| Spokane, Washington is located in the heart of the Inland Northwest, and it serves as a shopping, entertainment, and medical hub for an area that includes Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, North Idaho, Western Montana, and southern portions of Alberta and British Columbia. The Spokane River runs through downtown with spectacular falls on the western end of the city.Spokane is an outdoors-lover's paradise, with downhill and cross-country skiing, white-water rafting, camping areas, hiking trails, numerous lakes, and the Centennial Trail all in within a few minutes of the city. Spokane is also home to the largest timed road race in the nation, Bloomsday, and the largest three-on-three street basketball tournament, Hoopfest.The town's nexus is the hundred-acre Riverfront Park, sprawling over two islands in the middle of the Spokane River. Originally planned by Frederick Olmsted of Central Park fame, the park was not laid out as specified until just before Spokane hosted the 1974 World's Fair. Bisecting the park, the river tumbles down a series of rocky shelves known as the Spokane Falls, once a fishing site for native peoples and later the home of the first pioneers.Most of the relics of Spokane's early grandeur can be found several blocks southwest on W Riverside Avenue, where neoclassical facades cluster around Jefferson Street. The city's nineteenth-century highlights include the Davenport Hotel, the Clark Mansion, and the Tudor Revival Campbell House, part of the Cheney Cowles Museum at 2316 W First Ave, a regional history museum holding an impressive collection of artifacts.Spokane, Washington has the perfect mix of history, culture, and outdoor recreation to temp any visitor. |
