Things to Do in Hayden

North Bowl’s glossy lanes unravel into pin-filled pastures, fostering competitive, family-friendly action in a completely smoke-free environment. Between thunderous bouts, patrons can roam into one of the facility’s trio of ancillary spaces, including the game room, pro shop, and bar and grill, where burgers, sandwiches, and pizza fuel fingers for rematches. During lights and strikes bowling, lasers and fog dance across darkened alleys, while speakers help energize competitors by blasting out tunes. The alley’s expanse is ideal for groups of friends to battle gutter-to-gutter in league play or during birthday parties, which, like the prerogative to scream for ice cream, are available to kids and adults alike.

Flow Adventures’ intrepid explorers introduce adventurers of all ages and skill levels to the thrill of navigating Washington's backcountry. Tours take place on the Spokane River, with idle inner tubing on the TJ Meenach stretch and whitewater rafting on the lower Riverside State Park section. Before groups set out, staff conducts briefings to ensure safe expeditions. Though they stress safety, they still take a lighthearted approach to trips.

The Northwest Museum of Art & Culture preserves and illuminates an extensive collection of material about the Plateau Indian culture of the Pacific Northwest. Traditional textiles and carvings coexist with more than 10,000 photographs that document the indigenous culture. Historic regional paintings include works from Spokane's Works Progress Administration arts center, which created a vibrant space for artists in the depths of the Great Depression.

In addition to its staggering exhibits and regular collections, the museum immerses guests in turn-of-the-century culture with the Campbell House, which is nestled on the campus. Originally built by Idaho mine owner Amasa Campbell at the end of the 19th century, the neoclassical revival home designed by Kirtland K. Cutter provides a window into the life of a wealthy northwestern family at the turn of the century. A handsome Tudor façade welcomes visitors before they venture into the elegantly restored interior, which deftly mixes architectural styles with a French-style reception area, a Middle Eastern–style game room, and a library outfitted with an inglenook fireplace and an authentic steam-powered flat-screen TV.

Mobius Kids Children's Museum encourages youngsters eight-years-old and younger to broaden their knowledge of the world around them in fun, hands-on educational exhibits. Hands-on is often a child's favorite way to learn about something, so the museum provides tykes with plenty of opportunity to dig into the workings of the world around them first hand. They experience erosion and water currents in scientific exhibits such as Geotopia, while the Out of Hand Art Studio and Globe Theater explore the visual and performing arts. Inside the Wattson's World exhibit, children learn about energy safety and conservation while playing inside a people-sized doghouse. Every exhibit invite parents to play along with their kids for a fun-filled family bonding experience.

The staff at Sew E-Z Too helps its students wield sewing needles, knitting needles, and crochet hooks to create cloth jewelry, bags, and other decorative pieces. Classes meet inside Sew E-Z Too, a cloth and fabric emporium that holds enough material to supply larger projects, such as a warm knit shawl or a quilted cozy for the family car. The store stocks dozens of brands from Mike Canetty Textiles to Cranston Village, and the pro knitters and stitchers in the shop are on hand to offer advice and tips.

As an Outward Bound instructor, Will Parks has taught mountaineering and rock climbing to tough, brawny sorts. But he’s found that it’s not physical agility, but mindset, that empowers people to triumph over difficult situations. Will Parks strives to impart that lesson via Adventure Dynamics’s courses. Though it’s exhilarating to race down the 400-foot zipline overlooking the Spokane River and skitter across a five-story balance beam, the challenges are all, ultimately, a means to an end.

Will Parks has welcomed a variety of groups and has watched as people learn to communicate in high-stress situations, be it while in the middle of the ropes course or while grappling with the reality of Morgan Freeman’s mortality. “One day of work here is equal to one month in the office,” says Will Parks, pointing to the intensity of interactions that take place and the bonds that form thereafter. “People don’t remember what they learn by lecture or presentation. They remember what they do.