This was my second time kayaking the Little Spokane River from the St. George’s launch to the Nine Mile takeout. The kayak launch site and the take out are part of Riverside State Park so a Discover Pass is required.
The last six miles of the Little Spokane River is a very popular route for kayakers and paddle boarders. The adventure starts at the St. George’s Trailhead near the private academy of the same name off Waikiki Road near the northern edge of the urban area.
As this is a one way trip we had to stage a pickup vehicle at the takeout spot first. In the summer, the City of Spokane runs a shuttle service for a fee.
The crystal clear stream has a significant current and meanders around horseshoe bends pretty much the entire length of the trip. South of the river are small rocky bluffs.
Wildlife includes numerous aquatic birds.
Almost all of the shoreline is within the state park and even though we were in Spokane County, there’s almost no development along the river.
As far as I could tell we were the only people on the river on a clear warm Friday morning. The first time I paddled this river was on a weekend and we had lots of company. Things really quiet down after Labor Day in the Inland Northwest.
I had planned on making a post about this trip the first time I did it less than a month ago but long story short, it turned out I was going to need a new phone/camera after we made it about half way down and that’s all I have to say about that.
The entire trip took about three hours. We mostly let the current carry us downstream and just steered the kayaks around the bends.
About halfway down we passed under the bridge for the Rutter Parkway. Here is the only other place people can launch or takeout, however it involves carrying your kayak a couple of hundred yards through a swampy field.
Beyond the bridge and the landing at the Indian Rocks trailhead you can see the large rocky cliffs on the north side of the river.
The ducks show you the way.
The trip reminded me of canoeing on Florida spring runs. You don’t have to worry about alligators or snakes though.
The rocky bluffs north of the river are impressive. This is the small mountain the Knothead Trail goes up and over from the Indian Rocks Trailhead. I posted about this hike earlier this spring.
Here is the view of the Little Spokane River from that hike. It gives you some idea how serpentine the river is.
As we neared the end of the trip, the valley opens up. Beyond the takeout point the Little Spokane ends at it’s junction with the Spokane River. The Spokane River is impounded here by Long Lake dam creating the lake of the same name. Just upstream is the much smaller Nine Mile Dam, a point of interest on the Riverside State Park section of the Centennial Trail.
It was a nice day on the Little Spokane River. Hopefully I will visit it more often. It’s hard to believe this year was the first time I took this trip since I moved to the area eighteen years ago.
This is definitely one of the best kayak spots in the Inland Northwest. It can be busy on summer weekends but during weekdays and on the shoulder season it is wonderful. Next time I hope to see a moose or two.
