A Brief Look At Wenatchee

The City of Wenatchee sits just south of the mouth of the Wenatchee River where it empties into the Columbia River. It is the county seat and largest city in Chelan County. Wenatchee residents enjoy a true summer with temperatures regularly in the 90’s and sometimes hitting three digits. The winters can be equally extreme with temperatures dropping into the teens regularly, and the single digits occasionally. Wenatchee was built on the back of agriculture, and though still owing much to the agricultural industry, it has broadened to depend more on a wide variety of industries from tourism to high-tech.

Wenatchee is nestled between the Columbia River to the east and the Cascade foothills to the west. The city’s location makes it a popular destination for the many recreational opportunities in the area, and also a popular stopover for people continuing on northward to Lake Chelan, the Methow Valley and North Cascades Pass, or Canada. Wenatchee is also situated on Highway 2 making it a much stopped at city for east-west travelers going through Washington State.

Recreational opportunities in the area include; boating or fishing on the Columbia, fishing many of the surrounding lakes, skiing at Mission Ridge, hiking in the foothills, Mountain Biking, and more. Wenatchee is also home to the Apple Capital Loop Trail, a paved walking/biking trail over ten miles in length, that follows the shoreline of the Columbia River and crosses over to and back from East Wenatchee, on the other side of the river.

Wenatchee has a thriving sports community including many adult recreational leagues (soccer, softball, hockey, and more), college athletics (Wenatchee Valley College), high school sports (Wenatchee High School), semi-pro teams (Wenatchee Rams football and Wenatchee Apple Sox baseball), and more.

Pictures of Wenatchee and the surrounding area can be found in the Wenatchee Gallery section of our Photos of North Central Washington Communities Gallery.

A popular sight to see in Wenatchee… the famous Skookum Indian.