Spokane: Deer Park

[WendyK]

If you have just one day to spend in Deer Park, I would go to the Deer Park airport and go up flying with Arrow H Aviation in one of their small planes. It's not too expensive and you can get a bird's eye view of the area by spending some time up in the air. There are some shops & restaurants in the heart of Deer Park that you could explore, but nothing exceptional.

[greeneggsandham]

OK, so this is an "old" thread, but rather than start a new one, I'll just tack on another note here. We moved way out of town in the country, Deer Park in the small Stevens County section. Why did we choose Deer Park?

We love the country and don't mind the weather. Everyone says it's true that Deer Park is the coldest town in Washington, but I don't know what they're counting as towns. Surely some of the real mountain towns get colder, but we certainly seem to be colder all the time than Spokane. Probably 10 degrees F. That's OK with us, but if you don't like cold and more snow than Spokane has, you might not like it. My sister doesn't start planting annuals until after Mother's Day because of frost, and we came mighty close to having frost in August this year. The hot summer days are wonderful for "sun worshipers", and they turn into clear star-filled cool nights. We moved here with our eyes wide open and love it, but I think if you don't want to commute on icy roads in the winter or deal with 2-3' of snow throughout the winter, you might try areas closer to Spokane Valley. Our elevation here is close to 2,200', actually higher than Chewelah and Colville which are in the Colville River Valley. It's fun to drive out of Spokane on Hwy. 395 and watch the elevation rise and the temperature lower as you climb up the slopes out of the Little Spokane River Valley. Some mentioned the Nine Mile Area which is on the Spokane River, and it is certainly warmer than Deer Park. Who knows what makes these differences, but they're strangely true.

If you're concerned about healthcare and hospitals, check to see if the Deer Park Hospital is closing. Unfortunately, there's a move afoot to close it, which I hope does NOT happen! Holy Family Hospital, a little over 1/2 hour away, is a very good hospital and lots of good doctors in the area around it.

No matter what, we love Deer Park!! However, if you're thinking about moving here, check out the realities of things that sometimes bother people.

[WendyK]

Good comments Greeneggs! I live in Nine Mile but drive up Swenson Rd. through Deer Park frequently and it's one of the most beautiful and enjoyable drives. The Williams Valley area has gorgeous scenery - the open sky, hills, creeks, farm lands and a variety of trees, distant mountain views, and of course an abundance of wildlife. I prefer the western side of Deer Park in Stevens County. I now take the back roads (McKenzie & Monroe) to get to the north side of Spokane since they improved them when the Rutter Pkwy realignment was going on -- it's about 2 miles farther but it's faster and much more scenic.

[ginger44]

Thanks for reviving this thread! We are looking to relocate to the area after we sell our house next spring and have been looking for areas where we can own a few acres. I used to live in Anchorage, AK and loved it, so we were looking for something similar but did not have as long of a winter. Thanks for the great info!