Where? Fish Lake

When? 5/20/18

How far from Dick’s Hamburgers (Downtown Spokane)? About 13 miles, 20 minutes.

Why SUP there?

• It’s close to town.

• It’s great for kids or beginners.

• It’s quiet and there’s plenty of water for everyone.

• It’s free to park and to access the lake.

• It’s pretty.

• It’s dog friendly.

Overview: During a normal year, we would have launched our paddle boards on the Spokane River in April, but the runoff from the mountains created too strong of a current this year and with excessive water volume flowing through Spokane, we had to resort to taking our first few SUP trips of the year to some area Spokane lakes. A positive did come out of this as we decided to SUP on as many local lakes as possible this year.

Where we parked and launched: Follow My Get Out Spokane Map to Fish Lake. You will find a large parking lot in which you can park for free. The boat launch is next to the parking lot. The best way to unload is to drive near the water, quickly unload, then park.

What we saw: The small lake is warm enough in May to jump in and cool off. As you can see, my brother, his wife and his 7-year old daughter were able to fully enjoy paddle boarding on the smooth lake. There was little boat traffic so we felt like we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. The lake is surrounded by trees and is quite beautiful.