Backpacking to Stehekin
Stehekin is a remote town in the North Cascades — only accessible by foot, ferry (from the Lake Chelan Boat Co. and Stehekin Ferry), or plane. Based along the northern shores of Lake Chelan, the town is surrounded by 7,000-foot mountains and the third deepest lake in the United States. Saying it’s incredibly beautiful would be an understatement!
I’ve been waiting to backpack here for years, so when other plans went awry, I jumped at the chance to visit this spring. There are two ways to backpack into town:
The more difficult option, only accessible from July to September, starts at Rainy Pass in the North Cascades National Park and follows the Pacific Crest Trail into town.
The alternative is the Lakeshore Trail, which begins along Lake Chelan, is easier, and is available from April to November.
Since we visited in June, we hiked the Lakeshore Trail to town. Spring and fall are the perfect time to backpack this trail. It’s very exposed, so hiking it during these shoulder seasons means you’ll avoid the summer heat, most of the rattlesnakes, and peak season crowds when you get to Stehekin. It does mean taking your chances with rain, but it’s well worth it to see the wildflowers in spring and to pick apples in the town’s orchard in fall.
Want to backpack to Stehekin too? Read my how-to guide on The Grah Life here.
Lakeshore Trail stats:
7 - 18 miles
Have the ferry drop you off at Prince Creek and hike 18 miles to Stehekin
Get dropped off at Moore Point for a 7-mile walk into town
Rated easy, but backpacking made it feel more like an intermediate trail
Campsites
Prince Creek, Cascade Creek, Meadow Creek Shelter, Moore Point, and Flick Creek
Amenities
Most of the larger campsites have a shelter and a privy; some had bear vaults or picnic tables
Terrain
Rolling hills, wildflower meadows, lake access at a few points, stream crossings, lake and mountain views
Wildlife
Rattlesnakes
They sun themselves on the trail and rocks when it’s warm out, so tread carefully
Black bears
Do make noise on the trail, carry bear spray, and hang your food appropriately if you don’t have access to a bear vault
Common sagebrush lizard, goldfinch, hawks, and eagles
Spot these for fun!
FERRYING TO STEHEKIN
Our trip started at 2:00 am in Tacoma. We woke up early enough to take one last shower before heading out and arriving at the ferry dock in Chelan at 7:30 am. We checked in, got our parking pass, and boarded the boat at 8:30 am.
We lost cell service about 30 minutes into the boat ride and spent our time chatting with fellow passengers. Despite a dreary forecast, the weather was gorgeous, and we appreciated having clear views of all the surrounding mountains.
We got dropped off at Prince Creek at 10:30 am with about ten to fifteen other backpackers. I loved how everyone onboard came to the side of the boat to see us off. Originally, we had rough plans to backpack ten miles to the Moore Point campground or stop and make camp at the Meadow Creek Shelter 7.5 miles in depending on how we felt. However, once we were on the boat, we realized one of the backpacking groups was rather large, so we changed our plans to set up camp at whichever site they didn’t.
DAY ONE ON THE LAKESHORE TRAIL
Upon deboarding, we were immediately crossing log bridges over rivers and walking through fields of lupine overlooking the lake and mountains. It was humid, but not hot enough to be constantly on edge about rattlesnakes.
After about three hours of hiking — just enough time to be lulled into forgetting about snakes — I spooked a rattlesnake on the side of the trail. As I passed it, it rattled and slid further into the brush, and I sprinted in the opposite direction. Unfortunately for Zach, even after being spooked, the rattlesnake was still right next to the trail and was now very aware of him. Zach shooed the snake with his trekking poles and safely passed despite my brain creating every worst-case scenario in my head.
Just two bends further and we came across a black bear! It was about 75 feet above the trail on a hill, flipping logs over and sniffing loudly for grub. It didn’t seem to mind us at all. This was Zach’s first bear sighting in Washington and my second (the first was on this shoot)!
