Dishman Hills Natural Area — Attraction in Spokane Valley

The Iller Creek Conservation Area covers part of Dishman Hills, south of Spokane and Spokane Valley. My wife and I, both in our mid 50s, hiked the Iller Creek loop. Starting at the north trailhead, we began the trail going counterclockwise. The trail is well-cleared, but has some erosion down the center of parts of it. The hike climbs 1200 feet, so can be strenuous. It passes through dense forest until reaching the southern area. At that point there is a spectacular view of the valley to the south, standing by huge rock formations, called the Rocks of Sharon. The return trail down the eastern rim leaves the forest and passes through open meadows. My iPhone recorded 6 miles total, 56 stories climbed, and 15,500 steps. The only facilities we saw was a single port-o-let at the north trailhead. We met and passed dozens of hikers and some bikers. There were trail markings, but as we got toward the end of the eastern leg, there were several trail branches and no markings. We made a wrong turn and added 200yds to our hike. I suspect that later in the spring/summer there would be lots of wildflowers to see. The entire hike took...

Dishman hills is a great place where you can get away from the normal city. Life to being up in the mountains almost like up in the hills. Jagged peaks and looking out over everything. You can be like going from ground 0 to hero and noth and flat. It's beautiful territory, clean air and. The trails can get anywhere from amateurish. Like walking the hiking or did you dog on the trail? Or else you can make your own which get pretty crazy. And you might want to bring some climb in or open something like that. Personally, I usually make myself a wacking stick out of a tree branch. When I get there, so I know what I'm stepping into or how far to go since somehow blind. Yeah, it's pretty crazy, but you can take it mellow too. However, you wanna go. A great place for everybody...

Dishman Natural Area has a network of about 10 different short trails, many of which are comfortable enough for a family with young kids. You can start hiking and if the kids start whining it's easy to find a connecting trail to head home, or if everyone is feeling energetic you can take the longer paths and walk for a couple of hours here. There are a handful of scenic outlooks along the trails that overlook Spokane Valley and are nice highlights along the way. There are also some geocaches hidden here, if you are into that. My favorite times to go here are in the Spring or Fall when it's cooler, or else late on Summer days. It's not very pleasant at high noon in the middle of summer because it's quite dry and exposed. The trails here are for walking only and bikes...