Sandwiched between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains in eastern Washington State, Spokane is a ruggedly handsome city that owes much of its current character to an early-20th-century construction boom and the legacy of the environmentally themed 1974 World’s Fair (widely referred to as Expo ’74). While the building rush endowed the city with an attractive assemblage of Romanesque revival architecture, the World’s Fair lives on in downtown Riverfront Park where various trails, sculptures and pavilions overlook the spectacular waters of Spokane Falls. Bringing the natural world into the city's downtown core, Riverfront Park exemplifies the diverse charm of Spokane. From long riverside bike rides in the morning to elegant pre-theatre drinks in the evening, here's how best to explore Washington State's most underrated city.
What to see
The focus of downtown Spokane is the lush Riverfront Park centred on Upper and Lower Spokane Falls, where visitors can loop around a network of interlinked bridges and trails, or take the Numerica SkyRide gondola over the falls themselves. Other eye-drawing attractions include the beloved Looff Carousel, a hand-carved fairground ride dating from 1909, and the huge, cone-shaped Spokane Pavilion, a nexus for year-round light shows and summer concerts.
Beyond the park, Spokane’s downtown entertainment district nurtures a strong cultural tradition. Broadway shows feature regularly at the First Interstate Center for the Arts, while the 110-year-old Bing Crosby Theater hosts musicals, comedy shows and tribute bands. Crosby grew up in Spokane and his former home has been made into a museum on the grounds of his alma mater, Gonzaga University.
The city also has an under-appreciated architectural tradition. The best place to immerse yourself in its splendour is the grandiose Browne’s Addition neighbourhood. Here you’ll find the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, a showcase for Native American artefacts, where the largest exhibit, Campbell House, is an exquisite Tudor revival mansion with a lovingly restored Victorian interior.
What to do
Spokane is a short drive from Washington’s two largest state parks, Mount Spokane and Riverside. The former hosts a low-key downhill ski area with 52 wide, intermediate runs. In summer, 100 miles of multi-use trails are unveiled, with options to either hike or drive to the top of 1,794m Mount Spokane for 360-degree views of the inland Northwest.
Riverside Park is only six miles northwest of downtown Spokane and protects large tracts of ponderosa pine forest crisscrossed with trails. A park focal point is the Bowl and Pitcher, a shallow gorge containing huge boulders and swirling with angry water. A wooden suspension bridge, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, crosses the river linking to a campground on the other side. The holy grail for cyclists is the 40-mile-long Centennial Trail that tracks the Spokane River from Riverside State Park through downtown to the Idaho border.
Spokane is also distinguished in the sporting domain, hosting a huge outdoor basketball tournament called Hoopfest, and one of the largest mass-participation running events in the world, the annual Bloomsday.
Where to stay
Spokane is home to one of the finest hotels in the nation. The 284-room Historic Davenport Hotel dates from 1914 and was built by prodigious local architect Kirtland Cutter in a striking retro style known as Renaissance revival. While the exterior is relatively restrained, the gilded interior is unashamedly lavish. Even if your budget doesn’t stretch to an overnight stay, it’s worth taking a peek into the ornate lobby or stopping for a cocktail in the genteel Peacock Room Lounge with its extravagant stained-glass ceiling.
Supplementing the Historic Davenport Hotel is the Davenport Lusso, a deluxe downtown haven of warm earthy tones and elegant furniture. Nearby, Spokane’s oldest historic boutique hotel, the Montvale Hotel, which opened in 1899 to house itinerant miners, mixes antique design features with snazzy modern touches to lure in 21st-century guests. At the more economical end of the market, the Hotel Ruby in the downtown entertainment district is an upgraded former motel embellished with funky art and cool splashes of colour.
Where to eat
Once a proud meat-and-potatoes kind of place, Spokane has diversified over the past two decades to become a melting pot of envelope-pushing international cuisine. This growing sophistication can be sampled in pioneering chef-led establishments such as Inland Pacific Kitchen, which marries intense flavours with creative presentation, and Zona Blanca Ceviche Bar, revered for its Baja-style fish and formidable cocktails.
Of older provenance are perennial favourites such as Wild Sage, an American-style bistro where local ingredients form the culinary bedrock; Frank’s Diner, a hub of no-nonsense breakfasts dispatched inside a 1906-vintage railway carriage; and Steam Plant Restaurant & Brew Pub, whose homebrewed suds and homespun handhelds, such as burgers and tacos, can be enjoyed in an ex-industrial facility — another of Kirtland Cutter’s creations.
To sample the true soul food of the region, head over to Indigenous Eats in the Gonzaga district, which offers such salt-of-the-earth delights as ground bison tacos and frybread with a huckleberry sauce, all sourced from local Native American businesses. The restaurant first opened in 2022 and its recently added second location (also in Spokane) was voted the fourth-best new restaurant in the country for 2024 by USA Today readers.
Plan your trip
Fly from Heathrow to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (10 hours), then take a one-hour flight into Spokane. Bus services operate every 30 minutes (Bus 60) from Spokane International Airport to the downtown Spokane Transit Authority Plaza (an indoor bus station at Sprague Avenue and Wall Street). For more information, head to visitspokane.com
This paid content article was created for Visit Spokane. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial staffs.
To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
