Most of what gets written about weekends in Spokane Valley reads like a summer travel brochure: hit the Centennial Trail while the weather holds, catch a concert at Arbor Crest, show up to Valleyfest in September. Then, apparently, go inside until May.
That version is outdated. The trail runs through January. Arbor Crest's live music calendar now fills Friday and Saturday nights year-round. YaYa Brewing runs a pinball tournament every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Valley's weekend infrastructure has quietly organized itself around a 40-mile spine of paved trail, and the residents who know it are using it in February as much as August.
Here is what that actually looks like.
The Trail Does Not Have an Off-Season
The Spokane River Centennial Trail runs 40 miles from Nine Mile Falls through downtown Spokane and east to the Idaho border. In the Valley, the Mirabeau trailhead is the most-used access point, off Exit 291 from I-90 East, parking on Sullivan Road.
What first-timers don't expect: the waterfall. The Mirabeau Point Park section includes a cascading 40-foot waterfall with a viewing dock and boardwalk. The trail loop through the park covers about 1.2 miles along the west bank of the Spokane River, with 52 feet of elevation gain. Dogs are welcome on leash up to eight feet. No Discover Pass required at Mirabeau, unlike trailheads inside Riverside State Park further west.
One practical note for cyclists heading east of Mirabeau: the trail drops onto Marengo Drive for a stretch near Argonne Road, with no marked crosswalk at the four-lane intersection. Worth knowing before you bring someone unfamiliar with the route. From Mirabeau, you can also continue east toward the Idaho state line on the trail, which connects to an additional 24 miles of the Idaho Centennial Extension into Coeur d'Alene.
Where You Stop After the Ride
Sauced! calls itself the Spokane area's only Detroit-style pizza shop. It operates inside YaYa Brewing Company at 11712 E. Montgomery Drive, with a patio positioned near the Centennial Trail for exactly that reason. The two businesses are legally separate, but the setup was built for the post-ride stop: craft beer from YaYa, rectangular deep-dish pizza from Sauced!, outdoor seating when the weather cooperates.
Detroit-style pizza is baked in a steel pan, with toppings layered so the cheese caramelizes at the edges into a crust. Sauced! opened at YaYa in June 2024, bringing a format that had started as a pandemic-era takeout experiment by the team behind Spokane's Heritage Bar & Kitchen. The pies have house names: the Spicy Dave & Hot Doug, the White Iverson.
YaYa's regular programming runs weekly regardless of season. Tuesday pinball tournaments at 5:30 p.m. with a $5 cash buy-in, pint specials from YaYa, and discounted appetizers from Sauced!. Bingo nights are all-ages and free to play. The brewery also stocks local ciders and wine seltzers. As YaYa co-owner Christopher Gass told the Inlander in February 2025, not every customer comes for the beer.
Arbor Crest Is Not Only a Summer Venue
This is the one most Valley residents get wrong.
Arbor Crest Wine Cellars at 4705 N. Fruit Hill Road is understood as a summer destination: roughly 40 outdoor concerts between late spring and September, season passes available from early April, camp chairs and picnic blankets on the grass at the historic Cliff House Estate. That part is widely known.
What is less known: Arbor Crest runs a Fireside Dinner and Music Series on Friday and Saturday nights from January through fall, featuring local musicians paired with a seasonal menu from Chef Ayla Pool. Reservations are required. The series is 21 and over only. The winery hosted a four-course Valentine's dinner in February 2026 priced at $125 per person. A late-January cellar tasting event invited guests to try wines from the winery's 40-plus-year archive, with tickets at $45.
Arbor Crest was founded in 1982 as the 29th winery in Washington State. The property sits above the Valley, looking out over the Spokane River basin. Those views are the same in February as in July. The residents treating it as a warm-weather-only stop are missing half the schedule.
For the summer season, the outdoor concerts remain the centerpiece. General seating is on grass or concrete. Picnics are welcome outside the VIP reserved area. Wine club members receive concert admission as a membership benefit.
Three Things That Have Opened Since Last Summer
Beans & Berries opened in late June 2025 on Mullan Road. The menu runs grab-and-go salads, fresh-pressed juices, coffee, smoothies, pastries, paninis, and breakfast burritos. It fills a gap that Sprague Avenue's chain corridor does not.
Dave & Buster's officially opened in August 2025 at a 24,000-square-foot location in Spokane Valley, staffed by 160 employees. It is the largest dedicated entertainment venue in the Valley and anchors the eastern end of the Spokane Valley Mall corridor.
Millwood Brewing Company relocated to a new space on Francis in early 2025. Reviewers who visited before February 2025 are looking at outdated photos. The brewery runs a dog-friendly outdoor patio and hosts live music regularly. Millwood sits at the Valley's western edge, in the small historic neighborhood originally built around a paper mill, walkable by Valley standards.
Still under construction as of early 2026: Maria's Taqueria at 1427 N. Argonne Road, and Bruchi's at 15706 E. Sprague Avenue.
September Has One Anchor Worth Blocking Now
Valleyfest is run entirely by volunteers, funded by local businesses and community donations. The 2026 schedule: the Hearts of Gold Parade down Sprague Avenue on Friday evening, September 25, followed by two days of events at Mirabeau Point Park, Plantes Ferry Sports Complex, and CenterPlace Regional Event Center on September 26 and 27. Free admission. All ages. Live entertainment across all three venues.
If you have lived in the Valley more than two years and have not gone, the date is worth putting on the calendar now.
One More Worth Knowing
Dishman Hills Natural Area covers 530 acres in the south Valley. Hiking and wildlife viewing, quieter than the Centennial Trail on a weekend morning, accessible from the Chester neighborhood. It rarely shows up in roundups aimed at visitors. Valley residents know it; others look it up after they move here.
A Conversation Worth Having
Whether you are thinking about what your home is worth after years in the Valley, or trying to understand what a specific pocket of Spokane Valley offers before you commit, The Collection brings three senior Windermere agents and years of local transactions to that conversation. Gayle Terry, Kathi Pate, and Tony Vaughn work this market daily.
Request a complimentary consultation and home valuation. No obligation, and no generic answers.
