Is the trail you walked last October open this October? For many of the best-known Riverside State Park spots, the answer is no. Washington State Parks has also said that it doesn't expect another major reopening update until spring 2027.
That turns this fall into one fixed season, not a series of week-to-week guesses. The closures from the summer's Spokane Complex Fire leave two kinds of open ground near Indian Trail Road. One is a cluster of trails in Riverside's north end along Carlson Road, past Nine Mile Dam. The other is the city parks inside the neighborhood. A third option, Meadowglen Park, is already under construction and should open next summer.
Where the Closures Fall
State Parks' reopening list, last updated August 28, sorts the closures by Seven Mile Road. Everything south of it is still closed. That includes the Centennial Trail from Equestrian Lane to the Wilbur Trailhead, plus the Marchand, Seven Mile, Wilbur, Burn Area and Morin trailheads and their trails. North of Seven Mile, most areas have reopened, with four exceptions: the Little Spokane River Water Trail, the St. Georges put-in, the Knothead Valley Trailhead and trails, and Indian Painted Rocks.
Bowl & Pitcher is partly open. You can walk to the bridge and cross it, but the trails on the west side are closed.
| Destination | Status this fall |
|---|---|
| Bowl & Pitcher | Open, including the bridge. West-side trails closed |
| Indian Painted Rocks | Closed |
| Knothead Valley Trailhead and trails | Closed |
| Little Spokane River Water Trail and St. Georges put-in | Closed |
| Centennial Trail, Equestrian Lane to Wilbur Trailhead | Closed |
| Pine Bluff Area | Open, recommended by State Parks |
| Deep Creek Interpretive Trail near Carlson Trailhead | Open, recommended by State Parks |
| Nine Mile Recreation Area | Open, no potable water |
State Parks publishes a map of open and closed areas, revised 8-28-26. The agency asks visitors to stay out of closed areas, both to protect the recovering land and because entering them can get you a ticket.
Why This Map Holds Until Spring
Three details on the Riverside wildfire recovery page suggest the list above will stay mostly as it is through the season. First, State Parks calls the August 28 update the last major reopening update it expects until spring 2027. Second, all park events scheduled for the rest of 2026 have been canceled. Third, the park is planning a salvage logging operation to remove burned trees along its boundaries. That work is tentatively set to start this fall or winter, continue through next spring, and finish by the end of spring 2027. Work-zone safety for heavy equipment is one of the reasons State Parks lists for its closures.
Not every season fits that schedule. The Riverside State Park Foundation has moved its Gravel Circuit Bike Race to fall 2027. Camping reservations at Riverside did reopen on August 28, though.
With those closures in place, State Parks points to two areas, and both are in the north end of the park: "Fall is a great time to visit the open areas," the agency writes. It suggests the Pine Bluff Area or the recently renovated Deep Creek Interpretive Trail near the Carlson Trailhead.
North Past Nine Mile Dam
On State Parks' map, the Pine Bluff, Carlson and Deep Creek trailheads all sit in the park's north end. The longer hike there is the Trail 25 and Trail 410 loop described by the Washington Trails Association. It climbs to Pine Bluff, where a junction branches right toward the Pine Bluff Trailhead while the loop continues left, and it has viewpoints from the bluffs over the Spokane River. WTA lists it at 5.17 miles round trip. A 2019 trip report starts the loop from a parking lot off Carlson Road, reached by turning left just past Nine Mile Dam. The same report describes overlooks toward the river, the Nine Mile area and distant mountains. That account is several years old, so check it against the current State Parks map before you rely on its turn-by-turn directions.
Some details for a fall outing on this side of the park:
- Parking pass. Parking at Washington State Parks requires a Discover Pass, which costs $10 for a day or $45 for a year.
- Water. As of the park's September 13 alert, Nine Mile Recreation Area has no potable water, and visitors are asked to bring their own.
