mile further south to a viewpoint of the lower portion of Fishtrap Lake.  However, my two young kids were cold and tired  and thus wanted to head back to the trailhead.  So we turned around and followed the main trail back to the trailhead:

Taking the main trail made the hike back quicker since we didn’t hike by the pond on the fork trail.  The main trail passes by this house with a green gate that must have some nice views of the lake:

Shortly after passing by the house we could see the trailhead up ahead of us:

Conclusion

This was a fun winter time hike that my kids enjoyed despite the cold weather.  This is a trail I will definitely return to when it gets warmer likely to use as a trail run to the lower section of the lake.  I also look forward to kayaking this beautiful lake during the summer months as well.  For anyone looking for an easy, kid friendly hike in the greater Spokane area, the Fishtrap Lake Trail is one worth checking out.