the riverwalk in Chelan

Chelan is a city of 4,000 people in the North Cascades region of Washington State. It is the gateway to Lake Chelan.

Understand

Lake Chelan, named for the Salish word for 'deep water', is 50 miles long and 1,486 feet deep, the third-deepest lake in the United States. The fjord-like topography of the Lake Chelan valley results from repeated glacial erosion and deposition, up until 20,000 years ago.

The town of Chelan sits at the southern tip of the lake, in one of the few sections of lakeshore flat enough for development. It is an agricultural center and a lake resort community.

The northern tip of the lake, including the remote mountain village of Stehekin, are protected by the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, administered by North Cascades National Park.

• 1 Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, 216 E Woodin Ave. (updated Oct 2024)

Get in

By car

• US-97 passes just outside of town, from Wenatchee to the south and Pateros to the north. US-97 Alt goes through the town center.

By public transit

• Link Transit, ☏ +1 509-662-1155. Operates bus route 21 between Wenatchee and Manson via Chelan (updated Sep 2024)
• Trango (Okanogan County Transit Authority), ☏ +1 509-557-6177. Operates a bus route between Chelan and Okanogan. (updated Sep 2024)

Get around

By ferry

Only a few miles of lakeshore are accessible by road. You need a boat to see the rest of the lake, including the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

Two companies operate passenger ferries, all the way uplake to the village of Stehekin at the northwest tip.

• 1 Lady of the Lake, 1418 W Woodin Ave. (updated Oct 2024)
• 2 Stehekin Ferry, 17100 S Lakeshore Rd. (updated Oct 2024)

See

• 1 Chelan Museum, 204 E Woodin Ave. (updated Oct 2024)
• 2 Earthquake Point. (updated Oct 2024)

Do

Parks

• 3 Lake Chelan State Park, 7544 S Lakeshore Rd. 
• 4 Twenty Five Mile Creek State Park, 20530 S Lakeshore Rd. (updated Oct 2024)

Winter sports

• 5 Echo Valley Ski Area, 1700 Cooper Gulch Rd, Manson, WA 98831. (updated Oct 2024)

Water parks

• 6 Slidewaters Water Park, 102 Waterslide Dr. (updated Oct 2024)

Drink

• 1 The Vogue Coffee Bar, 117 E Woodin Ave, ☏ +1 509 888-5282. Local chain offering coffee along with beer,wine, and the likes. Live music all the time. Great atmosphere. (updated Oct 2024)

Sleep

• 1 Lakeside Lodge & Suites, 2312 W Woodin Avenue, ☏ +1 509 682-4396, toll-free: +1-800-468-2781, fax: +1 509 682-3278, info@lakesidelodgeandsuites.com. 

Go next

• Uplake via ferry to the remote resort of Holden and the village of Stehekin.
• Wenatchee, the "Apple Capital of the World".
• Winthrop, the frontier town on the approach to North Cascades National Park.
• Okanogan and Omak

Chelan is on the North Cascade Loop itinerary.

Routes through Chelan

Oroville ← Pateros ←

N  S

→ Wenatchee → Yakima