We made it to the Meadow Creek shelter roughly 30 minutes later. Since the large group wasn’t camped there, we assumed they’d gone on to Moore Point. That and the incoming storm clouds made the storm shelter a great option for the night.
Then we performed our first-ever backcountry gear repair. After removing our tent from its bag (it had been a while since its last outing) we realized the shock cord in the tent poles had gone slack . We cut and tied the strings for a temporary fix and were glad to be in the shelter to test it out the first night.
It was here that Zach spotted another bear about 200 feet away. After setting up camp, we were relaxing on the edge of our shelter, overlooking the creek and mountains across from us when another black bear wandered onto the trail we had just trekked. It had either been higher up on the mountain when we’d passed or out of sight along the lakeshore.
He moseyed away after hearing us, but that was more than enough incentive to hang our food extra securely for the night. About an hour and a half after we had camp set up it started raining. Having the shelter made our first night on the trail so enjoyable!
DAY TWO ON THE LAKESHORE TRAIL
We woke up early and got on the trail by 8:00 am. We passed by Moore Point and Flick Creek — our favorite campsite, although we didn’t stop there (and we heard it can get very windy) — and watched as a few planes occasionally fly into town.
We had also planned on taking the easier route mentioned in the Washington Trail Association’s trail description that avoids the hike up to Hunt’s Bluff by taking a trail that skirts the lake. For those of you wanting the easy way into town, you should know that no such trail exists. The hike up the bluff wasn’t too hard though and felt no more difficult than the few climbs over hills we did the previous day.
We also loved the dense vegetation at every stream crossing. I’ve never seen such tall dogwood trees, as many wild roses, and the bright wildflowers. There were so many that we lost count of all the varieties, although the high point of our second day of hiking was finding a tree full of goldfinches!
As we started to near the north end of the lake, dreaming about the infamous bakery in town, the clouds got a bit darker, and it started to sprinkle rain every so often. Suddenly, all three planes that came into town at staggered intervals left in a rush one after another.
Zach and I looked at each other knowingly. Rough weather was coming.
Thankfully, by the time it had started raining hard we’d begun to see cabins on the outskirts of Stehekin and had reached a dense tunnel of trees. We knew we were close to town!
By the time we made it to the town, we were in a downpour. We found the nearest shelter, which happened to be at the Lakeview Campground where we had one of the last reservable campsites.
After a short while the rain stopped (weather changes very quickly here) and we wandered through the near-empty campsites. While booking this trip three weeks out, we only had a choice of two campsites available, but with the rainy forecast, almost everyone had canceled. We wandered around and, after checking in at the visitor center, swapped our small campsite for a much larger and more private one.
We took full advantage of the break in the weather and set up our tent. Then we stopped by the general store and were amazed at the assortment of food they had (more on that later). We grabbed a bag of chips and electrolyte drink and hit the road walking to the bakery two miles into town for an early dinner.
The bakery lives up to the hype online! It’s more like a café than a bakery because they offered everything from sandwiches, soups, and pizza to all the baked goods you could imagine — berry pies, cookies, lemon bars, and brownies. They had a surprising amount of vegetarian and gluten-free options as well.
Afterward, we walked another two miles back to our campsite, napped, and got up in time to watch the sunset from the deck of the restaurant by the ferry dock (the restaurant hadn’t opened for the season yet, so it’s normally reserved for restaurant guests). The views reminded us of the fjords we saw in Iceland, although they look closer to photos we’ve seen of Norway.
BIKING STEHEKIN
I had planned a biking tour of the town for our only full day in Stehekin. Biking is a popular activity, but you can also go on guided fly-fishing trips, rent UTVs or kayaks, go horseback riding, or take a bus tour of town (either the Red Bus tour or the Stehekin Shuttle).
