Out There Outdoors

Looking for a reason to explore more local parks this summer? The Greater Spokane Park Challenge is back, inviting participants to visit parks, trails, conservation areas, and splash pads across the region while completing monthly challenges and earning chances to win prizes. Best of all, every registration helps support the Spokane Parks Foundation and the parks that make outdoor recreation possible close to home.

Learn how to join the challenge and start checking places off your list.

outthereoutdoors.com/greater-spokane-park-challenge-2026

📸Jon Jonckers

Need a few ideas for making the most of summer in the Inland Northwest? Our annual Summer Adventure Guide is packed with local inspiration, from paddling to hidden waterfalls and camping on a Priest Lake island to bike rides, trail crew volunteer days, wildlife watching, road trips, festivals, swims, and sunrise hikes. Pick one adventure or fill your calendar with several.

Check out the guide and start planning your summer.

outthereoutdoors.com/inland-northwest-summer-adventure-guide-2026

Planning a mountain bike getaway this summer? Take a look at Rossland, B.C., where lift-accessed downhill trails, guided rides, shuttle-served alpine adventures, and a vast network of trails come together in one bike-friendly mountain town just a few hours from Spokane. Our local’s guide breaks down how to make the most of a weekend on two wheels.

outthereoutdoors.com/rossland-bc-mountain-bike-weekend-guide

📸Ashley Voykin, Tourism Rossland

Looking for an excuse to learn something new outside this summer? The Spokane County Library District is offering a lineup of free programs that cover everything from wilderness survival, foraging, and making beef jerky to native plants, geology, and hands-on water science. Check out the upcoming classes and hikes and add a few outdoor learning opportunities to your summer calendar.

outthereoutdoors.com/spokane-county-library-district-free-outdoor-skills-programs

📸Charlie Bouck

Mountain bike laps, backcountry roads, alpine hikes, paddling, camping, and evenings around the fire. Range to Ranch Adventure Summit returns to McCall, Idaho, June 18–21 with four days of outdoor recreation, skills clinics, conservation education, and community gathering centered around the mountains and wild places of the Payette National Forest.

outthereoutdoors.com/range-to-ranch-adventure-summit-mccall-idaho-2025

Some hikes make you earn the views before you even reach the trailhead. Hidden Lake, tucked into the Idaho Panhandle north of Bonners Ferry, rewards the journey with a crystal-clear alpine lake, excellent swimming, and the option to continue on to West Fork Lake and a historic fire lookout with sweeping mountain views.

https://outthereoutdoors.com/hidden-lake-west-fork-lake-hike-bonners-ferry-idaho/

Summer is filling up fast. From free fishing days, outdoor learning kits, and Discover Pass free days to trail races, volunteer projects, conservation events, and community fundraisers, our latest Trailhead roundup highlights dozens of ways to get outside and connect with the places that make the Inland Northwest special.

outthereoutdoors.com/inland-northwest-outdoor-events-volunteer-opportunities-summer

There’s a point in every summer outing when the work of getting there finally falls away. For Lisa Laughlin, it might be a child searching for fish through fogged-up goggles, a turtle breaking the surface, or the quiet drift of a paddleboard among lily pads. In “A Search for Buoyancy,” she reflects on parenting, local waters, and the moments that keep us coming back outside.

outthereoutdoors.com/search-for-buoyancy-paddleboarding-spokane-lakes-summer

For one evening each June, several miles of Spokane’s South Hill streets transform into a space for bikes, skates, running shoes, sidewalk chalk, live music, and whatever other human-powered fun people decide to bring along. Spokane Summer Parkways returns June 16 with a 4-mile car-free route through the Manito and Comstock neighborhoods, inviting the community to move, connect, and play outdoors together.

summerparkways.com

outthereoutdoors.com/spokane-summer-parkways-car-free-community-event-south-hill