Hikes in Washington: Camp Seven Mile Cliff Trail

Basic Information

• Name: Camp Seven Mile Cliff Trail
• Where: Riverside State Park
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Elevation Gain: 292 feet
• Max Elevation: 1,894 feet
• TIme: 2-3 hours
• Difficulty: Easy
• More Information: Washington State Parks website

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

To get to Camp Seven Mile from Spokane, go north on Division Street and then make a left on to Francis Avenue.  As Francis Avenue travels west it will eventually automatically turn into Nine Mile Road.  Make a left on to Seven Mile Road and travel across the bridge over the Spokane River.  After crossing the bridge make the next left on to Riverside Park Road.  Travel a short distance and pull into the trailhead on the right of the road.

In this aerial picture, the trailhead for the hike is visible in the middle left where the small number of cars are parked in the trees:

Parking

The lot is not that big and can fit about 15 vehicles.  On busy holiday weekends I have seen this lot fill up, but not often.

Narrative

One of my go-to locations in the Spokane area to get my two young kids outside is Riverside State Park.  The park is the second largest state park in Washington since it extends along a huge section of the Spokane River.  The section of the park I take my kids to the most is the Camp Seven Mile area.  This tract of land is a mix of state and federal land that is overseen by the state park service.  The large federal land area is from when it was part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Beginning in 1933, all the trails and bridge improvements in Riverside State Park were made by the CCC 949 Company that was based here.

Today this section of the park is littered with trails that stretch across a vast forested area.  On this trip to the park we planned to conduct a lollipop shaped hike up a cliff trail and make a loop back to the trailhead.  We began our hike at the trailhead marked with this signboard:

From there we walked down a gravel road into the Camp Seven Mile area of the park:

In 1942 the CCC was disbanded due to World War II and the land at Camp Seven Mile was then converted into military use.  The large open grassy area is what remains of an old airstrip:

Footage from my DJI Mavic 2 Zoom – Drone shows the old airfield from above and the trailhead for this hike located in the trees on the right at the end of the gravel road:

We followed the gravel road across the old airstrip for a short distance until making a right on to a dirt trail that led into the tree line:

Here there is an intersection between Trail #25 and #203.  We continued straight up the #203 trail:

The #203 trail ascends up a small hill until it comes to this signboard.  From the signboard we continued straight on the main trail:

In the below aerial picture, the signboard is located at the below trail intersection. Trail #203 is the one running below the “Big Hill”:

A short distance up the wide double track trail we passed this old fire pit:

This footage from my DJI Mavic 2 Zoom – Drone shows the trail as it passes below the “Big Hill” on the left and the fire pit area of the forest below it:

We soon found ourselves exiting federal property and entering state property which makes no difference since Riverside State Park manages both properties:

During the hike we saw a lot of of these yellow wildflowers:

At the one mile mark we reached the back of the canyon.  Here the forest was especially lush and beautiful:

This drone footage gives an indication how lush the back of the valley is:

As we continued to follow Trail #203, it again entered federal property:

At the 1.5 mile mark there is a tree marked with orange paint.  Here we made a left on to a single track trail:

The single track trail closely follows the adjacent cliff line:

Something to keep in mind on this hike is that the Camp Seven Mile section of the park is very popular for equestrian activities.  This means having to dodge the occasional poop trap along the trail:

At the two mile mark the single track trail comes to another signboard:

At the signboard we made a left on to a double track trail that slowly ascends the cliff line:

This is a very long ascent and my kids needed to take a break about half way up.  While they took a break I took a picture of one of the many wildflowers that can be seen on this section of the hike:

Towards the top of the cliff line, Trail #203 intersects with Trail #25 again.  This time we made a left and followed Trail #25:

At the top of the cliff line the trail comes to a locked gate:

After passing the locked gate we found ourselves on the side of Inland Road and across the street from the noisy ORV area of Riverside State Park.  The various ORVs can be heard once we reached the cliff line:

From the gate Trail #25 closely follows the edge of the cliff line which means great views of the forest below:

We next came to a small parking lot which is one of the many other trailheads to explore Riverside State Park from:

At the trailhead we continued to stay on Trail #25:

We once again left state property and entered into federal property:

Shortly after crossing into federal property and just over three miles into the hike, we came to an intersection.  At the intersection we made a left on to an unnamed trail to go back down the cliff line:

The single track trail was a little steep and rocky so we were careful to slowly descend down it:

Along this section of the hike the forest is exceptionally moist which means it was a good location to spot mushrooms:

As we descended down the trail there were a variety of social trails going off in various directions, but we just stayed on the larger trail:

This trail after completing its descent down the cliff eventually intersected with the double track Trail #203 we had previously hiked on:

From there we just retraced our steps down Trail #203 passed the fire pit and the old airfield to get back to the trailhead:

Conclusion

My kids and I spent five hours completing this hike since we took frequent breaks for them to stop and play in the forest.  They like making forts using the abundant sticks in the park as well as playing hide and seek.  Most people should be able hike this relatively easy trail in 2-3 hours.  It really is a pleasant walk in the woods with a brief leg workout from the long cliff ascent.  The ascent though rewards hikers with a nice views of the valley below before returning to the trailhead.  There are many nice hikes in Riverside State Park and the Cliff Line Trail at Camp Seven Mile is yet another one worth exploring.