Spokane, WA

This past week we were looking for a way to beat the heat. We had heard about the Northside Aquatics Center sponsored by the Spokane County Parks & Recreation Department, but had yet to visit it, so off to the north part of Spokane County we went. The Northside Aquatics Center is located at 18120 N. Hatch Rd. The easiest way to get there if you are heading north, is to take Hwy 395 to the Hatch exit, take a right at the stop sign and go about 2 miles and you will see the water park on the right hand side.

The Aquatic Center is opened 10:30-5:30 7 days a week from June 19th-Labor Day. It cost us only $5 (plus tax) as my son is free. Children under 3 are free, 3-5 is $2.50 and adults $5. I was not exactly sure how he would do as he loves water slides and would not be able to go, but they had plenty of other water features for him to play in. Swim diapers are required for non-potty trained children and outside life preservers and toys are not allowed.

The Aquatic Center does not have any real lap swimming, but has a zero depth entry area with numerous water toys and gradually gets to 3’ deep. This is perfect for my son as he could splash and play but there was still deep enough water for him to jump in.

The remainder of the pool resembles a regular swimming pool where there were lots of bigger kids playing. The deep end of the pool has a slide and a diving board. Swimmers must pass a swimming test in order to use the deep end though.

No outside food or beverages are allowed, which is a little disappointing since their concession stand had nothing toddler friendly except a pretzel. However, since we were only there an hour it was not too big of a deal.

My son had so much fun playing though he was asleep before we hit Hatch Rd. We plan on visiting a few more times this summer to help us beat the heat.

For more information please visit their website at http://www.spokanecounty.org/data/ParksnRecreation/pdf/northsideweb.pdf or call them at 509- 468-5107.