- Seven Mile Road. A closure for sewer work, posted July 9, was expected to end at the beginning of October. The park hasn't posted confirmation that it's done.
- Footing. State Parks describes the Deep Creek loop as moderately steep and rocky.
The Two-Mile Loop With New Signs
The Deep Creek Interpretive Loop is the shorter of the two State Parks recommendations, at about 2 miles. Its renovation was done by volunteers. State Parks organized a work event, scheduled for October 10, 2025, to install nine new interpretive signs after the old ones were removed. Volunteers met at the Carlson Trailhead on Carlson Road in Nine Mile Falls.
The new panels explain what you're looking at along the trail. They cover the region's basalt and the ancient lava flows that laid it down. They also explain the Ice Age floods that carved the channeled scablands. The loop is short and comes with its own geology lesson, which makes it an easy choice for a weekend morning or for showing visiting family a part of Riverside they may not have seen.
The Walks That Need No Pass
The second kind of open ground is closer to home. The City of Spokane's Parks & Recreation update on August 12 listed Indian Trail Park, Sky Prairie Park, Pacific Park and the developed part of Westgate Park as open.
Sky Prairie covers 26.25 acres. The city lists a playground, restrooms, a picnic area, softball and baseball fields, tennis facilities, ADA access and 101 parking spaces. Its paved loop through grassy fields runs about 0.9 miles, there are pickleball courts next to the tennis courts, and dogs are allowed on leash. Indian Trail Park, at 7007 N. Flemming St. near Woodside Avenue, is smaller. The city's map shows play equipment and a totem pole.
The same August update closed the city's undeveloped natural properties that had been in evacuation zones. Those include Wyakin Park and Westgate's natural area and playground, which will stay closed until further notice while crews assess and remove hazard trees. We haven't found a newer city notice on either park, so treat both as closed as of the August update. At Westgate, a full playground replacement was already planned under the Park Levy for late fall 2026 or early spring 2027, and the city says that project remains on schedule.
For more walking options in the area, our earlier guide to parks and trails in North Indian Trail covers the neighborhood's standing options.
The Park That Changes the Map in 2027
The other big change in the neighborhood's outdoor options is Meadowglen Park, which is under construction now. The city scheduled the groundbreaking for July 22, 2026, at N. Indian Trail Road and Bedford. By the city's August 12 update, the park had broken ground. Work paused during the evacuation, and the contractor, Cameron Reily, then wrote a site-specific Wildfire Mitigation Plan with the Parks team before restarting. The city's project list gives the schedule as July 2026 to summer 2027. KREM also reported a summer 2027 opening.
The plan develops about 14 acres and leaves 16 natural. It adds walking paths, trail access and a bus stop. The Together Spokane project page lists a rubberized playground, four pickleball courts, two sand volleyball courts, two bocce courts, a multipurpose turf field and paved paths that connect to existing soft-surface trails. It also notes that two state grants match $2.5 million in levy funding. If the schedule holds, Meadowglen should open around the time Riverside's salvage logging is set to wrap up. Next summer could then look quite different from this fall, both inside the neighborhood and at its edge. We first wrote about the project in our post on North Indian Trail's summer evenings.
Helping the Trails Come Back
Some groups are already signing up volunteers. On September 25, City Parks reported that Evergreen East volunteers had repaired trails at Camp Sekani, filled burned stump holes and rebuilt the Leap of Faith Ramp. The city also said more volunteer opportunities for burn-area seeding and trail work would come in mid to late October, though it hasn't set dates yet. The Washington Trails Association's Eastern Region coordinator has said WTA plans day and weekend projects at Riverside State Park, Mount Spokane State Park and Spokane County Parks through the fall.
If you're working out where your fall walks fit now, or you have questions about life in North Indian Trail beyond the trailhead, I'm glad to talk it through. Alejandro Ventura follows changes like these closely across northwest Spokane and replies quickly. Let's Connect.
