The Stehekin Valley

Long before the North Cascades Highway was completed in 1972, centuries before miners flooded the valley of Ruby Creek and forged a path over Harts Pass to the north, Salish-speaking peoples were traveling well-worn trails along a rushing river that poured down from the high peaks and dumped its water into Lake Chelan. To the native peoples, the river was Stehekin, “the way through.” It was one of the major trade routes across the Cascades. The Skagit people kept canoes stashed at the head of Lake Chelan to use after they crossed Cascade Pass on foot.

The Stehekin River (pronounced stuh-HEE-kihn) has held the interest of Euro-American people since the first British explorers came into this country in search of furs. Alexander Ross is credited with being the first European to penetrate the Cascades, and scholars surmise that in 1814 his Skagit Indian guides brought him over Cascade Pass to reach the valleys that drain into Puget Sound. The fur trade was never very profitable here, and the North Cascades remained a backwater. The next big boom came in the late 1880s, when gold in the region brought an influx of rough-cut prospectors who blasted mineshafts into the nearby mountains. This boom also faded quickly, giving way to a trickle of hardy settlers who carved homesteads out of the forested bottomlands of the Stehekin Valley. Human settlement has always been sparse, but the valley has been inhabited steadily over the last century by a self-reliant breed of subsistence farmers.

This spectacular valley at the head of Lake Chelan has consistently drawn sightseers from the far corners of the world. The original lodge here was the Field Hotel, established in 1892. It was dismantled in 1927 when a dam was built at the outlet of Lake Chelan, raising the water level by 21 feet and inundating the hotel site. Lumber from the Field Hotel was later used to build the Golden West Lodge nearby. In 1968 the Stehekin Valley was incorporated into the North Cascades National Park complex as the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. The Golden West Lodge has become a National Park Service visitor center. Nearby is the North Cascades Stehekin Lodge and an array of small mercantile businesses. There is a bakery up the road a few miles that is not to be missed, and even farther north is the Courtney guest ranch, where lodging and meals can be had (reservations required). The Courtney family also runs short horse trips into the park. The Buckner Orchard, across from Rainbow Falls, is a historic fruit orchard established in 1912 and now maintained by the National Park Service as a historical attraction. The apples ripen in late September and are free to anyone who can coexist with the black bears that also feed there.

The Stehekin’s quaint charm depends upon its remoteness: the only cars in the area were brought in by barge over Lake Chelan. In the summer, a passenger ferry provides daily service to Stehekin (see page 340 for details). Once there, a tour bus runs upvalley for a brief stop at Rainbow Falls. A longer hiker shuttle once ran the 22-mile length of the Stehekin Valley Road for a fee, providing access to trailheads (see the park newspaper for details). Floods in the winter of 1995–1996 and again a decade later washed out part of this road; as of this writing the shuttle buses were turning around at High Bridge. As an alternative to the ferry, the hikes over Cascade Pass or down Bridge Creek are almost as fast (and cost less), and provide easiest access to the upper reaches of the Stehekin River. Other good routes into the Stehekin Valley include the South Pass Trail and the War Creek Trail, both of which originate beside the Twisp River.

Camping along the Stehekin Valley Road requires a free backcountry permit, which can be obtained at the Golden West Visitor Center. The backcountry of the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area has wilderness status, so motorized vehicles are prohibited outside the road corridor. Hunting is allowed within the Recreation Area, but all firearms are strictly prohibited on national park lands, which stretch northward from High Bridge. Park permits are required for all backcountry stays within both the national park and the recreation area, but permits are not required to camp within the neighboring Glacier Peak and Lake Chelan–Sawtooth wilderness areas. These areas fall within the domain of the Wenatchee National Forest.

Weather in the Stehekin Valley is typically warmer and drier than that found west of the range, with summer temperatures in the 90s common. Mountain weather is still unpredictable, though, and travelers should be prepared for chilly or wet weather, which may strike without warning. Ticks are rather troublesome pests in the Stehekin Valley, particularly abundant in spring and early summer. Rattlesnakes also live here, but they are reclusive and rarely present a real danger. Watch where you walk, and if you encounter a rattlesnake, remain still so it can retreat safely.