Spirit Mountain Casino is located off Oregon 18, between Salem and the Oregon coast. Spirit Mountain is the largest casino in the state. I have driven past Spirit Mountain more times than I can count on trips to and from the Oregon coast but have never stopped in to play.
Getting there / Arrival
Getting to Spirit Mountain is simple, if you are coming from Portland, which is the nearest major airport, go south on Interstate 5 to Salem and then head west on Oregon 22 till it splits with Oregon 18. Follow signs to the Oregon Coast and you will arrive at Spirit Mountain shortly. The casino has ample parking, as well as complementary valet service.
Design/Layout
The casino is separated into two distinct sections, the main casino area as well as The Peak area which also has table games as well as slots. Walkways are wide, everything is very well lit, and it is easy to navigate with clear signage throughout the property. I feel that it is one of the easier casinos to navigate that I have been to either in the Pacific Northwest or Nevada. The property is well maintained and very clean. The brightness of the place is helpful as well making it easy to find your way around. The ceilings are quite high which means any cigarette smoke is not trapped so close to the gaming floor.
Dining/Drinks
Spirit Mountain has four restaurants including the Cedar Plank Buffet, Legends Restaurant and the Summit View Lounge. There is also the Mountain View Sports Bar which offers traditional bar food. I have only eaten at the buffet and was quite impressed with the selections as well as the layout.
Much like the casino floor, the buffet is set up with a very open floor plan. There is ample space to get from section to section to get your desired foods. There is also ample room in the seating area between tables so that they are not cramped together.
The bars on site have a wide selection of local beers as well as the usual domestics.
Slots/Video Poker
Spirit Mountain has a massive selection of both varieties of games. There are far more slots than video poker but there is many more poker games than there are at Chinook Winds. The video poker games at Spirit Mountain also contain video black jack. There are games from 1₡ and upwards throughout the casino. There is a high limit area, which I did not venture into.
I was impressed with the selection of games as well as the layout as the machines were not terribly cramped together. There was ample space to see where games were located and to get from place to place without bumping into anybody.
As at Chinook Winds the machines here are controlled by individual random number generators and do not have predetermined results like terminals in the state of Washington.
Table Games
Spirit Mountain has Blackjack, Bonus Let it Ride, Craps, Pai Gow, Roulette and Three Card Poker. There are several gaming pits, including one that was exclusive to non-smoking. However the non-smoking pit was closed when I was there. Limits started at $5 and went upwards from there. The two $5 blackjack tables when I was there were full and the $10 tables were half full.
The gaming tables were not squeezed overly close together and there was ample walkway space behind them so there was minimal to no threat of people constantly bumping into your chair as you were playing. The chairs looked to be quite comfortable.
Poker Room
There was a proper poker room at Spirit Mountain that included nine tables. Three were in use when I was there. This room was largely enclosed and did not look like an afterthought to the casino.
Race and Sports Book
There is no Sports Book at present here.
Players Club/Rewards Program
The Coyote Club is the rewards program at Spirit Mountain. It has three tiers, Member, Gold and Platinum. The program is exclusive for Spirit Mountain.
Hotel
The Spirit Mountain Lodge is connected to the casino and built after the casino was originally opened. I have not stayed at the lodge but family members who have stayed there were quite impressed with the rooms and service.
Overall Impression
Generally I feel Spirit Mountain is the nicest casino I have been to outside of Nevada. It was clean, well laid out and generally a pleasant place to spend time. The limits on the table games were not overly high and there was a wide variety of games to play.
My only wish is that it was a bit closer to Portland. Still it is somewhere I could see myself going a bit out of the way to go to instead of another location that might be closer to home but was not as nice.
The Daily Score 