Discover why Riverside State Park is one of Washington’s hidden outdoor treasures.
We made our first acquaintance with Riverside State Park, just six miles northwest of Spokane, on our way from Priest Lake (in Idaho) back to our home in Wenatchee.
Since we are addicted to picnics when we travel with our pop-up trailer, we planned to stop somewhere around Spokane and take a lunch break.
Before I could even look up potential parks on the GPS, we saw a sign on Highway 2/Division Street, that pointed us to Riverside State Park. I am embarrassed to admit we didn’t know there was a State Park in Spokane!
We followed the signs and quickly arrived at the area of the park called “Bowl & Pitcher.” We found a campground and a large day-use area. We parked, put our Discover Pass on the rear-view mirror, and set up at a picnic table overlooking the Spokane River with an amazing suspension bridge to cross as soon as we finished our lunch.
That was the beginning of our relationship with this love-at-first-sight campground.
After crossing the bridge, back and forth, we hiked up to the Bowl & Pitcher overlook for a panoramic view of the bridge, the rounded masses of basalt in and around the river, and the dramatic steep cliffs. It is a breathtaking sight.
Before we left, we drove through the campground. Following a road down to the river we discovered 16 stunning campsites right at the river’s edge. They are tucked away in a forest of Ponderosa pines, flanked by a tranquil part of the Spokane River.
We have been camping there almost every year since our first visit. We always make reservations for a campsite on the river, and we have convinced two other couples we camp with to join us. We all love going in the fall when the colors add another dimension to the scenic beauty. The sites are spacious enough for us to have some very competitive corn-hole tournaments, and both Dave and Jim have been seen heading down to the river with their fishing poles.
The title of this story uses “remarkable” as an adjective because that word literally means “worthy of being noticed,” which this place most certainly is.
To prove my point, here are a few statistics. Riverside State Park covers over 9,000 acres of land with 200,000 feet of shoreline along the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers. This is the second largest land area of all the Washington State Parks. It was surprising to learn that the average elevation is over 1,800 feet.
The Park was established in 1934 and many of the structures, including the iconic suspension bridge, were built by the Civilian Conservation Corp.
Distinctive features of the Park include the large basalt rock formation that resembles a “Bowl & Pitcher,” created by basalt flows shaped by Ice Age floods and erosion.
Other attributes include Ponderosa pine forests, meadows and fields, wetlands, viewpoints, and 32 trails. One of those trails is the Centennial Trail which starts in the Park and continues through Spokane all the way to the Idaho border (almost 40 miles in length).
It is a paved multi-use trail for walking, running, cycling, and horseback riding. The mix of urban and natural scenery, with many access points, draws about 2.5 million people to use it over the course of a year.
Speaking of numbers, in 2024 Riverside State Park hosted over a million visitors!
What did all these visitors find to do there? Here is a to-do list for when you visit the Park: hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, running, boating, fishing, bird watching, wildlife viewing, photography, and camping.
If you aren’t a camper, you may prefer to reserve one of two rustic cabins for rent right above the riverside sites in the campground. One more picturesque pointer involves a moderate hike.
We do this walk every time we are in the park. From the main parking lot, walk across the swinging bridge and take the 2.1-mile loop trail. The walk through the forest is lovely, and you can enjoy views of the river from a new perspective.
If you have not been to Spokane’s Riverside Park, we hope to inspire you to visit in person. It is a treasure for Spokane and within easy reach for those of us living in NCW.
Ken’s pictures are the most interesting and inspiring part of our story, so I will wrap up the narrative and encourage you to linger over the images he has captured from behind his camera lens.
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