Lake Wenatchee is located in Chelan County, with access obtained by turning north off the Stevens Pass State Route Highway 2, at Coles Corner, onto State Highway 207. It is then 3 miles to the park turnoff.

Acreage

The park, including Nason Creek, is 488.51 acres with 12,623 feet of waterfront on Lake Wenatchee.

Acquired

Lake Wenatchee State Park was acquired in five parcels; the first in 1949 and the last in 1971, for a total cost of $669,000.

Historical Background

Wenatchee is an Indian name which means "Great opening out of the Mountains." Another translation is "River issuing from canyon," which means the same thing in the Indian language. Nason Creek, just outside of the park, got its name from an Indian named Nason who boasted that he and another Indian had killed two white men on Umptanum Creek in or about 1855; this was one of the killings which led to the Yakima Indian War. Nason Creek in the Indian language is called "Notapoc". In early times the Indian tribes stopped off at Lake Wenatchee for a clam feed and the sockeye salmon migration before traveling over Cady Pass to trade with the coast Indians.

Facilities

The park has 197 standard sites, 1 group camp area which accommodates 20 to 80 people, 2 day use areas that total 60 picnic sites, 3 picnic shelters, 6 comfort stations, 3 residences, shop, 1 trailer dump station, bathhouse, amphitheater, boat launch ramp, boat dock, horseback riding concession facilities, food and beverage concession facilities, 7.7 miles of hiking trails, playground equipment, and a winter recreation area with over 30 kilometers of groomed cross-country ski trails and a sledding hill.

A private concession operates the Camp Store and provides groceries, firewood and other supplies. Another private concession provides guided horseback rides on park and adjacent U.S. Forest Service land.

Activities

Camping, picnicking, boating, canoeing, fishing, swimming, waterskiing, windsurfing, hiking, horseback riding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, used as a base camp for hunters, and playground activities.

Park staff groom 30 kilometers of cross-country ski trails and maintain 6 Sno-Parks on park land and adjacent Forest Service and private land.

Interpretation:

A variety of entertaining and educational campfire programs Saturday nights and Smokey Bear fire-fighting demonstrations Sunday mornings, July through Labor Day. Provided through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and Washington State Parks.