Hikes in Washington: The Mt. Spokane Three Peaks Hike

Basic Information

• Name: The Mt. Spokane Three Peaks Hike
• Where: Mt. Spokane State Park
• Distance: 12.2 miles
• Elevation Gain: 2,621
• Maximum Elevation: 5,883 feet
• Time: 5-6 hours
• Difficulty: Medium
• More Information: Day Hike! Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and Sandpoint

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

To get to Mt. Spokane State Park from downtown Spokane, take Division Street (Highway 2) North until it reaches the outskirts of town.  Eventually Highway 2 will reach an Intersection with Highway 206.  Make a right on to Highway 206 and follow it until it reaches Mt. Spokane State Park.  The trailhead is the second major parking lot reached when entering the park.

The parking lot is located between a sharp turn in the road.  The start point for the hike is located across the road.  Be very careful crossing the road since the road can get quite busy at times.

Parking

This parking lot is the start point for many popular hikes in Mt. Spokane State Park.  This means it can get filled quickly, especially on weekends and holidays.  Arrive early to ensure there is parking during peak times.

Since this is a Washington State Park a Discover Pass is required to park:

The trailhead for the hike is located across the street from the parking lot at the Kit Carson Lower Loop Road Trailhead:

Narrative

I previously hike up Mt. Spokane and recently decided to attempt an alternate challenge of not only summiting Mt. Spokane again, but the nearby neighboring summits of Mt. Kit Carson and Day Mountain as well.  Normally I bring my young kids on my hikes, but this time I was going solo since the hike would be over 12-miles which they are not quite capable of yet.  I started the hike at the Kit Carson Lower Loop Road Trailhead:

At the trailhead there is a trail map and plenty of information about the park:

From the trailhead I followed the trail that led to the right and stayed on it until it intersected with Trail #110:

Soon after getting on Trail #110 I crossed over this small bridge:

This bridge crosses over Burping Creek which is part of a loop hike I did earlier this summer with my two kids:

After about 2 miles of sometimes steep hiking on Trail #110, I emerged out of the thick forest at Saddle Junction.  This junction is where a number of trails go off in various directions and had a porta-potty located here:

I continued straight across the road and followed Trail #140 that leads to the summit of Mt. Spokane.  A short ways up this trail I began walking across a ski run area that provided unobstructed views to the north of the Selkirk Range:

On the ski run the trail begins to switchback up the steep side of Mt. Spokane.  As I hiked further up the trail I had a nice view of the 5,282 foot Mt. Kit Carson (left) and the 5,052 foot Day Mountain (right) which would be my next destinations after I summited Mt. Spokane:

When I wasn’t stopping to take in the views, I made sure to stop and appreciate the beautiful white wildflowers that were growing all around the trail:

On the top of the ski run I followed the dirt road to the Vista House located at 5,883 feet on the summit of Mt. Spokane:

The Vista House was built using the granite rock slabs located on the summit back in 1933.  The building was designed by Bertelsen and Elmer Highberg and E.O. Fieldstad.  The Vista House was renovated back in 2002 and was opened to the public.

Near the Vista House I spotted this U.S. Geological Survey marker designating the summit of Mt. Spokane:

While on the summit I spotted the only wildlife I saw during the hike, this little squirrel:

Surprisingly the squirrel was the only company I had on the summit which was surprisingly free of people.  From the summit of Mt. Spokane I enjoyed a fabulous view to the east of Northern Idaho:

To the south I could see Spokane Valley and the 5,209 foot Mica Peak in the distance:

Here is a closer look at Mica Peak as well as Newman Lake where my kids and I hiked the Turtle Rock Trail earlier in the summer:

After spending about 45 minutes hanging out on the summit people started arriving at the summit via car which was my cue to start heading back down.  The descent back to Saddle junction was about 2-miles long:

Since the hike was all down hill I made great time getting back to Saddle Junction where I then followed the signs to hike up Mt. Kit Carson:

It is a little less than a mile hike to the summit of Mt. Kit Carson.  During the hike to the summit I passed a meadow filled with these beautiful purple wildflowers:

As I viewed the flowers I thought they were an appropriate tribute to the 44 men who lost their lives back in 1962 when the KC-135 Stratotanker they were flying in crashed into Mt. Kit Carson. After passing the meadow, I soon arrived at the 5,282 foot summit of Mt. Kit Carson which is composed of a small rock outcropping:

Mt. Kit Carson is named after the famous frontiersman, Christopher “Kit” Carson.  I had the opportunity to visit Carson’s grave in Taos, New Mexico a few years ago.  Interestingly this mountain is named after him despite him never traveling to the Spokane area.  At the summit of Mt. Kit Carson there was about 12-15 people hanging out.  Since it was so crowded I did not spend much time here taking in the great views the summit has looking west towards Spokane:

After taking a few quick pictures from the summit, I descended about halfway down Mt. Kit Carson and then took Trail #130 that leads to Day Mountain:

The approximately one-mile hike to Day Mountain was a pleasant walk through the forest that was broken up by passing through a meadow filled with wildflowers:

The 5,052 foot summit of Day Mountain also has a small rock outcropping, but unlike Mt. Kit Carson, there was no one here:

Just like Mt. Kit Carson, the summit of Day Mountain had great views looking towards the west:

From Day Mountain, to the south I could see Mt. Kit Carson:

Farther out to the south I could also see Tower Mountain where the Rocks of Sharon are located at:

To the north I could see the round mass of the 6,855 foot Calispell Peak:

After spending about 30 minutes on the summit of Day Mountain I then followed Trail #130 down the mountain to the Upper Kit Carson Loop Road:

The walk to the road was a short one through a dense forest that provided some welcome shade from the growing morning heat:

Here is where Trail #130 ends at the Upper Kit Carson Loop Road:

From here I followed the loop road for about two miles back to Saddle Junction:

At Saddle Junction I followed Trail #110 back to the trailhead:

Conclusion

The Mt. Spokane Three Peaks Hike ended up being just over 12 miles long and featured over 2,600 feet of elevation gain.  This hike provides a pretty good work out and great tour of all the best views available from Mt. Spokane State Park.  This route is highly recommended for those looking for an additional challenge after summiting Mt. Spokane.