Spokane, WA

This Father’s Day we decided to take our 14’ food motor boat to Long Lake/Lake Spokane and spend the afternoon boating, picnicking and playing in the water. We headed toward Nine Mile Recreation Area which just this year became state run. It was previously called Nine Mile Resort. For specific directions, visit their website here.

After we paid the $7 launch fee we put our boat in the water, put on our life jackets and away we went. The boat launch was not busy, but as we pulled away from the docks we noticed how busy the campground was. Most of the spots were filled with tents, motor homes and travel trailers and people were swimming, playing badminton and reading.

Once we left the boat launch we headed down the lake to take in the sites and enjoy the beautiful warm afternoon. This was our first time taking the boat out with our 21 month old so we were not sure what to expect, but he loved it. He loved helping dad steer, riding the waves and looking at all the birds.

I love Long Lake because of all the wildlife that is present on the water and on the shore. One side of Long Lake has hundreds of upscale homes, while the other side is sparsely populated. Today we saw different varieties of birds. However, not being a bird expert, I only recognized the ducks. However, to my son, all birds of ducks so everyone was happy!

After we spent about an hour cruising we headed back to Nine Mile to have a picnic dinner. We beached the boat, grabbed the food and picked one of the dozen picnic tables to have dinner. After we ate we headed down to the beach. I thought the water was a little cold, but our son loved it. He waded right in up to his waist. He quickly came out, but stopped on the sand and played for almost an hour throwing rocks and digging in the sand.

Nine Mile Recreation Area is open free to the public for day picnicking and charges a nominal fee of $7 for boat launch. As my husband was putting the boat back on the trailer, I packed up our stuff and wandered up to the little store to find out more information on renting a camp site. Nine Mile Recreation Area is open from May 15 through September 30^th. Rental fees go from $15 a night for a tent site to $39 for a full utility site. To make reservations or to find out more information about renting a camp site, visit the website http://www.camis.com/wa/.

We look forward to spending many more summer nights and weekends on Long Lake boating.