A hike inside the Canyon’s canyon.
Most of the park at Indian Canyon is given over to the venerable public golf course of the same
name. But pinched between Indian Canyon and Palisades Parks is a gnarly, deep ravine with a small creek running through it. The stream drops through a gorge in which towering walls of basalt are coated with yellow-green lichens, and then gurgles down through a stand of old growth spruce and Ponderosa pine as it flows north toward the confluence of Latah Creek and the Spokane River. In the spring, the fields above the gorge bloom with wild arnica, which is uncommon in Spokane.
Today, on a surprisingly blue and calm first of November, most of the fall color was gone, but not all. Golden-crowned kinglets were working the evergreens and, surprisingly, scores of water bugs still danced on the clear waters of the creek. The water was so clear that it was hard even to tell how deep the stream was in spots. On close inspection, it is still deep enough that you don’t want to fall into it. When we climbed up out
of the gorge near the waterfall, the sun-washed air was rich with the fragrance of balsam fir.
The easiest way to access the hiking trails in the gorge is from Greenwood Road off Government Way. Go up the hill about a quarter mile from the high rail bridge and you’ll see the trailhead on your left. Another approach is to turn left at the bridge and drive up the hill a half mile to where Indian Canyon Drive takes a sharp left as it reaches the rimrock. Look out for horses, photographers, kids and wayward golfers.
–tc
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