by Alan K. Lee
My wife and I recently had the pleasure of a week-long visit to Lake Chelan and the small community of Stehekin in central Washington.
Lake Chelan is a fjord-like body of water, fifty miles long and no more than two miles wide at any point. It is also one of the deepest lakes in the United States, with a maximum depth of 1486 feet. Only Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe in the U.S.are deeper. The upper end of the lake is part of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, which borders North Cascades National Park.
The Lake Chelan Basin was formed by two glaciers during the last ice age, an alpine glacier that came down the valley from the North Cascades, and a lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet that later came up the valley from the east. The terminal morraine of the Cordilleran glacier, at what is known as The Narrows, forms the narrowest and shallowest part of the lake.
The town of Chelan, 170 miles east of Seattle and 160 miles west of Spokane, lies at the lower, eastern end of the lake, and is the jumping off spot for exploring the lake. While Chelan offers a lot for the visitor to enjoy, we spent only one night there before heading up the lake. We stayed at the Riverwalk Inn, a 13 room hotel across the street from Riverwalk Park that has been in operation since 1918. There is also a café on the property, but, unfortunately, it was closed when we were there.
While I can recommend the Riverwalk Inn, Chelan has a wide variety of other lodging options, from rustic cabins to full service hotels. Chelan also has a variety of places to eat and drink. If you’re a fan of craft beers, you’ll want to check out Stormy Mountain Brewery. While the service was somewhat lacking, the beer selection and quality were both good and the pulled pork nachos we had were superb.
The lower end of the Lake Chelan is easily accessible and can be explored by car. From Chelan, the South Lakeshore Road goes as far as Twenty-five Mile Creek State Park, twenty miles from Chelan. On the north shore, you can drive as far as Green Point, about ten miles from Chelan. Beyond those two points, though, there are no roads along either shore of the lake, and no access to the lake by road. The only way to explore the majority of the lake is by boat.
Between Twenty-five Mile Creek State Park and Stehekin the surrounding mountains drop steeply to the shore. The only structures you will see are a few isolated cabins along the shore and a small group of cabins at Lucerne.
Stehekin lies near the upper end of the lake, surrounded by the peaks of the North Cascades. It is a strikingly beautiful and totally unique place. What sets Stehekin apart from almost all other communities in the Pacific Northwest is that you cannot get there by car. The only road out of Stehekin dead ends in North Cascades National Park. You have to come by boat, float plane, or on foot. The Stehekin area has fewer than 100 year round residents, but, despite its isolation, bustles with tourists, summer residents, Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers, and seasonal workers from spring through fall.
Getting to Stehekin from Chelan requires some advance planning. If you don’t have a boat of your own, you can rent one in Chelan, but most visitors to Stehekin come by passenger ferry. Lake Chelan Boat Company (better known as Lady of the Lake) operates three ferries that run from Chelan to Stehekin. Another option is the Stehekin Ferry, which runs from Fields Point Landing (about 17 miles from Chelan on the south shore of the lake) to Stehekin. In the summer months, demand is high and tickets sell out well in advance. Reservations need to be several months before your planned visit.
You can do a day tour from Chelan to Stehekin and back via ferry, and many visitors to Stehekin are day trippers. But the length of the ferry ride (from an hour and a half to four hours each way, depending on which ferry) limits the amount of time you have to explore the area. Many people, my wife and I included, prefer to spend multiple days in Stehekin, but lodging options are limited and also require some advance planning.
North Cascades Lodge in Stehekin is located at the ferry landing. It’s the most convenient and has by far the most rooms available. The only other lodging options are private cabin rentals, the Stehekin Valley Ranch, ten miles up the valley from the ferry landing, and a few primitive campgrounds. Lodging reservations must also be made well in advance, and must be coordinated with your ferry reservations.
