Editing Spokane County, Washington (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|1781|sqmi|abbr=on}}, of which {{convert|17|sqmi||}} (0.9%) are covered by water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_53.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=July 16, 2015 |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}}</ref>  The lowest point in the county is the Spokane River behind [[Long Lake Dam]] (boundary of [[Stevens County, Washington|Stevens County]]) at {{convert|1538|ft|m}} [[Sea level#AMSL|above sea level]]. (Virtually no change in [[elevation]] occurs between the dam and the mouth of the Little Spokane River inside [[Riverside State Park]].) The highest point in the county is the summit of [[Mount Spokane]] at {{convert|5887|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{navd88}}<ref name="ngs">{{cite ngs|SV1719|Y}}</ref>

Spokane County has a complex geologic history and varied topography. To the west is the barren landscape of the [[Columbia River Drainage Basin|Columbia Basin]] and to the east are the foothills of the [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]]—the [[Coeur d'Alene Mountains]], which rise to the east in northern Idaho. Spokane County lies in a transition area between the eastern edge of the basaltic [[Channeled Scablands]] steppe plains to the west and the rugged, timbered Rocky Mountain foothills to the east.<ref name="NWS">{{cite web|title=Station Information Data Sheet – Spokane, Washington |publisher=National Weather Service |date=April 2008 |url=http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/otx/spokane.php |access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref> The area exhibits signs of the prehistoric geologic events that shaped the area and region such as the [[Missoula Floods]], which ended 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite report|last=Breckenridge |first=Roy M. |date=May 1993 |title=Glacial Lake Missoula and the Spokane Floods |url=http://www.idahogeology.org/PDF/GeoNotes_(G)/geonote_26.pdf |publisher=Idaho Geological Survey |series=GeoNotes |volume=26 |access-date=November 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426010742/http://www.idahogeology.org/PDF/GeoNotes_(G)/geonote_26.pdf |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The geography to the southeast, such as the [[Saltese Flats]] and [[Saltese Uplands Conservation Area|Saltese Uplands]] is characterized as a [[shrub–steppe]] landscape with grassy hills and ravines.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spokanecounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/4658/Geology-of-the-Saltese-Uplands-ConservationArea-2015-PDF#:~:text=The%20Saltese%20Uplands%20Conservation%20Area%20(SUCA)%20has%20a%20long%2D,lived%20and%20complex%20geologic%20history.&text=The%20bedrock%20geology%20at%20SUCA,interlayered%20zones%20of%20biotitic%20schist. |title=Geology of the Saltese Uplands Conservation Area |website=www.spokanecounty.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020005353/https://www.spokanecounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/4658/Geology-of-the-Saltese-Uplands-ConservationArea-2015-PDF#:~:text=The%20Saltese%20Uplands%20Conservation%20Area%20(SUCA)%20has%20a%20long%2D,lived%20and%20complex%20geologic%20history.&text=The%20bedrock%20geology%20at%20SUCA,interlayered%20zones%20of%20biotitic%20schist |archive-date=October 20, 2020}}</ref>

In ecology, as with the topography, the county is also in a transition area, roughly split between the [[Columbia Plateau (ecoregion)|Columbia Plateau ecoregion]] in the southwest portion, where it is at the eastern edge of the basaltic [[Channeled Scablands]] steppe plain and the [[North Central Rockies forest|Northern Rockies ecoregion]] in the northwest portion, which is the rugged and forested [[Selkirk Mountains]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/env_topics/ecosystems/veg_mgmt_rpt/vegmgmt_ecoregional_approach.aspx#ecor |title=Ecosystem and Vegetation System Management &#124; Environmental Review Toolkit}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ecoregion Download Files by State - Region 10 |date=March 10, 2016 |publisher=[[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]] |url=https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/ecoregion-download-files-state-region-10 |access-date=May 25, 2021}}</ref>

===Rivers and streams===
{{div col}}
* [[Spokane River]]
** [[Cable Creek]]
** [[Latah Creek]]
*** [[Marshall Creek (Latah Creek)|Marshall Creek]]
*** [[Garden Springs Creek]]
** [[Little Spokane River]]
** [[Deep Creek (Washington)|Deep Creek]]
*** [[Coulee Creek]]
* [[Saltese Creek]]
{{div col end}}

===Lakes and reservoirs===
{{div col}}
* [[Eloika Lake]]
* [[Liberty Lake, Washington|Liberty Lake]]
* [[Medical Lake]]
* [[West Medical Lake]]
* [[Newman Lake]]
* [[Shelley Lake]]
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===Notable summits and peaks===
* [[Mount Spokane]]
* [[Mount Kit Carson]]
* [[Mica Peak (Washington)|Mica Peak]]
* [[Krell Hill]]

===Notable parks===
* [[Dishman Hills|Dishman Hills Natural Conservation Area]]
* [[Riverside State Park]]
* [[Riverfront Park (Spokane, Washington)|Riverfront Park]]
* [[Manito Park and Botanical Gardens|Manito Park]]
* [[Mount Spokane State Park]]

===National protected area===
* [[Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge]]

===Major highways===
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* [[Image:I-90.svg|25px]] [[Interstate 90 in Washington|Interstate 90]]
* [[Image:US 2.svg|25px]] [[U.S. Route 2 in Washington|U.S. Route 2]]
* [[Image:US 195.svg|25px]] [[U.S. Route 195 in Washington|U.S. Route 195]]
* [[Image:US 395.svg|25px]] [[U.S. Route 395 in Washington|U.S. Route 395]]
* [[Image:WA-27.svg|25px]] [[Washington State Route 27|State Route 27]]
* [[Image:WA-206.svg|25px]] [[Washington State Route 206|State Route 206]]
* [[Image:WA-290.svg|25px]] [[Washington State Route 290|State Route 290]]
* [[Image:WA-291.svg|25px]] [[Washington State Route 291|State Route 291]]
* [[Image:WA-902.svg|25px]] [[Washington State Route 902|State Route 902]]
* [[Image:WA-904.svg|25px]] [[Washington State Route 904|State Route 904]]
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===Adjacent counties===
{{div col}}
* [[Stevens County, Washington|Stevens County]] – northwest
* [[Pend Oreille County, Washington|Pend Oreille County]] – north
* [[Bonner County, Idaho]] – northeast
* [[Kootenai County, Idaho]] – east
* [[Benewah County, Idaho]] – southeast
* [[Whitman County, Washington|Whitman County]] – south
* [[Lincoln County, Washington|Lincoln County]] – west
{{div col end}}