Riverside wildfire recovery

Latest updates

September 2026 tree risk assessments completed 

Our Agency Forester and Arbor Crew have completed a tree risk assessment of high-priority areas in Riverside State Park, including its boundary with neighboring homes and other community facilities, and trees capable of reaching public roads, parking lots and overhead infrastructure.  

Our professionals walked sections of the boundary of the property next to homes and assessed individual trees impacted by the wildfire for risk of falling within the next 12 months. The park’s boundary trees all show signs of significant fire damage, but none are believed to be at risk of failing within the next year and in need of immediate removal. 

When our crews were completing their assessments, they were looking for trees that are structurally compromised – not just burnt. Though they may show charring on the outside, most of the trees were strong and healthy earlier this summer, so their wood still has structural integrity for a while – even after they die.  

Hazard tree removal has begun and is continuing. Though they don’t pose an immediate threat, we still have a plan in place to remove these burned trees along the park boundaries over the coming months. 

Next steps 

We are in the process of planning a salvage logging operation to remove all hazard trees capable of striking homes. This is tentatively scheduled to occur this fall/winter and will continue through next spring. We plan to complete tree removals by the end of spring 2027. 

A salvage logging operation means harvesting damaged trees and selling the timber. The money made from this harvest will be reinvested in restoration of the natural resources of the park damaged in the wildfire. Salvage logging will reduce risk from hazard trees and the risk of reburn in the area. Some standing dead trees will be left to shade the next generation trees that regrow in the area and provide wildlife habitat.

We are working as quickly as possible and will share more information here as details are finalized.  

Riverside neighbors 

If you own a home on the boundary of Riverside State Park and believe there is a hazard tree that poses an immediate threat to your property, please contact us at riverside@parks.wa.gov and we will follow up with you. If the hazard tree is found to be unstable, our staff will work with you on next steps to have it removed ahead of our planned harvest.  

Recreation reopenings, last updated 8/28

Riverside State Park and the Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail have reopened many areas except where listed below. This is the last major reopening update anticipated until spring 2027.

View a map of what's open and what's closed here. Please stay out of closed areas. In addition to harming a sensitive, recovering landscape, you may be issued a ticket for accessing closed areas of the park.  

• Park areas south of Seven Mile Road remain closed   
  • The Centennial Trail remains closed from Equestrian Lane to the Wilbur Trailhead
  • Marchand Trailhead and trails  
  • Seven Mile Trailhead, Airstrip and trails  
  • Wilbur Trailhead & Trails
  • Burn Area Trailhead  
  • Morin Trailhead  
• Park areas north of Seven Mile that remain closed:   
  • Little Spokane River Water Trail  
  • St. Georges put-in  
  • Knothead Valley Trailhead and trails  
  • Indian Painted Rocks  

Bowl & Pitcher is open and visitors can access the bridge, however the trails on the west side of the bridge are closed.

Riverside is a large park and much of it is open. Fall is a great time to visit the open areas – and maybe find a new favorite hike! If you haven't been before (or it has been a while), we suggest checking out the Pine Bluff Area or the recently renovated Deep Creek Interpretive Trail near the Carlson Trailhead. 

Camping and events

Camping reservations at Riverside have been reopened as of Aug. 28. 

Park events scheduled through for the remainder of 2026 have been canceled. Event organizers with events planned in Riverside beyond September are encouraged to contact the park office to discuss options.

Respect all closures

Please stay out of all closed areas of the park. Wildfire impacts in these areas are significant, and we need your support to help the land and our trails recover.  

 We have closures in place for several different purposes:  

• Safety closures for hazard trees and other dangerous conditions (such as large holes where trees burned and uneven ground from bulldozer activity to create fire containment lines
• Work zone safety closures for heavy equipment assisting in hazard tree removal and landscape restoration
• Forest restoration, including slope stabilization in areas where we anticipate significant erosion 
• Rehabilitation closures to allow the land to rest and recover and give wildlife a place to escape into without the presence of humans 

When you go into a closed area, you are not only putting yourself at risk, but you are causing more damage to an environmentally sensitive area that is trying to recover from a catastrophic event. From the wildlife to the trees to the soils – the park needs your support to recover. Please protect yourself and protect Riverside.

Looking ahead at what's to come

The areas of Riverside that will remain closed for the foreseeable future suffered significant damage in the wildfires or are directly adjacent to areas that did. They will require ongoing work and may never look the same as they did prior to August 2026.

Hazard tree removal has begun and is continuing. Contracted salvage logging in the worst areas of the both the Old Trails and Autumn Lane fires is planned to be completed by Spring of 2027. Trail assessments in the burn area have also begun and we have already identified hundreds of trail hazards to address. 

As seasonal weather conditions allow, State Parks crews will continue their assessments, restoration and rehabilitation work through the end of the year and through next spring.   

Next steps for the park recovery areas are weather dependent. Eastern Washington is known to have heavy windstorms and variable winters. With so many standing dead trees, damaged trees and significant risk of erosion on its slopes, staff will not know the broader scope of damage and restoration needs until next spring. 

Trail work

Many of the trails within the footprint of the fire have been severely damaged or completed destroyed. It will take time for staff to repair, rebuild or reroute trails. In some places, we may have to start from scratch.  

Trail impacts include: 

• Damage from heavy equipment during firefighting efforts and post-fire cleanup, including bulldozer lines, grader compaction and fire lines 
• Deep holes from burnt tree stumps and roots beneath the trail surface 
• Fallen trees, large rocks and other debris  Inconsistent, missing and/or damaged trail surfaces 
• Eroding slopes into trails 

Erosion

The areas of the park that burnt the hottest have no living ground cover, nature’s “glue” that holds everything in place. Without grasses, forbs, shrubs, mosses, tree roots or other organic materials to hold the soil and any of its remaining nutrients in place, erosion risk is extreme. This is also some of the steepest terrain in the park.  

A regular rainstorm would cause erosion in this area, but a major weather event or recreating in this delicate environment would could cause significant erosion and harmful impacts to the Little Spokane River.  

State Parks will be placing erosion control material in the highest risk areas, but we can’t cover every slope. We’re depending on our visitors to help us protect this special place and allow it to heal by staying out of closed areas of the park.  

Hazard trees

Staff have already started removing dead-standing burnt hazard trees threatening roadways, day-use areas, campgrounds and trails. The removal process will take time to be completed safely. 

This work will continue through the end of the year, as weather allows, but it will be an ongoing effort. While we are removing dead trees, we won’t know which damaged living trees will survive until the spring growing season. Into the future, other natural forces like bark beetles will continue to kill off weaker trees that may pose a threat to visitors or increase fire risk and need to be removed. Our Arbor Crew will be continuously working in this area for the coming years. 

We are prioritizing tree assessments near neighborhoods, along roadways, in day-use areas and on the Centennial Trail. 

Staff have just begun accessing the park’s severely burnt areas to assess the full damage.   

Avista is actively working on their transmission corridor through the park. They will have heavy equipment in the burned area for some time.