Mount Spokane State Park

A 13,919-acre high-country escape in Washington's Selkirk Mountains, featuring historic stone architecture, 100 miles of trails, and a premier winter ski park.

Mount Spokane State Park spans 13,919 acres of high-altitude wilderness in the Selkirk Mountains, making it the largest state park in Washington. Established in 1927, the park wraps around the 5,883-foot summit of Mount Spokane, alongside several sister peaks including Mount Kit Carson, Beauty Mountain, and Quartz Mountain. The landscape transitions dramatically with elevation: lower slopes are thick with ponderosa pines and Douglas firs, while the higher ridges support dense stands of subalpine fir and western white pine. Granite outcroppings break through the forest floor, grounding the high country with a rugged, ancient texture. Wildlife is active throughout the park, with white-tailed deer browsing the clearings, moose wading through marshy draws, and pileated woodpeckers drumming against old-growth snags.

The human history of the park is etched directly into its stone and timber. At the very summit stands the historic Vista House, a two-story shelter constructed in 1933 from native granite blocks quarried directly from the mountaintop. While popular local lore often attributes the Vista House to the Civilian Conservation Corps, historical sources show it was actually designed by Spokane architect Henry C. Bertelsen and built by contractor Einar Ole Fieldstad. The CCC arrived shortly after in June 1934, establishing Camp Francis Cook on Beauty Mountain. The 200 young enrollees of the camp worked through the brief, snow-free summer months to clear roads, cut trails, and build the park's early picnic shelters, as well as the historic caretaker's cabin designed by Fieldstad. Today, these hand-hewn stone and wood structures remain as functional monuments to early twentieth-century rustic architecture.

Recreational opportunities shift with the seasons across more than 100 miles of multi-use trails. During the summer and autumn, hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians explore routes like the Mount Kit Carson Loop Road and the challenging Trail 140. High on Quartz Mountain, at an elevation of 5,129 feet, the Quartz Mountain Fire Lookout offers a unique overnight rental experience: a restored 1979 Department of Natural Resources cab that was airlifted to this peak in 2004. Come winter, the mountain receives an average of 300 inches of snow, transforming into a cold-weather playground. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park operates six chairlifts across 1,704 skiable acres on the mountain's northern slopes, while cross-country skiers glide along the groomed Nordic trails starting from the Selkirk Lodge, stopping to warm up by the wood stove inside the historic CCC cabin or the Nova Hut.