Best Spring Hikes in Wenatchee for Wildflowers and Great Food
Wenatchee is an ideal spring destination for gorgeous wildflower hikes and incredible food under seemingly endless sunshine – especially for Seattle area hikers who want to dry out and escape the rain!
I’m a born and raised Washingtonian and the host of the Washington State Hiking podcast. I love to help my fellow Washington hikers find new, interesting and unique hikes in every corner of our amazing state.
I’ve been visiting Wenatchee my whole life – my grandmother lived there in elementary school and took me there every fall to buy apples in roadside fruit stands. I always loved the beauty of the basalt rocks and cliffs, the open hills with expansive skies and when I got old enough to start hiking, I especially learned to love spring, with it’s stunning golden and purple flowers lining the hills and trails.
Come along and let me convince you that not only is Wenatchee a great place for spring hiking, it’s also an incredible food town with great town trails along the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers as well.
- Spring Hikes in Wenatchee
- Other outdoor adventures
- Best places to eat in Wenatchee
- Where to stay in Wenatchee
- Cascade Loop Road trip from Seattle
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Spring Hikes in Wenatchee
I love hiking and I love exploring all the different types of landscapes and climates we have in Washington State for hiking.
In spring, especially April and May, you really cannot beat Wenatchee along with other parts of Central and Eastern Washington for the stunning wildflower hikes Washington State is famous for. Not only are the flowers beautiful but each of the hikes I recommend here is within 10 minutes of downtown Wenatchee.
In Wenatchee, you’ll find uncomplicated hikes with stunning yellow balsamroot and purple lupin against the backdrop of the canyons and rocks of Central Washington’s volcano and flood created landscape.
Sage Hills is a famous, beautiful and very crowded hike and while it is wonderful, I want to share a couple other options to consider.
If you do go to Sage Hills, I recommend this article on the Washington Trails Association website that outlines the many trailhead options since parking is a big challenge on spring weekends. Also, this is a shared use trail with mountain bikes. Expect a 5-6 mile round trip hike here with about 600 feet of elevation gain.
I love Castle Rock for a sunrise hike – parking is super limited (3 spots) but it’s so close to town that you could do a rideshare to get there. If you start before sunrise you can grab one of the three spots!
Starting at the end of the road in a neighborhood you start climbing up through wildflower fields right away, with the, well, Castle shaped summit above you and in view most of the time.
There are several viewpoints and maps on the way up and in about .8 miles you’ll come to a small loop trail that goes around Castle Rock. I recommend going to the left instead of the right because if you go right there are some loose, scrambly kind of sketchy bits and going around the left it’s a better trail. A short, steep, scrambly trail then takes you to the summit of Castle Rock. This is the perfect place to watch the sun come up across the river and over the town of Wenatchee. Castle Rock is just over 2 miles round trip with about 800 feet of elevation gain. The short distance makes it perfect for an early morning sunrise hike!
Saddle Rock is another amazing wildflower hike with great views – it’s a bit longer than Castle Rock and a little more climbing at about 3 miles round trip and 900 feet of elevation gain.
Saddle Rock has more parking but it still fills up on weekends – you can take the bus here or a rideshare (see WTA description here). The parking area is shared with the Dry Gulch horse trails which are also open to hikers.
The 3 mile gentle climb is a loop with many viewpoints, so you don’t need to scramble to the actual Saddle Rock if heights make you a bit nervous, you won’t miss out on the incredible views and the incredible flowers that line the entire trail in April and May.
Although it’s not a wildflower hike, I also want to mention the Horan Natural Area, which is part of Wenatchee Confluence State Park. This is part of the Apple Capital Recreation Trail described below. You need a Discover Pass to park here, or you can make it part of a longer walk, run or bike ride and park in one of the city park parking areas.
This is the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers and like all places where rivers meet, it has been an important place for humans and animals for thousands of years. It has been a gathering place for P’Squosa Wenatchi people as well as an important fishing, hunting and berry gathering area. There are 250 species of birds documented in this one small area!
Other spring outdoor adventures in Wenatchee
Since I’m a hiker, I focused on hiking in this article but just to mention a couple of other wonderful spring activities – Wenatchee has a wonderful network of biking trails – both for mountain and road biking.
