Places to Ride Horses in Spokane, WA--West

Hi Horse Friends--

Today's blog from MDH is meant to generate discussion of GREAT places to take our horses locally and get in a good, hopefully beautiful, ride.

There are two on the West Side of Spokane that we recommend--one is Palisades Park and the other is Riverside State Park.

First, Palisades. Palisades park is near Indian Canyon Golf Course at the end of Greenwood Rd., Basalt, and Rimrock Dr. Take Hwy 2 to Basalt and it will end up at Greenwood and Rimrock. There is a place to park trailers there--you could probably get six. The parking area is across the street from the entrance. This area is closed off to vehicles and overlooks the entire city of Spokane and Mt. Spokane. There is a loop that takes about an hour to ride--there are also trails down into the canyon, and a creek crossing. The Rimrock area is an extremely easy trail, and great for beginners.

Second, Riverside. Riverside State Park has two good entrances--one from Audrey White off of Trails Rd. and the other, also off of Trails Rd., to Old Trails Rd. The first is an easy entrance near the bottom of trails and it's the old Trail Town Stables area. You can ride along the river and take trails that go 25 miles--clear up to 9 mile and back. There's lots and lots of trailer parking and a restroom. The second trailhead is off of Old Trails Rd and about 4 miles from the turn off at Trails Rd. There is a nice place to park trailers and then walk into the park--follow the trail markers to trail #25 and it is the same one that goes for 25 miles. If you take it to the left, you go toward Deep Creek--if you take it to the right, it goes down into the Bowl and Pitcher. #25 is a beginner trail also. It's rocky in places, but most of it is wide open and tracks along the mountain side and then slopes down gently into the valley.