Mount Spokane State Park Vista House

Spokane architect Henry C. Bertelsen (1888-1963) designed the Vista House constructed by CCC crews from the camp at Riverside State Park in 1933 as a destination point for recreationists traveling to the summit of Mount Spokane. The house has a second story dormer on the north elevation utilized as a fire lookout.

According to the Washington State Parks’ website, the 5,883-foot mountain, the most southerly peak in the Selkirk Range, was called Mount Baldy and Mount Carlton before its office name became Mount Spokane. In 1912, Francis H. Cook, a pioneer Spokane newspaperman and developer, completed the original road to the top. Cook had acquired land at the summit with the intent that it would eventually become a public park. Subsequent land acquisitions culminated in the 1927 dedication of Mount Spokane State Park, the largest in the state and the first created east of the Cascade Mountains. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps accomplished the initial development, including construction of new roads and the Vista House.