Spokane Falls

Long before the city, the falls were the center of life for the Spokane people, whose name for themselves is often translated as Children of the Sun. The river's great runs of salmon returned each year to the falls, and the people gathered here to fish, trade, and meet, drying salmon that fed them through the year and connected them to neighboring tribes across the Plateau.

That relationship to the river remains part of the Spokane Tribe's identity today. The loss of the salmon runs, blocked in the twentieth century by dams downstream on the Columbia and Spokane rivers, was a profound blow to their way of life, and it is an honest and important part of the falls' story, not a footnote.

When newcomers arrived, they saw in the falls a source of power. Mills sprang up on the banks in the 1870s and 1880s, using the drop of the river to grind grain and cut timber, and the settlement that grew around them became the city of Spokane, its name taken from the falls and the people.

For a time the industry crowded the river out of sight behind railyards and warehouses. It was not until the city cleared that ground for the 1974 World's Fair that the falls were opened back up to the public, and the gorge became the centerpiece of a downtown park rather than a hidden industrial engine.

The falls come in an upper and a lower section, split by islands and spanned by the footbridges of Riverfront Park, so you can walk out into the middle of the river and feel the spray. The upper falls slide over broad ledges; the lower falls drop harder into a churning basalt bowl.

For the most dramatic angle, the Spokane Falls SkyRide gondola swings out over the lower falls and back, giving a bird's-eye view straight down into the whitewater and the gorge. The show depends on the season: spring snowmelt sends the whole river thundering, while by late summer the flow can drop as water is diverted for hydropower upstream.

Because the falls sit right in the city, seeing them folds naturally into a day in downtown Spokane. Riverfront Park wraps around the gorge with its lawns, gardens, and the beloved 1909 Looff Carrousel, and the Centennial Trail follows the river out of town in both directions.

Just beyond the park, the historic Davenport hotels, the city's restaurants and breweries, and the regional museum in Browne's Addition are all close at hand, making the falls the natural first stop and orientation point for a visit to the largest city of the Inland Northwest.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The Spokane Falls are a series of dramatic waterfalls where the Spokane River tumbles right through the heart of downtown Spokane in eastern Washington, an impressive natural feature in an urban setting. The falls, both an upper and a lower cascade, thunder powerfully, especially during spring snowmelt, dropping over rocky ledges amid the city. Long significant to the Spokane Tribe, for whom the falls were an important fishing and gathering place, the falls are now a centerpiece of Riverfront Park. Viewable from bridges, viewpoints, and the SkyRide gondola, the Spokane Falls offer a striking and accessible natural spectacle in downtown Spokane, Washington.

You can see the Spokane Falls from several vantage points in and around Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane, including pedestrian bridges and viewpoints that overlook the upper and lower falls, the Monroe Street Bridge, and, for a thrilling perspective, the SkyRide gondola that glides directly over the falls. Each vantage offers a different view of the rushing water. The falls are most impressive when running high. The accessible viewpoints right in the city make the falls easy to enjoy. With its multiple viewpoints and the gondola, downtown Spokane offers wonderful ways to experience the dramatic Spokane Falls.

The Spokane Falls are most powerful and impressive in spring, typically from around April into early summer, when snowmelt from the mountains swells the Spokane River and huge volumes of water thunder over the falls, creating a dramatic, roaring spectacle. During this peak flow, the falls are at their most breathtaking. By late summer and fall, the flow diminishes considerably and the falls are much gentler. So for the most dramatic display of the Spokane Falls, plan a visit in spring during the high-water season, when the powerful cascade is a stunning sight in downtown Spokane, Washington.

The Spokane Falls hold deep significance for the Spokane Tribe, whose name means children of the sun, as the falls were for countless generations an important gathering place and one of the region's great fishing sites, where salmon were caught in abundance before dams downstream ended the salmon runs. The falls and the river shaped the area's Native history and later drew settlers who harnessed the water's power, giving rise to the city of Spokane. This rich Native and settlement history adds cultural depth to the natural spectacle of the Spokane Falls in downtown Spokane, Washington.

The Spokane Falls are in downtown Spokane in eastern Washington, at the heart of Riverfront Park, near the city's downtown shops, restaurants, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, and the Mobius science and discovery center, with Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge within reach to the south. That makes the Spokane Falls a striking natural stop to combine with Riverfront Park, downtown Spokane's attractions, and the other sights of Spokane on a visit to Washington.