Info. on Stehekin and Lake Chelan

J

JDS

New member
Hello All,

We are looking for any information or recommendations on Lake Chelan and Stehekin. We will be heading over from Coeur d'Alene for a three day weekend in a couple weeks. We will be staying at the Stehekin Landing Resort both nights. (We thought some others were going so we made the reservations rather than staying on the boat, so I guess we will have to rough it with all that electricity and indoor plumbing).

In particular we are interested in:

1. A good place to launch and leave the truck and trailer. (Twenty-five Mile State Park looked promising).
2. What to do in Stehekin.
3. Any stops or side trips/hikes to do on the way up the lake.
4. Anything else we should know: fuel, navigation hazards, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Jim and Marti
 
At Stehekin, there is a nice bus ride up to the upper falls, (several miles) above Rainbow Falls. Worth the trip. The Bakery is also a good place for a morning break. It has been a while, but there used to be a fun rope swing, on the west side of the lake, downlake from the campsite there, (I believe a state site, but may be federal), maybe a mile. There used to be fuel at Stehekin, but not inexpensive.

The lake can get windy, and sometimes lasts for what the locals call the "3 day blow" that I have seen last for 5 days. It is a beautiful lake though and worth the effort.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
JDS":30lzu1ol said:
Hello All,

We are looking for any information or recommendations on Lake Chelan and Stehekin. We will be heading over from Coeur d'Alene for a three day weekend in a couple weeks. We will be staying at the Stehekin Landing Resort both nights. (We thought some others were going so we made the reservations rather than staying on the boat, so I guess we will have to rough it with all that electricity and indoor plumbing).

In particular we are interested in:

1. A good place to launch and leave the truck and trailer. (Twenty-five Mile State Park looked promising).
2. What to do in Stehekin.
3. Any stops or side trips/hikes to do on the way up the lake.
4. Anything else we should know: fuel, navigation hazards, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Jim and Marti
Click to expand...
I haven't put my boat in Lake Chelan so I can't comment on the launch info. I have however hiked and fished the area from shore and I have also rented a Livingston dinghy in Stehekin but I can comment on the other questions:

2 - What to do in Stehekin: Fish, hike, bicycle, relax. That's about it (but that's enough). Stehekin is small. There's a bakery, a single person post office, the Nat. Park Ranger station, the "inconvenience store" (a small smattering of food), a tiny tackle store and a restaurant. That's pretty much it. You can take a bus about 1-2 miles to the waterfall. You can rent bikes and cycle to the bakery, the restaurant and beyond. You can hike. You can fish. There's a lot of nature to be observed also. Black bears are plentiful in the area as are deer, elk and mountain goats. A small herd of big horn sheep was re-introduced into the area a few years back. If you do hike, pay attention to where you place your feet as rattlesnakes are also plentiful.

3 - Side stops. There's a few docks/potential anchorages on the way up. Prince Creek (large stream maybe 14miels S of Stehekin on the E shore) is a GREAT place to fish. I had the best fly fishing day of my life here about 10 years ago. 15-20 trout all over 2 lbs with many in the 4-6lb range. I literally had a hard time catching one small enough for two of us to split for dinner that evening. There's also several waterfalls that cascade into the lake near the north end.

4. Other - It's a long lake, 52 miles from end to end. Fuel is available at both ends but not much in between. It's pretty narrow and wind can kick up in the afternoons. There aren't many good protected spots when the wind kicks up so plan accordingly. There are some very large lake trout that can be caught by trolling deep. Kokanee are plentiful also. The lake contains some land locked chinook salmon that spawn in the river at the north end. Fresh water shrimp were introduced into the lake in 1968 and provide the primary forage for many fish. As a result, the fish caught from Lake Chelan tend to have very red flesh and are quite a bit tastier than fresh water fish caught elsewhere. See this link for fishing info.
 
Last year there were some complaints of water in the fuel at Stehekin. Supposedly 25 mile and the lower lake were ok for fuel. As mentioned there are rattle snakes and it can blow but what a great lake.
 
We used the Old Mill Park and Boat Launch at Manson, WA west of Chelan on the north shore. From Chelan go west on Northshore Rd (route 150) and turn left on Mill Rd. We found fresh water at the Manson Red Apple store farther down Northshore Rd.
Harvey knows all about the wild winds on lake Chelan, he has paddled the lake in a canoe in survival conditions!
We spent one night at Safety Harbor and had I left a martini out come morning it wouldn't have had to been shaken or stired. The other federal parks would have been even more lively. The state parks offer protected moorage.
Except for the Twentyfive Mile and Stehekin state parks a Lake Chelan Dock Site Permit is needed for the federal docks along the lake between May 1 and Oct. 31.
If you walk to Stehekin for ice cream at the bakery remember to carry bug spray.
 
Jim and Marti,

This item from today's "NPS Morning Report" may be useful:

Best,
Casey



North Cascades National Park (WA)
Flashflood Causes Substantial Trail Damage

A thunderstorm brought heavy rainfall to the park last Thursday evening, causing flash flooding and debris flows in three creeks along Lake Chelan in Lake Chelan NRA near Stehekin. Substantial damage occurred to the Lakeshore Trail, washing out the bridge at Four Mile Creek and leaving the trail impassable to hikers and stock between Hazard Creek, less than a half mile from Stehekin, and Four Mile Creek, just under three miles from Stehekin. The three watersheds – Hazard Creek, Four Mile Creek and an unnamed creek – were burned by the 2006 Flick Creek Fire. After wildfires, debris flows can occur from significant rainfall because little water absorbs into the soil, causing rapid runoff that converges in drainages. The runoff erodes material from the steep slopes and channels of these drainages and gradually becomes a slurry of soil, rocks and mud. The slurry can quickly pick up speed, as well as additional rocks, large boulders, and trees, and radically modify existing drainages. Photos of the debris flow damage along Lake Chelan can be found at the park’s Flickr site. [Submitted by Kerry Olson, Public Affairs Officer]
 
Jim and Marti,

Since the lake is close to home and we have been there on a number of occasions, hare are a few tips:

1. You need a Federal Permit to use the USFS and Park Service Docks along the lake and at Stehiken. For you, the best place to obtain one will be at the Ranger District Office in Chelan. If you have an "Old Timers Federal Park Pass" you get a discount on this permit. Without the permit, you are subject to a ticket.
2. Twenty Five Mile (State Park) on the south side of the lake is good and with parking, but the launch at Wapato Point just before you enter Manson on the north side of the lake is great as well. Wapato Pt has the best launch and parking, but 25 Mile is about 15 water miles closer to Stehiken. There is a launch fee at both places.
3. There are several campgrounds/docks along the lake as well as a side trip to Holden Village.
4. There is a real good map of the lake you should be able to get at the Ranger District, but if not it is available at Stehiken.
5. Fuel is available at both Stehiken and 25 Mile.
6. The bakery is still a favorite and can be accessed by the shuttle bus, bicycle rentals or hoofing it about a mile and a half of mostly flat walking that is a nice trip along the lake. Along with Rainbow falls as mentioned, is the Courtney Ranch for a ranch style dinner, which is accessable by the shuttle bus.

It is always a pretty ride and would suggest going up one side of the lake and down the other, as you will usually see game along the shore line. It is very deep even up to the shore line. As for the winds, it can get a bit lumpy, but slow down and it shouldn't be any worse than Puget Sound in my experience.

The 3000+ acre fire in the Stehiken area has had the Type II Overhead Team demobilized last week and is now being managed by a much smaller group of personnel, so there should be no problems with this incident.

Have a fun trip!

Doug
 
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