Don’t miss out on the Apple Capital Recreation Loop trail which is amazing for walking, biking or running on a 10 mile loop that goes along both sides of the Columbia River and over two bridges. You can easily to do shorter rides and runs by going out and back from one of the many parking areas.
Best places to eat in Wenatchee
In my opinion Wenatchee is a super underrated food city – with way more amazing restaurants, breweries and wineries than you could ever hope to cram into one weekend!
The downtown core has a particularly strong food and drink scene, which is why I like to stay downtown (see below) so I can walk to all these incredible, locally owned gems.
Even I have not been to all of Wenatchee’s amazing restaurants yet (I still have a long to do list) but here are some options to get you started
Breakfast and Coffee
- Pybus Public Market – Both Huck at Pybus and Cafe Columbia offer delicious coffee and breakast – including a large selection of incredible pastries
- La Vie En Coffee Bar and Bakery (closed Sundays and Mondays at the time of this writing) – wonderful coffee and pastries (try the almond croissant – OMG), they do not have full breakfast, great option for coffee and pastries
Post hike Lunch and Dinner
- McGlinn’s Public House – Great Pacific Northwest style brewpub with great food and drinks. I haven’t tried their weekend brunch but it’s on my to do list.
- Pinnacle Beerworks – family friendly brewery with unique (and amazing) sandwiches prepared in Sourdough pizza crusts
- Lemolo – incredible pizza and sandwiches in a brightly colored atmosphere – they close at 6 so get here early to not miss out. Closed on Sundays.
- Steam Panda – super authentic and delicious dumplings and ramen
- Döner Kebab – delightfully quirky and delicious combo of German and Turkish sandwiches, wraps and feta fries
- King Pizza – Excellent sourdough pizza and salads with local beer. Closed on Mondays.
Breweries and Wineries
These are all tasting rooms and shops walkable in the downtown area – the area around Wenatchee is known for it’s wineries, craft beer and cider so there is lots more to explore beyond just downtown.
- Ground Control – Wenatchee’s only bottle shop with lots of craft beer on tap and bottled to go
- Watercore Cider – delicious cider made from apples grown in the valley by two women who grew up in Wenatchee’s orchards. Try it there, catch some live music or take a bottle to go
- Pinnacle Beerworks – described above, brewery + food
- Wenatchee Valley Brewing – great beer in a family friendly brewery with pizza, salads and brewpub favorites (nachos, tacos).
- Norwood Wine bar – come into this historic building and try a massive selection of incredible wines exclusively from the state of Washington
- Watermill Winery and Cave Noire both have tasting rooms downtown for local wine
- Wenatchee Visitor Center and Tasting Room – the friendly folks at Visit Wenatchee are a wonderful resource for any questions you have about the area AND they will pour tastes of local wine, beer and cider at the same time!
Where to stay in Wenatchee
I recommend either staying in one of the downtown hotels in Wenatchee (so you can walk to all the great restaurants and shops and the Apple Blossom Trail). The Coast hotel is a favorite of mine just a few blocks from all the restaurants and shops and has a pool and free parking and breakfast.
If you’re more of a vacation rental person, you can definitely find plenty of vacation rentals as well. Although Wenatchee is easy to get around, I recommend paying attention to the location of your rental, especially if you want to be able to walk places.
Cascade Loop Road trip from Seattle
I love a good road trip loop – you keep the fun going but never have to repeat anything! Wenatchee is the perfect destination for a road trip loop over the Cascade Mountains from the Greater Seattle area.
I like to do the loop clockwise – heading up to Highway 2 and over Stevens Pass, stopping in Index for a hike and/or lunch, then continuing on to Wenatchee past Lake Wenatchee and through Leavenworth.
When you leave Wenatchee, head back to Leavenworth and then back over Blewett Pass to meet up with I-90 near Cle Elum and returning over Snoqualmie Pass to the Seattle area.
The distance from Seattle is about the same with each route, although the amount of time varies based on the weather and traffic conditions.
This way you can do a hike on your way to Wenatchee and on your way back! In spring, Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass still have quite a bit of snow, but Blewett Pass hikes, Index area hikes and Lake Wenatchee are usually snow free.
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North Cascades National Park from Seattle: Best Day Trip or Weekend Itinerary
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Olympic Coast Backpacking at Second Beach: Excellent for Beginners
Crystal Mountain Gondola: Epic Mt Rainier Views
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