This inviting high-country preserve takes in nearly 14,000 acres of wooded mountain terrain, including the summit of Mt. Spokane (5,881ft) and portions of Mt. Kit Carson (5,306ft). The narrow park road winds 5mi up through forests of cedar and Engleman spruce to the very top of Mt. Spokane, where Vista House, originally a fire lookout constructed of native stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps, commands an unparalleled view of Spokane and the Columbia Plateau as well as mountains and lakes in northern Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. Worth a trip for the vista alone (call first; snow often closes the road until late June), the park also offers many hiking and mountain biking trails and excellent wildlife viewing for moose, bear, deer, cougar and many species of birds. Because of its location between two of the continent's major mountain ranges, the park's slopes contain all of the plant species common to both the east slope of the Cascades and the west slope of the Rockies.