Q'emiln Park and the Community Forest: beach, boat launch and river trails

Q'emiln Park is where Post Falls goes to the water. It sits on the south side of the Spokane River at the end of the Spokane Street Bridge, with the town's guarded swimming beach, its public boat launch and a big pavilion for parties. The Post Falls Community Forest starts at its edge, with river trails and climbing rock. This guide covers both, plus the rules that trip people up.

The name

The city spells it Q'emiln and says it the way you would write "ka-mee-lin." The city's activity guide calls it a Native American word meaning "throat of the river" or "mouth of the river."

Q'emiln Park: what is there

The park covers 78.5 acres at 12201 West Parkway Drive. Along with the beach and the launch, it has barbecue pits, picnic shelters, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, a concession stand, restrooms and a playground.

Four spaces can be reserved: two small covered shelters (the Gazebo and the Picnic Shelter), the Grand Pavilion, which is covered and measures 60 by 120 feet, and a grassy area. The shelter season in 2026 ran from April 13 to October 4. For 2027 the season runs April 12 to October 3, and the city takes bookings from January 4, 2027, first come, first served.

The Trailhead Event Center, also inside the park, is a fully enclosed building 32 by 122 feet that holds up to 150 people. The city rents it for weddings, receptions, retreats and company parties, and takes Trailhead bookings up to a year ahead of the event date.

No dogs. Dogs are not allowed in Q'emiln Park. The city keeps a separate list of parks where leashed dogs are welcome, and the Community Forest is on it (see below for how to get there without crossing Q'emiln).

City of Post Falls residents can get one free Q'emiln season car parking pass per household from the Parks and Recreation office.

The beach

Q'emiln's swimming beach is guarded. The city's beach at Kiwanis Park, 4176 East Weatherby Avenue off south Ross Point, is not. Kiwanis is a 40-acre park with trails, fishing, picnic areas and the Higgens Pavilion, a covered shelter for up to 75 people, and leashed dogs are allowed there.

Summer does get hot. The Coeur d'Alene weather station a few miles east averages about 18 days a year above 90 degrees, and July averages 70 degrees day and night together.

The boat launch

The launch does not open on a fixed date. Avista, which runs the dams downstream at the falls, sets the season each year based on water levels, weather, the effect on the dam and public safety. The launch usually closes by mid-November and reopens in late spring or early summer. In 2026 it opened on June 5.

It also closes for the Post Falls Festival in July. In 2026 it was shut from 7 pm on the Thursday before the festival through the Monday after.

For paddlers, floaters and anglers the city has another river access point: the Trailer Park Wave, at 1400 West Iron Horse Drive at the end of Lundy Boulevard. It has a paved walking path to the water, parking for five cars and a vault toilet.

The Community Forest

The city is building a 500-acre natural area here called the Post Falls Community Forest. It already holds about 2 miles of Spokane River shoreline, hiking trails, native trees and shrubs, and wildlife, and it is open for non-motorized use.

There are two ways in. The eastern trailhead sits beside Q'emiln Park. The southern trailhead has a parking lot at 16093 West Riverview Drive. If you have a dog along, start at Riverview Drive, since Q'emiln itself is closed to dogs; in the forest, dogs stay on a leash.

The city's climbing walls map lists the trails and their lengths:

• Three loops from Q'emiln Park: 0.38 mile, 1.1 miles and 3.7 miles.
• A 3.6-mile loop from West Riverview Drive.
• Three one-way routes between the two trailheads: 3.0, 2.3 and 1.9 miles.

Stay on the marked trails. The city asks it both for your safety and for the ground, and it has an interactive trail map that shows your position against the routes on a phone.

The forest has a second job. The city plans to water it with highly treated Class A reclaimed water through drip irrigation, and to use it as a teaching forest. Parts of it may close for a while when that work is under way, so check the city's parks page before a trip.

Climbing

The rock in the forest draws climbers, and the city publishes a climbing walls map. A few of the named rocks show up in the city's photo set: Alley Boulder, Godzilla, Homestead Boulder and Hidden Passage.

The rules on the city's map are plain. Climbers take responsibility for their own safety; volunteers have put in fixed anchors and cleared loose rock, but nobody guarantees a route will stay safe. Do not remove or tamper with fixed anchors, and do not top-rope straight through the steel lower-off links, which wears them out fast. Anyone who wants to open a new route, trad, sport or bouldering, fills out a new route application from the Parks and Recreation office at 408 North Spokane Street before any cleaning or rigging. Pack out your litter, and any you find.

A day plan

Swim in the morning, walk one of the short forest loops before lunch, and cross the Spokane Street Bridge to Falls Park to see the dam in the afternoon. The Post Falls Triathlon runs the same ground on its early August Sunday, with the swim at Q'emiln Beach and the run out to Falls Park and back.

Using our listings

Q'emiln Park, Kiwanis Park and the other city parks are in our Parks and Outdoors category. For the rest of the day, the Restaurants, Coffee Shops and Hotels pages list what we hold by street address. We carry no hours or fees for parks; the city's parks office has those.