Spokane Valley, WA Outdoor Activities

The Fairways Golf Course’s layout unfurls over rolling terrain teeming with wetlands and native grasses. Multiple water hazards and fast greens pose challenges for experienced players, and relatively open fairways and a set of closer, forward tees cater to junior clubbers, beginners, and golfers testing out a set of repurposed spatulas. A dramatic conclusion awaits at the par-4, 419-yard 18th hole—the course’s most challenging hole—where golfers must contend with a dog-leg right and a small pond that arches around the front and left sides of the green. Golfers can prepare for the round at the driving range and practice green, or simply ask the course’s beverage-cart operator for the liquid cure for a slice-prone swing.

Sprawling across 100 acres in the verdant, picturesque Spokane Falls, Riverfront Park beckons with awe-inspiring visual and auditory wonders. The newly constructed SkyRide invites visitors to survey the land from above, swooping across the Spokane River and past city hall, where they can wave to their favorite comptroller. Back on the ground, the historic Looff Carousel, built in 1909, whirls riders around on 54 horses, two Chinese-dragon chairs, one giraffe, and one tiger, and a tour train chugs through the park on a 30-minute narrated jaunt. Among other attractions, such as the Sculpture Walk and pony rides, Riverfront Park houses an enormous IMAX theater with one of the largest indoor screens in the Pacific Northwest. Standing 53 feet high and stretching 69 feet wide, the screen is slightly taller than the average human and displays crystal-clear two-dimensional images, which are complemented by the sounds of a booming, wraparound surround-sound system.

With the roar of engines, bikes pound through the dirt and fly over manmade mountains at Airway MotoCross Park. After quiet falls, the track is groomed by bulldozers to prepare for a schedule of races, special events, and tea-party-ruining competitions. As bikers slip past each other in mid air and spray up a mist of mud, fans cheer on a favorite to win a purse of up to $5,000. Patrons also suit themselves up during open-practice sessions on a track suitable for those of all skill levels and abilities.

Your City Bites' manifesto can be summed up in a single word: local. Local foods, local guides, and local culture—all distinguishing features of its walking food tours. Guides, each one a home cook, lead groups on approximately two-hour jaunts through a city, during which they pause to sample the edible creations of six to eight restaurants. Culinary expeditions might explore the world-famous deli sandwiches of Salt Lake City or tour the ethnic eats that pepper Spokane's restaurant scene. Throughout each tour, guides elucidate tales of local culture and architecture, covering sites from the Salt Lake Temple to Spokane's infamous Leaning Tower of Cinnamon Rolls.

Committed to cultural education, Your City Bites' staff works to make its walking adventures available to as many people as possible, ensuring treks are wheelchair and stroller accessible. Additionally, guides make sure vegetarians have alternatives throughout each tour. Not content to stay in just Spokane and Salt Lake City, the company has plans to begin tours in Nashville, Albuquerque, and the moon's cheese-filled core.

Awarded one of the “Top 10 Golf Experiences Within Idaho” by Golf Digest, The Highlands Golf Course beckons golf enthusiasts with forests of towering pine trees and rolling terrain of verdant beauty. The course was originally designed by Jim Krause and opened for play in 1991, though anyone who hasn’t played it since 2006 will appreciate the additional tee boxes and marked improvements in bunker playability resulting from course renovations. Six lakes come into play, demanding deft club selection around the greens and impeccable swan dives to retrieve errant golf balls. Narrow fairways and several doglegs also place a premium on flawless drives off of your playing partner's belly button.

As a warm-up or a cool-down, practice at the driving encourages skill development with grass tees and nearly 400 yards of open expanse. A short-game practice area recreates most on-course situations a golfer can conjure up, with sand bunkers and two regulation flagpoles that double as golf cart jousting lances.

Course at a Glance:

• Par 72

• Four sets of tees

• 6,385 yards from back tees

• Rating of 69.7 and slope of 120 from back tees

• 1991 Jim Krause design

• Renovated in 2006

More than two decades ago, Paul Fish dreamed up a unique backpack and stitched a prototype by hand. After some redesigns, Fish and his wife opened an outdoor apparel shop—Mountain Gear—where they could sell these packs to local climbers and backpackers. Today, Mountain Gear's spacious retail location boasts a comprehensive selection of gear for camping, hiking, and climbing, as well as snowsports and watersports. Skiers can bundle up in gear from The North Face and Black Diamond, and mountaineers can ascend to new altitudes with Mountain Hardwear apparel. Mountain Gear also houses an indoor climbing wall, and its outdoorsy staff hosts classes that teach attendees how to tackle their first climbing wall or cook meals in the wilderness without having to call a restaurant for instructions.