Where to Stay in Spokane, Washington

What is Spokane known for?

Spokane is known for the riverside park at its center and the landmarks gathered around it in Washington. Riverfront Park anchors the downtown. Spokane's Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist crowns the south hill above the core, while the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture holds the regional collection and the Spokane Arena and The Podium keep the events and sport grounds near the park, and the Riverfront Park Carousel adds an older attraction among the walkways.

What are the main landmarks in Spokane?

Spokane centers its landmarks on Riverfront Park and the south hill in Washington. Riverfront Park is the signature site, its walkways and the Riverfront Park Carousel spread beside the falls at the city's heart. Two great churches crown the rise above the park, where the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and St. Aloysius Church stand over the older streets of the hill.

The museums cluster below them. The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture holds the regional collection while the Spokane Arena hosts the events, and the Campbell House and the Chief Spokane Monument mark the older civic ground nearby.

What is the history of Spokane?

Spokane grew from a settlement founded in 1871 beside the falls that would later be framed by Riverfront Park in what became Washington. The falls powered the start. The river crossing and the water's fall set the earliest mills and streets, and the Chief Spokane Monument later marked the Indigenous people whose name the young city carried.

Churches, mansions, and civic halls then shaped the growing city. The congregations that raised the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and St. Aloysius Church left the landmark buildings that still crown the south hill, while the wealth of the early years built the fine homes the Campbell House and the Coolidge-Rising House preserve. Culture and sport followed.

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture gathered the regional collection on the hill, the Spokane Arena and The Podium later took up the events and athletics, and the old riverside mill grounds were reshaped into Riverfront Park. Each era left a building still standing near the falls.

Where is Spokane?

Spokane sits on the falls within the state of Washington, where the river drops through the grounds now held by Riverfront Park. The setting is a river valley below a rising south hill. Its historic core gathers around the park, so the falls, the Riverfront Park Carousel, and the Spokane Arena all fall within a walkable band.

The street grid then climbs the slope toward the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and the mansions of the higher ground.

What is the climate of Spokane?

Spokane has a dry continental climate typical of the inland valleys of Washington. Cold settles over Spokane through the winter. The snow arrives with it.

Snow settles across the valley and the south hill from late autumn into spring, so the indoor halls of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and the Spokane Arena carry much of the cold-season visiting. Summers turn warm and dry, with long clear spells, and the falls and walkways of Riverfront Park draw the warm-weather crowds to the river.

How do you get to Spokane?

Spokane sits on a main east-west corridor within the state of Washington, so most visitors arrive by car or by air. Highways and rail lines meet here. The routes cross near the river and feed the downtown grid, putting Riverfront Park and the Spokane Arena close to the center.

From the core the park, the Riverfront Park Carousel, and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist stay walkable, while drivers climb the south hill to reach the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and the older residential streets.