Visiting Stehekin at North Cascades National Park

 

Basic information:

1. Stehekin is pronounced "Ste- HE-kin" and it is located at the end of Lake Chelan 

2. It is a small town of roughly 85 people year round 

3. It has no formal government all of the "governmental duties" such as law enforcement, EMS, snow removal are performed by the parks department. 

4. It's considered part of North Cascades National Park 

5. It is only accessible one of three ways: Boat, plane or hike. There are no roads to Stehekin 

6. It's accessible via the Pacific Crest Trail- apparently a lot of PCT hikers come to Stehekin 

Getting to Stehekin 

So this is always the big question- how do you get to Stehekin? The most common answer is by boat. We used Lake Chelan Boat Company. They have three different boats that go at three different speeds. 

The original boat is called "The Lady of the Lake" it takes 4 hours to go from Chelan to Stehekin (this should give you and idea of how HUGE lake Chelan really is. This runs all year round 

The second boat is called Lady express and it can go from Chelan to Stehekin in 2.5 hours. This boat is also running year round 

The third boat is the newest at two years old called Lady Liberty and it takes 70 minutes to go from Chelan to Stehekin. This boat is only running in summer. 

While two of the ferries run year round I would really recommend planning on going in summer. Full disclosure- this is an expensive trip. We kind of did it as a "once in a lifetime" kind of a deal because of the cost of the ferry ride 

Based on the ferry schedules most "day trippers" take the Lady Express (2.5 hr) there and the Lady Liberty (70 min) back for the maximum amount of time in Stehekin without spending the night which is about 3.5 hours. 

There is a "Hotel" and I believe many air bnb properties that you can rent if you want to stay overnight or even for a few days. 

If you are coming in summer- especially on a weekend I would highly recommended booking tickets well in advance- at least a few weeks. The space on the boat is limited. 

Tips for the Ferry: 

1. Seats are first come first serve so if you have a big group plan on being there early so you can all sit together on the boat 

2. You can purchase snacks/drinks on the ferry but you are allowed to bring your own 

3. Thankfully because it's a lake it's a very smooth ride so we didn't have any issues with seasickness (we are prone to seasickness in this house)

Things to do in Stehekin

So what is there to do? Quite a bit actually- here's what we did.

1. Visit the Golden West Visitor Center

This is the visitor center for the national park- it was originally a privately owned Hotel until it was bought by the parks department and turned into a lodge and visitor center. Here you can get your NP stamp and learn about the Stehekin Valley. 

2. Rainbow Falls 

One of the most common sights in Stehekin in Rainbow falls. Rainbow falls is roughly 3.5 miles up the road (yes there are roads in Stehekin but none that go from another town to Stehekin) from the dock. There is a shuttle that runs to and from or you could also ride bikes. The National Parks Services has a tour shuttle bus that gives you a bit of history of Stehekin along the way. 

I was so impressed with how tall rainbow falls is- 312 feet. There is an upper and lower section so be sure to check our both. 

3. Visit the Post Office 

This post office is the most isolated post office in the United States. Not a ton to do here but just a fun novelty- I've now visited the smallest post office and the most isolated one in the US. 

4. Visit the Old Stehekin School House 

This is a one room school house that the locals still up keep but don't use any more. It's a really cool glance at history. There's also a really neat topographical map of the area inside so you can see where you are in the valley and all the different mountains around you. 

Other things to do- that we didn't have a chance to do

1. Go to the Stehekin Pastry Company- it's a small bakery in town with delicious treats and gift shop. 

2. Go to the Stehekin Garden- a local man has a huge garden and you can explore it and pick fruit and veggies. 

3. Swim in Lake Chelan- this is obviously weather dependent 

4. Explore "downtown Stehekin" right as you get off the boat there is a restaurant and a bunch of little shops to explore. 

Overall 

Overall we thought it was a really cool day trip- we would love to come back sometime when your baby is older and we aren't so dependent on naps. It would be fun to explore more of the area!