A Serene Shoreline Hike in Lake Wenatchee State Park

Sunday morning dawned, and it wasn’t raining. It wasn’t the most sunny of days, but since it wasn’t raining, I was hoping we would be able to go to Lake Wenatchee State Park. When I had planned this weekend, I put Lake Wenatchee high on the list of activities. Despite the fact that we had come to Leavenworth a number of times over the years, we had never gone out to Lake Wenatchee.

First, of course, we needed to stop at Starbucks and get some hot coffee. Even though it wasn’t raining, it was still quite cold. The nearby mountain peaks were still dappled in snow so finding a warm spot for coffee was a priority. The store was busy, but we again managed to find some seats while we warmed up with our coffee.

We again wandered around town a bit before taking off to the lake. We found a few stores of interest, but nothing that we really needed. Finally we decided we were ready to brave the cool weather and go to Lake Wenatchee.

We drove west on Highway 2 along the Wenatchee River. I again observed that there were some beautiful spots with fall color along the river. However, we were on the opposite side of the road from the river so it was not easy to stop. I figured I would stop when we returned from the park later.

There are two entrances to the park. one on the east side of the Wenatchee River and one on the west. I headed for the one on the west as I had seen a trail there I was hoping to hike. When we pulled into the park, I looked at a map to figure out where to go. It looked like it was just a straight shot down to the beginning of the trail. However, when I drove that way, the road was blocked off for the winter so I had to park back near the entrance to the park. This time I did need my newly purchased Discover Pass.

We walked down the blocked off road while I looked for the trail which should have gone off to the right. I didn’t see it. We kept walking on the road which was basically going around the camping area. Still no trail was indicated.

Suddenly, I came across something that surprised me, a yellow larch tree. This was something that I had figured was long gone for the fall season, but there it was, one very yellow larch. Excited to see it, I took a number of photos trying to get a really nice shot.

The funny thing was the tree was near the spot where we saw a trail sign indicating the lake. The trail I was looking for did not go directly to the lake, but since I hadn’t found it, we decided to take this trail down to Lake Wenatchee.

When we got to the lake, we first saw an area that seemed to be covered with driftwood. It seemed a little strange since the lake had no waves, but there it was. We climbed over the wood to get down to the beach and an open view of the lake. Mountains surround Lake Wenatchee. Unfortunately because of the clouds, some of the mountain peaks remained hidden in the clouds. Nevertheless, it was still a very scenic view.

We were near where the lake flowed into the Wenatchee River, and there was an island in the lake in that direction. In the summer time I’m sure the island is a great place to paddle out to and explore.

A trail followed along the lake shore. It was a nice wide trail, and we decided to follow it over to the Wenatchee River. We didn’t walk too far before we came across a very nice beach area. It had a restroom as well as a few benches where one could sit and look over the water. The water was quite shallow here. It seemed like a wonderful spot for families with small children especially. They could play in the shallow water as their parents kept an eye on them.

As we continued on around, the lake began to flow into the river channel. However, the water remained very calm and serene. It was almost like glass and could be quite reflective. It was a beautiful and serene section. Unfortunately the trail was up a bit from the river, but we did find one spot where we climbed down to the river’s edge. It looked like a bridge had once been there as we saw concrete pilings on both sides of the river.

As we walked farther along the trail, the water stopped being still and began to ripple as it moved more quickly. We could hear the flow of the water and see the whitecaps as it flowed over rocks and other impediments in the water. There were even fewer spots here to get down along the river.

The trail finally ended at the highway which was the border for the park. We walked out on the bridge to take photos and then a little father on the other side. There wasn’t much to see. There were a few buildings on the other side of the bridge, but they didn’t seem open.

We turned around and followed the trail back to where we started and then continued on past our starting point. There were a few places we could get down to the water’s edge for photos, but not many. We finally reached the place where the trail turned and seemed to go back toward the highway. Perhaps it would have taken us to the trail I had been looking for initially. We did climb the hill to the ridge to see what was beyond, but didn’t pursue it any farther.

Back down at the lakeside the trail went a little farther. Shortly, however, we encountered a sign indicating the park ended, and we would be on private property. We then turned around and walked back to the trail we had taken down to the lake and back up to our car.

We didn’t return to Leavenworth by Highway 2 so I never got the photos along the river. Instead we saw a sign near the park that indicated a route to Leavenworth through the town of Plain. Since we had never been to Plain before, we decided to explore this particular route.

The town of Plain is not too far down the road. It is a small town, but does have a few services. The Wenatchee River flows through it, and there is an interesting cliff and island in the river near the bridge so I did get a photo of that.

After passing through Plain, the road climbed quite a bit. From the top we traveled down through various valleys with small farms and homes along the way. It wasn’t as scenic as I might have expected, but it was an interesting detour which eventually led us into Leavenworth.

That night Leavenworth was quieter as the weekend crowds had thinned. We had Mexican for dinner and got to our hotel just as it was getting dark.

The next day we drove home over Blewett Pass to I-90. There was a little bit of snow right at the top of the pass, but otherwise the roads were find. When we got to I-90, Silvette saw a sign for Roslyn and said she wanted to check out that TV famous town. We drove in, parked, and walked around a bit. The funny thing was that there were big delivery trucks that were parked in front of some of the places where I wanted to take a photo. I had to find an angle to get the photos I wanted. Photos taken; it was time to head home.

While the shops of Leavenworth can be fun to check out, on this particular trip we were looking for more outdoor adventures, and we found it. Any tips of other easy hikes to take in the Leavenworth area? Your advice and insights are always welcome in the comment box below. Thanks for your support. See you next week.