Leavenworth is a popular weekend destination for people from the Puget Sound region. Located in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains, it was a city in decline until the 1960s when the city adopted a city wide Bavarian theme. Storefronts were transformed to look like Bavarian locations. Stores began to sell gifts and items from Germany. Restaurants started to feature bratwursts, and the town began to attract tourists looking for a unique experience.
Along the way the town set up a number of weekend festivals which attracted people for the weekend. Of course there was Oktoberfest to be celebrated. Christmas also became popular with a time to light up the city lights. But other festivals were celebrated with each one bringing in a crowd for the weekend.
While the town has retained some of the Bavarian influence, particularly in its architecture, not everything has stayed the same. Today there are only a few shops featuring items from Germany, and the menus of restaurants have generally moved away from the bratwurst heavy menus of previous times. Some of the festivals have remained, but others have not.
Today when one visits Leavenworth probably the most common thing one will see is wine tasting as the wine culture of Eastern Washington has heavily influenced the town. There has also been a greater emphasis upon the outdoor opportunities in the area from winter skiing at nearby Stevens Pass to hiking the many trails in the area.
Our trek to Leavenworth over Veteran’s Day was our first in a number of years. One of the other changes that has happened in Leavenworth is that it has become more upscale and therefore more expensive. When I went to book a room, it was hard to find anything for less than $200 a night in town so we booked a place about five miles east of Leavenworth for half that price.
The shortest way for us to get to Leavenworth is to go over Stevens Pass. It can be a beautiful drive, but with only two lanes for most of the drive, it can be a little scary in the snow as there are some pretty steep places. However, the weather looked good so we decided to drive over Stevens Pass on Friday morning.
We hoped there would be some fall colors still, but wondered if we were too late. It turns out that there was still quite a bit of color to see, and we enjoyed the oranges and yellows that would pop out of the mountain side or show up by the road.
Much of the time we were following the Snohomish River, and we could see colors along the river. I wanted to stop and take some pictures, but it was hard to find a good place to safely park. I finally took the opportunity to stop in the town of Skykomish. There is a bridge that crosses the river into town so I parked nearby and took pictures of the river and the bridge. I was also able to take pictures of the river from the bridge.
Back in the car we continued our ascent to Stevens Pass. We were surprised to have light snow falling on us at the pass. The mountains above us had a light dusting of snow on them which was actually quite pretty. It was an unexpected surprise. Fortunately the snow had little impact on the roads so we drove on down the road with no trouble.
Once we were over the pass and going down the other side, we didn’t see much autumn color. It seemed the trees there had already lost their leaves and had the dreary winter look to them. As we got lower, however, the color began to return. We eventually began to follow the Wenatchee River, and there were some really nice sites with fall color, but again it was hard to find a place to stop. By the time I would realize there was a space to pull over, it was too late for me to stop.
We finally arrived in Leavenworth, and I was surprised by the crowds there. I knew it was a holiday weekend but did not expect the large crowds of people. Our first challenge was finding a place to park. There were some places charging $10 to park. I don’t pay that. Finally we found a place out on the edge of town. It was actually right by the end of the river walk through town which was perfect as we decided to walk that.
The river walk follows the Wenatchee River which is on the south side of town. The trail is very nice and offers views of the river. It’s an easy walk to do as it’s pretty level. Despite the crowds in Leavenworth, there were not a lot of people actually out walking the trail.
The trail passes by the center of town and then traverses an island with bridges at both ends connecting it to the mainland. From the bridges one can see parts of Leavenworth. The trail continues on with various path options. We stuck to the path closest to the river. It was great to get photos of Wedge Mountain over the Wenatchee River.
The trail ends at a golf course where there is a locked gate preventing anyone from entering. That didn’t stop three deer who were leisurely munching on the grass around the bottom of a tree. There is a park up the hill from the trail’s end which features some sports fields. Two deer were also eating in the field there. Sadly there were some children harassing the deer and eventually chasing them away. No parent was in sight.
We walked up to the main highway and then back into town. We wandered around the town for a little bit looking at some of the shops. Eventually we decided to eat and went to a restaurant we had eaten at before. Since the sun set at 4:30, Silvette didn’t want us to be out late. She doesn’t like me driving in the dark. Unfortunately we didn’t finish dinner before dark. However, that gave us the opportunity to check out the lights over the town. It seems Leavenworth was already dressed for Christmas.
I ended up driving in the dark to our hotel just out of town. Once in our room we settled in for the night. Tomorrow we would get out and explore some more.
Join me next week as we continue our weekend in Leavenworth and see what the area has to offer. In the meantime, if you have a favorite autumn experience in Leavenworth, feel free to share it in the comment section below. I’d love to hear your story.