#5 Cliff Park

Spokane's Best Parks -

Cliff Park is brilliant in its simplicity yet unique in many ways. Clocking in at the 5^th spot on Spokane’s Best Parks list, it’s also the smallest of the bunch (only 4.2 acres). Cliff Park’s center piece is a giant basalt outcrop that towers above the surrounding neighborhood. There are no playgrounds or splash pads or ball fields at Cliff Park, just meandering trails that lead you to the top of the cliff. Children love getting lost in the park’s trail network.

As Spokane Historical points out, historically the Spokane Tribe of Indians utilized Cliff Park’s peak as a look-out, and on a clear day the view is spectacular. To give you some perspective, the Spokane river bottoms in downtown are at an elevation of about 1,850 feet. The peak of Cliff Park, located only one mile away, is at an elevation of 2,260 feet.

The South Hill neighborhood surrounding Cliff is among the most desirable in Spokane. Some of Spokane’s most historic and ornate mansions are located on Sumner Avenue, only a block away.

(Featured photo Cliff Park, Spokane, Wash. circa 1910 from the Ray Fisher Postcard Collection, Northwest Room, Spokane Public Library, Spokane, WA)