We have stayed at North Cascades Lodge several times. You can rent a room (some with fireplaces) with a private bath, a cabin with a small kitchen, or an entire lakefront house that sleeps as many as 12. Our room was fairly basic, but comfortable and large enough to serve our needs well. The lodge also has a store and a full service restaurant, one of the few dining options in Stehekin. Stehekin Valley Ranch also has a dining room (reservations required), and you can get breakfasts and lunches at Stehekin Valley Pastry Company (aka The Bakery), located a couple of miles from the ferry landing. The only other dining option is renting a cabin with a kitchen and cooking your own meals.
A few people arrive in Stehekin by float plane. A surprising number arrive on foot, many of them Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers. The PCT crosses the Stehekin River at High Bridge about ten miles up the valley from the head of the lake. The National Park Service operates a shuttle bus (called the Red Bus for obvious reasons) between Stehekin and High Bridge. There is also a post office in Stehekin where through-hikers can send supplies for the final leg of their hike to the Canadian border and the end of their journey. And a few backpackers make it to Stehekin via the 23 mile hike over Cascade Pass from the west side of the Cascades.
Stehekin is one of the most isolated communities in the country. Not only is there no road access, there’s no cell phone service and only very limited wi-fi. But that’s part of its appeal. Turn off your phone. Forget about TV. The sheer beauty of the place and its proximity to North Cascades National Park and Glacier Peak Wilderness, as well as the PCT, make it an ideal destination for the outdoor oriented traveler. And there are plenty of things to keep you entertained while there.
A National Park visitor center is located near the ferry terminal and would be a good starting point for your exploration of the area. However, when we were there in August it was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Just uphill from the North Cascades Lodge, adjacent to the visitor center, there is a craft shop, The House That Jack Built, that displays and sells souvenirs, hand crafted gifts, and artwork created by local artisans. It’s small, but worth checking out.
You can rent bikes (or bring your own) and ride the road up the valley to The Bakery (a must stop), 320 foot high Rainbow Falls, The Garden, an organic produce farm, the Old Stehekin School (now a free museum), or all the way to High Bridge. The Red Bus also makes daily runs to the bakery, Rainbow Falls, and High Bridge. You can even rent ATVs and explore the valley that way (no off-roading, though).
You can rent kayaks or an electric boat at Stehekin to explore the lake, and there are a number of hiking options, from short loop trails in the Stehekin area to longer outings along the shore of the lake or from the Rainbow Falls and High Bridge areas. Or you can just relax in Stehekin and enjoy the view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.
On our recent outing we rented bikes and rode to the Bakery and Rainbow Falls one morning. That is a very easy ride on a paved road. We also stopped at The Garden and the Old Stehekin School. Above Harlequin Bridge the road is gravel and a little more challenging, although on a previous visit we rode all the way to High Bridge and back.
The next day we rode the Red Bus to High Bridge in the morning to hike and photograph the upper end of the valley, and returned on the Red Bus that afternoon. There are several worthwhile hikes starting at High Bridge. The 5.5 mile out and back Agnes Gorge Trail leads to a 200 foot deep canyon and a very scenic section of Agnes Creek in Glacier Peak Wilderness. You can also do the 3.3 mile out and back hike from High Bridge to Howard Lake on the PCT. It’s also possible to do a longer loop that takes you past Howard Lake and returns to High Bridge along the Stehekin River. Or you can hike a portion of the PCT that follows Agnes Creek. High Bridge is also the starting point for the 16 mile roundtrip to the summit of McGregor Mountain, more than 6500 vertical feet above High Bridge – more than a bit beyond my capabilities at this point, I’m afraid.
We had planned to get out on the lake on our final day in Stehekin, but it was very windy that day, so we spent the day reading and relaxing at the lodge instead. No problem, though. The beauty and uniqueness of the Stehekin area make it a wonderful place even when the weather doesn’t cooperate. It’s one of my favorite places in the Northwest to visit despite (or maybe because of) the isolation and the difficulty in getting there. The only reason that we haven’t visited more often is that there are so many other wonderful places in the Pacific Northwest (and beyond) to explore.
Posted September 30, 2021
All photos © Alan K. Lee, except as noted