Best Hikes in Washington: The Sontag Park Trailhead

Basic Information

• Name: The Sontag Park Trailhead
• Where: Riverside State Park
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Max Elevation: 1,632 feet
• Elevation Gain: 132 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 2-3 hours
• More Information: Day Hike! Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and Sandpoint

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

To get to the trailhead from Spokane, just take Nine Mile Road north from the city.  About 10 miles north of the city the Nine Mile Dam is visible on the left side of the road.  Just after the dam make a left across a bridge that crosses the Spokane River.  On the other side of the bridge look for the Ranger Station on the left where there is a parking area.

Parking

Parking for this hike can be found at the Riverside State Park Ranger Station which is located right off of Charles Road.  The lot is large. but only has a limited number of parking spots for visitors that are signed.  Additional parking can be found across the street at Sontag Park.

Narrative

My kids and I love exploring Riverside State Park and it various sections of the Centennial Trail.  Tthe latest section of this expansive park we decided to hike was the section of the Centennial Trail adjacent to the small community of Nine Mile Falls.  From the Ranger Station we carefully crossed the road and accessed the trail:

The Centennial Trail is the most popular trail in the Spokane area that follows the Spokane River from the Idaho border to Nine Mile Falls where it ends:

The trail is completely paved and very popular with local residents especially bicyclists in the Spokane region. The section of the trail we accessed is known as the Sontag Park Trailhead:

From the trailhead the path passed by Sontag Park and its neighboring elementary school:

After passing the park the trail then descended into the surrounding forest:

Like most other areas of Riverside State Park the surrounding brush has been cleaned up below the trees which decreases the fire danger and improves visibility:

One of the goods things about the increased visibility is the ability to more easily spot wildlife in the forest:

During the hike there is a couple of roads that need to be crossed that caution should be taken at since we saw cars speeding down each road pretty quickly:

Here are a couple of aerial views of the trail as seen from my DJI Mavic 2 Zoom – Drone:

Near the Nine Mile Falls Recreation area the path zig zags down a hill to the park:

At the park we found ourselves at the final trailhead for the Centennial Trail, the Nine Mile Recreation Area Trailhead:

The Nine Mile Recreation Area is a really nice park facility located on the banks of the Spokane River:

The park has picnic areas, volleyball courts, and a large swimming area:

The park has docks as well for small watercraft to tie up on or use for fishing:

The recreation area also has a small visitor center and a store that is open seasonly:

At the park I took out my drone and was able to get some additional pictures of the Nine Mile Recreation Area and the Spokane River.  This first picture shows the recreation area with the Centennial Trail visible where it exits the forest into the park:

This next picture shows some of the nice homes in the Nine Mile Falls community that are located along the river:

This is the view looking across the Spokane River from the park:

Here is an aerial view looking west up the Spokane River:

Here is the view looking in the opposite direction:

Something we noticed was how popular this stretch of the river is with migrating geese:

This section of the river was absolutely full of geese which was cool to see looking at them from above:

Here is a view hovering just over the river looking west:

Here is the view just above the water looking to the east:

We spent about 30 minutes hanging out at the park eating snacks before deciding to retrace our steps back to the trailhead because we got pretty cold by not moving around.  It took us about an hour and a half to reach the recreation area, but since my kids were motivated to get back we made the return hike in an hour:

Conclusion

Overall my kids and I really enjoyed this section of the Centennial Trail accessed from Sontag Park in Nine Mile Falls.  The trail is paved and in great condition plus it is not as busy as more popular areas of the trail.  We actually saw more deer then people during our hike.  The recreation area at the river also makes for a nice reward for kids to check out at the end of the trail.  For anyone looking for less busy section of the Centennial Trail, the Sontag Park Trailhead section of the trail is well worth checking out.