Fishtrap Lake

Featuring unique scabland terrain, Fishtrap Lake is challenging, yet accessible, and a complete joy to navigate. On one hand, there are tons of tiny cliffs and rock details. On the other hand, there are so few trees here, that the views are expansive, allowing you to orient yourself off of faraway cliffs. Fishtrap also provides a perfect opportunity to test compass skills, since there is little to stop you from beelining straight to the next control.

fishtrap-full.pdfLarge map PDF

Note: Samples of the map are provided here for educational purposes only; the map shown here is not kept up-to-date. The course shown is a Beginner/Intermediate course, and actual controls do not exist in the terrain.

The purpose of providing these navigational and physical ratings below is to provide greater context for how challenging an orienteering course at this venue might be. For example, an advanced-level course at a local city park will be easier to complete than an advanced-level course in the mountains.

Navigational Challenge Rating: 7/10

Fishtrap has an interesting mix of features that make it challenging, yet accessible, and a complete joy to navigate. On one hand, there are tons of tiny cliffs and rock details, whose patterns don’t follow any rhyme or reason, and require careful attention to subtle contours.

On the other hand, there are so few trees here, that many of them are mapped individually! This means that the views are expansive. So even if the details nearby don’t make sense, you can often look up far ahead to a large cliff or pond to make sense of your surroundings.

Furthermore, the open landscape provides a perfect opportunity to test compass skills, since there is little to stop you from beelining straight to the next control.

Physical Challenge Rating: 7/10

There are no large climbs here; the terrain is relatively flat. However, there are many small cliffs to clamber up and down, and you may find that you’re using your hands to scale the landscape.

Footing can be challenging, especially when traversing talus rocks (piles of rocks at the foot of cliffs). Even the trails can be chunky.

Turn-by-turn directions:

FROM SEATTLE:

Take I-90 East
Take exit 245 onto WA-23
Turn right onto Poplar St.
Turn left at the first cross street onto N B St.
Turn left onto the cross street onto W 1st St.
Continue onto Sprague Hwy. for approx. 6.6 miles
Turn right onto Miller Ranch Rd. E.

FROM SPOKANE:

Take I-90 West
Take exit 254 onto Sprague Hwy. Rd. E.
Turn left onto Miller Ranch Rd. E.

Turn-by-turn directions:

FROM SEATTLE:

Take I-90 East
Take exit 245 onto WA-23
Turn right onto Poplar St.
Turn left at the first cross street onto N B St.
Turn left onto the cross street onto W 1st St.
Continue onto Sprague Hwy. for approx. 6.6 miles
Turn right onto Miller Ranch Rd. E.

FROM SPOKANE:

Take I-90 West
Take exit 254 onto Sprague Hwy. Rd. E.
Turn left onto Miller Ranch Rd. E.

Sprague, WA MAP LEGEND

Navigational Challenge Rating: 7/10

Physical Challenge Rating: 7/10

Turn-by-turn directions:

Turn-by-turn directions: