Riverside State Park, WA
We have driven past Spokane numerous times on road trips but had never stopped to explore so we decided to spend three nights at Riverside State Park. Wow! We loved it and couldn't believe what great biking/hiking options were in this area in this amazing park right near the city. The campground was wonderful and our spot backed up to the river with every spot having plenty of room to put chairs out and walk down to the water.
The first evening there I watched a handsome Osprey sitting in the tree across from me. All of a sudden he leapt off the tree to chase and dive after a large Heron that was flying past! It was quite the commotion and startling! I guess he was upset it was coming through his territory. It felt like a national geographic moment. Another morning sitting on a rock by the river, with my coffee mug, I watched a gorgeous Osprey dive down hard in the water and catch his breakfast. He flew right past me with a good sized fish. I loved sitting out there watching the various wildlife and capturing images of some of the cool things I was seeing.
We absolutely loved hiking the Bowl & Pitcher loop trail which takes you over a super cool swinging pedestrian bridge above the rushing fast moving white water. We watched a pair of herons fly back/forth feeding their young in a large nest, beautiful butterflies and all kinds of birds as we hiked past cool rock formations.
We spent one late afternoon paddling a few miles of the most beautiful stretch of the Little Spokane River where we just glided past lush green banks, all kinds of ducks and birds, muskrats and wildflowers. It was so peaceful and pretty. We created our own shuttle by ending at a crazy steep embankment where Jordan was able to catch a trail and hike/jog back about 1 1/2 miles to get back to our car.
There is also a great biking trail called the Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail which runs for 37 miles. Our favorite section was going past the Herbert M. Hamblen Conservation area into the downtown Riverfront Park stretch (where you can see the cool falls and nice park/pedestrian areas) all the way to Gonzaga Law school . We got lucky and caught the summer Tuesday lunch food trucks by the clock tower and grabbed some yummy Korean food.
On our way back we stopped at Versalia Pizza.Versalia Pizza (which is right on the bikepath) to avoid some unexpected rain and enjoy a glass of wine, yummy flatbread and great views. We waited until the radar showed there was a break and headed back out to get back to our car only getting sprinkled on and feeling lucky since we hadn't packed rain jackets.
All in all we really enjoyed our time here and have a new appreciation for this area!
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