Falls Park and the dam: where Post Falls got its name

The falls that gave Post Falls its name are still there, a short walk west of Spokane Street. What changed is how you see them. Since 1906 the Spokane River has run through three dams at this spot, and the city's Falls Park sits on the north bank beside them, with paths, decks and a small fishing pond. This guide covers the history you can read on the park's signs, what the park holds today, and when the river puts on its best show.

Frederick Post and the 1871 mill

The town is named for Frederick Post, a German immigrant. In 1871 he made a deal with Andrew Seltice, chief of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, for more than 200 acres of Spokane River land, where he meant to run a water-powered lumber mill. Wikipedia gives the price as $500. Post built a wooden diversion dam about 20 feet high to turn the river's flow toward a sawmill on the north channel. The town counts June 1, 1871 as its founding date and was incorporated in 1891.

The deal left a mark of its own. At Treaty Rock Park, a 4-acre park near Seltice Way, a trail loops down a rock gorge and passes an outcrop carrying Post's name, the date June 1, 1871, and painted figures. The city's own page is careful about it. The tribe did give Post water rights to the falls in June 1871, but nobody knows whether the markings record that agreement, or whether Post's name and the date were added later to figures that were already on the rock.

Fire, then the power company

In 1902 the mill burned. The city notes that the dam came through the fire undamaged and that the mill was rebuilt in 1905. By then a new company, Washington Water Power, had bought Post's site with a much larger plan: a hydroelectric plant.

Building it meant putting a dam across each of the river's three channels at this point. Avista, as Washington Water Power is known today, says the work took two years, done with horses and hand labor. The powerhouse on the middle channel was finished in 1906. Its power went to mines nearly 100 miles away, over a line that both the city and Avista describe as the longest high-voltage transmission line in the world.

Three dams, one powerhouse

People say "the dam," but there are three, one on each channel around the Avista Islands, and only the middle one makes electricity.

• The middle dam is 431 feet long and 31 feet tall, set in the deepest and narrowest of the three gorges. The powerhouse holds six turbine-generating units, and the plant's capacity is 14.75 megawatts.
• The north dam, the one you see from the park, is shaped like an L, with one large sluice and eight smaller ones.
• The south dam is 78 feet long, with 13-foot gates that control the spring flows.

Post Falls is the first of seven dams on the Spokane River and the one farthest upstream, about nine miles below the river's source at Coeur d'Alene Lake. Avista still runs it, and it also sets the season for the boat launch upstream at Q'emiln Park, based on water levels and the effect on the dam.

The park today

Falls Park covers 22 acres at 305 West 4th Avenue. The north bank beside the north channel dam has been open to the public as a park since the 1990s, and the city owns it. From the paths and observation decks you look straight at the dam, the spillways and the gorge below.

The park has three covered shelters, accessible paved paths, historical signs, restrooms and a playground. Its centerpiece is a small fishing pond, which the city describes as a good spot for kids and for anglers with special needs. You can fish it from a fishing bridge, from the shore or from a platform. Idaho Department of Fish and Game rules apply, and anyone over 14 needs a fishing license. The city links to Fish and Game for seasons and stocking dates.

Dogs are welcome on a leash; Falls Park is on the city's list of dog-friendly parks. The shelters can be reserved during the city's reservation season, which in 2026 ran from April 13 to October 4.

Next door, Post Falls Landing adds a plaza, an amphitheater, benches and a water fountain, and it connects straight into Falls Park. The city built it as a place for concerts and outdoor events, so an evening show and a walk to the falls fit in one trip.

When to go

Spring is the loud season. The city's advice is to come when runoff from the mountains and Coeur d'Alene Lake is pouring through, and the water is roaring. In winter the same view turns to snow and ice, which is worth a stop on a clear day.

In summer the pond and the shelters do most of the work. The Post Falls Triathlon's run leg in early August goes out from Q'emiln Park to Falls Park and back, so expect runners on that Sunday morning.

Getting there

From I-90, exit 5 (Spokane Street) and exit 6 (Seltice Way and 4th Avenue) are both signed for the city center. The North Idaho Centennial Trail runs about 10 miles through Post Falls, part of its 23-mile length, and its parking on 4th Avenue just west of Spokane Street puts you at the park's edge. Across the river, at the south end of the Spokane Street Bridge, Q'emiln Park has the town's guarded beach and its boat launch.

Using our listings

Falls Park, Treaty Rock Park and the Landing are in our Parks and Outdoors and Things to Do categories, and the Restaurants, Coffee Shops and Bars pages list what is near downtown by street address. We carry no park hours. Posted rules at the dam and the pond are the ones that count, and the areas behind the fences belong to the power plant.