Outdoors | The Spokesman-Review

Featured Stories

Riverside State Park’s Bowl and Pitcher area heavily marked, scorched by Old Trails fire

The trees and trails near Riverside State Park’s Bowl and Pitcher – usually teeming with wildlife, hikers, bikers and fishers – burned in Saturday’s Old Trails fire, with hot spots still smoking Monday morning.

Photo Galleries

Gone Wild

A special series from former S-R outdoors writer Rich Landers

Hunting

A piece of wood and a string: Spokane-area bowyer teaches craft of traditional bow building

Fishing

Of dogs and trout: The good, bad and hilarious of fishing with dogs | Michael Wright

Hiking

Palouse to Cascades Trail bypass opens in Western WA after flood damage

Conservation

Idaho officials say state’s wolf population dropped by about 100 wolves to 1,129

Columns

Of dogs and trout: The good, bad and hilarious of fishing with dogs | Michael Wright

Field Reports

Record pike caught in Lake Pend Oreille | Field Reports

Fish-Hunt Report

Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for July 30, 2026

Latest Stories

Sports > Outdoors

#FliesforSpokane social media auctions raising money for people affected by fires

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 5, 2026

Josh Mills watched smoke rise Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day glued to his phone, horrified by the devastation wrought by the fires that torched hundreds of homes in Northwest Spokane.

Sports > Outdoors

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission probe finds wrongdoing, doesn’t recommend punishment

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 5, 2026

Washington Fish and Wildlife commissioners routinely disregarded government transparency laws, skirted conflict of interest rules, and sparred with agency leaders, but their actions and behavior did not reach the level of serious misconduct, according to the findings of a nearly yearlong investigation released Friday.

Sports > Outdoors

Of dogs and trout: The good, bad and hilarious of fishing with dogs | Michael Wright

UPDATED: Sat., Aug. 1, 2026

There were a few hiccups early in Wrigley’s fishing career.

Sports > Outdoors

Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for July 30, 2026

Thu., July 30, 2026

Fly fishing

Sports > Outdoors

Busy bee | Outdoors reader photo gallery

Thu., July 30, 2026

A bumblebee works on a flower near Four Lakes in this July 19 photo by Gary Miller.

Sports > Outdoors

More Idaho fish records fall

Thu., July 30, 2026

Two more anglers have landed spots in Idaho’s fish record books.

Sports > Outdoors

The zucchini is infertile | Ammi Midstokke

Thu., July 30, 2026

This year, I have a tomato bush that is nearly as tall as I am. It split stalks low in its growth, and shot out in all directions, lush and thick with leaves and blossoms. Small green tomatoes are forming now, giving the plant a heavy sway when I walk by, pleased by the hope of harvest. The odd thing is, it is not in my garden.

Sports > Outdoors

Mosquitoes like some people more than others. Is that true for ticks?

Wed., July 29, 2026

If you always find yourself covered in mosquito bites while everyone around you seems unaffected, you’re not imagining it: mosquito magnets are real.

Sports > Outdoors

Idaho officials say state’s wolf population dropped by about 100 wolves to 1,129

UPDATED: Wed., July 29, 2026

Idaho’s wolf population decreased to an estimated 1,129 animals in 2025 as state officials work to reduce the population through expanded hunting and trapping, Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials said this month.

Sports > Outdoors

A piece of wood and a string: Spokane-area bowyer teaches craft of traditional bow building

UPDATED: Sat., July 25, 2026

The first traditional bows David Young built blew up on him.

Sports > Outdoors

Jellyfish in Idaho? Rare sighting made in freshwater pond.

UPDATED: Fri., July 24, 2026

BOISE, Idaho – While swimming in the east pond at Freedom Park in Star, Marc Brandes saw something peculiar in the water in front of him.

News > Features

Local teens place second and fifth in Cycling National Championships

UPDATED: Fri., July 24, 2026

Perhaps there is something in the water in Spokane, because bikers from the region excelled at this month’s mountain biking national championships.

Sports > Outdoors

New biking, hiking trail opens at Canfield Mountain

UPDATED: Fri., July 24, 2026

Hikers and mountain bikers have a few miles of new trail to explore this summer on Coeur d’Alene’s popular backyard mountain.

Sports > Outdoors

Record pike caught in Lake Pend Oreille | Field Reports

UPDATED: Thu., July 23, 2026

From staff reports

Sports > Outdoors

The middle-aged fledgling | Ammi Midstokke

Thu., July 23, 2026

The eagle took off from the sage brush on the slope below me. I had not seen it or heard it until it whooshed upward with a flurry wing and bush, spooking the Brown Dog and me. It took its time. One, two, three beats of broad mottled wings, wider than I am tall, then silent and still, it caught the wind and rode it over the river.

Sports > Outdoors

Waxed wingtips | Outdoors reader photo gallery

UPDATED: Wed., July 29, 2026

A cedar waxwing, distinguished by its red wingtips, shakes off after a rain shower at Riverside State Park in this July 16 photo by Mark Hendrickson.

Sports > Outdoors

Tucannon River revival: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wants to share floodplain and lake rehabilitation plan with the public

UPDATED: Wed., July 22, 2026

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and its partners are planning a project that aims to restore the floodplain of the Tucannon River, improve habitat for threatened spring chinook, steelhead and bull trout and fix a number of ailing fishing lakes along its course.

Sports > Outdoors

Asotin Creek shooting range won’t reopen

UPDATED: Wed., July 22, 2026

The shooting range on the Asotin Wildlife Area won’t reopen.

Sports > Outdoors

English Point trails in North Idaho are back open | Field Reports

Fri., July 17, 2026

Trails at the English Point Recreation Area near Hayden Lake are back open after extensive work to clear fallen trees.

Sports > Outdoors

Going the distance: A 32-mile relay swim across Lake Pend Oreille | Ammi Midstokke

Fri., July 17, 2026

I have a memory from many years ago, standing on a stone beach under a full moon, stripping off every layer of clothing, leaving my skivvies in a pile, and plunging into the dark waters of the lake. It is a primal, natural feeling, though then accompanied with the vulnerability of my nakedness and the brashness of adolescence.

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