The sandy beach area at the confluence of Latah Creek and the Spokane River at the edge of People's Park in Spokane has a nude tradition that dates back to 1974. Workers preparing the city for the World's Fair Expo 74 set up camp in the area and skinnydipped in the river, and that custom spread to locals who further established nude use of the beach. Latah Creek Beach evolved into a popular nude beach. Unfortunately, that evolution has been followed by a devolution, and it seems the heyday of this nude beach has long since passed. At least since the mid-90's, People's Park (not just the beach area) has been riddled with problems, including transiency, drug use, blatant public sex and gawkers. These elements have soured many that skinnydipped at Latah Creek in the past. Before the onset of the problems, authorities more or less turned a blind eye to nudity. However, around 2000 police began an effort to "clean up" the park, and part of that effort included issuing citations for simple nudity. The number of visitors has dropped off dramatically. As for anti-nudity enforcement, it appears to go in a never-ending cycle, and the frequency of police patrols is inconsistent. If you see a cop, you should definitely cover up, but police tactics toward nudists are not heavy handed in the absence of lewd behavior. These days there are likely to be just a handful of nude sunbathers at Latah Creek.

There are two matters of semantics regarding this site that may help avoid confusion: First of all, Latah Creek and Hangman Creek are the same thing. "Latah" is the more recent name and is typically used when referring to the nude beach, but "Hangman" appears on many maps. Secondly, People's Park is an extension of High Bridge Park, the main part of which is located on the south side of Riverside Avenue. Many use the term "High Bridge Park" to refer to both areas, and "People's Park" is not labelled on many maps.

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GPS: 47.6594N, 117.4575W

city & county, state, country  Spokane, Washington, U.S.A.

classification  3 (discretion recommended)

There are 5 placemarks related to this site.