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Spokane Is the Gateway to Walla Walla Wine Country

While interest in the Pacific Northwest has traditionally centered on the coastal side, an inland region defined by an emerging wine country is steadily gaining traction.

Still on East Coast time and wide awake at 6 a.m. on my first day in Spokane, Washington, I decided to make the most of jet lag and get dressed, pop in my AirPods and walk the two blocks to the riverfront park that locals have raved about. I’ve learned to be skeptical of “riverfront,” which can mean many things, and is often an oversell of a lazy trickle, but not in Spokane. Here, the whitewater roars by, roiling white across slick rocks, and the river is a true force, spanning 80 feet wide at the broadest point. 

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A few years ago, National Geographic dubbed the surrounding 100-acre park one of the most beautiful urban parks in America—it’s no exaggeration, but it feels downright European thanks to the natural beauty and community engagement. Even this early in the morning, runners, moms with young children, yoga class attendees and bird watchers are already up and enjoying the green space, which is crisscrossed with paved pathways and dotted with native trees, shrubs and wild grasses. Growing up much farther west, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, I spent years turning up my nose at “arid” eastern Washington. Now, I had to laugh at how wrong my own stereotypes were. 

Even for locals, the allure of the Pacific Northwest was built on proximity to the coast. Across both Oregon and Washington, three-quarters of the population lives west of the Cascade Mountains, drawn to the temperate rainforests and wetlands rather than the high deserts and plateaus to the east. The hot, dry climate inland is created by the mountain range’s rain shadow, but just beyond it, on the very edge of the state, Spokane has emerged as a hub for milder weather and a........

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