Our first stop was at the bakery for breakfast (this was AFTER we’d already eaten the scone and cookie bar we’d brought back the night before for breakfast at camp). From there we biked to Rainbow Falls — a 300-foot waterfall with two great viewpoints. Since we were the only visitors there at the moment, we stopped by the lower viewpoint first. Enjoy this view because you’ll get soaked at the higher lookout!
The upper viewpoint is only a few short bends up a trail, but after the first turn, you’ll begin to feel the waterfall’s mist. From here on it only gets stronger. So strong that the surrounding trees will drip giant raindrops, and you’ll look as if you’re freshly showered by the time you reach the viewpoint. We stayed there long enough to take a goofy photo before running back to dry land.
The next stop was at the Buckner Orchard. It’s one of the earliest homesteads in the area and is still studied to this day. Visit in the fall and you’ll be able to pick apples. The one-room schoolhouse and museum were next and really helped me picture how isolated living here in the early settlements must have been.
From there, we rode to the Harlequin Bridge and campground. The river is a beautiful color from all the glacial melt and this was our favorite campground near town. It does tend to flood in early spring, but it’s worth checking out at the very least. Here we noticed the first rafting put in as well – an activity I’d love to do here the next time we’re back.
My goal was to bike all the way to High Bridge where the Pacific Crest Trail and North Cascades National Park borders begin. However, I knew that we had hiked 22 miles over the previous two days and this ride was all uphill (we should have rented the e-bikes!). I was going to be happy no matter how far we chose to ride. Just as I was telling myself I could tough it out through a couple more steep sections if need be, Zach shouted, “We made it!”
He spotted the sign for the start of the North Cascades National Park and the bridge shortly thereafter. The bridge was high indeed, overlooking the canyon of milky green glacier runoff. We wandered a bit, read about a lot of hikes that start from here (I will bus here to hike them next time) and biked downhill back to town. We stopped at the bakery for a late lunch of course!
That evening, as we were relaxing on the restaurant deck again, we noticed a bus from the Stehekin Valley Ranch taking dinner guests out to their ranch. Dinner reservations must be made in advance, but we’re planning on this for our next trip.
It started raining earlier in the evening, so we settled into our tent and fell asleep to the sound of rain pounding on our tent. It kept up until the next morning and we were thrilled to wake up dry on the inside of our tent.
FERRYING HOME
Having gone to bed early in the rainstorm, we woke up early too. We made one of our last dehydrated backpacking meals for breakfast and figured we’d grab lunch and stock up on snacks from the general store for the boat ride back to Chelan.
By the time the store opened at ten and we realized the “food galore” we remembered seeing our first day fresh off the trail was mostly potato chips and jerky, so I took it upon myself to get to the bakery one last time.
We missed the buses that would take us there for a nominal fee so some of the staff suggested hitchhiking. The problem was there was very little traffic. Just as I started the walk there hoping for traffic to pick up (unlikely), I ran into the bike rentals. One quick bike ride later and I had sandwiches and Zach’s favorite key lime pie bars secured to the top of the bike. Zach couldn’t help but laugh out loud when he saw me coming back to the ferry dock with the load.
We spent the rest of the morning watching hawks fly over the lake waiting for the boat to arrive to take us home. The whole trip felt like we were on “island time” in Hawaii. Being intentional with our time and not having an agenda or cell service made time seem to slow down.
We took time to appreciate all the wildflowers, the sounds of the birds and rain, finding lizards every once in a while, and the quality of our time seemed to skyrocket without the distractions of phone notifications and scrolling.
We’ve been home for a week and are still feeling the effects. This week has felt longer and more relaxed. We certainly need to unplug and slow down more often, and we need to visit again. We’ll be planning more trips in the winter to snowshoe and stay in the lodge, back in the fall to pick apples, and back again in the summer to backpack into town through the PCT trail, hike their 400 miles of nearby trails, and kayak. I am thrilled there are so many various ways to enjoy this place because it will be worth visiting Stehekin over and over.
Browse the archive or search for specific topics (try “North Cascades National Park”, “mountains” or “LGBTQ+”).
