Lake Wenatchee State Park — Attraction in Leavenworth

We visited this park in mid-June 2021 and stayed in the NORTH campground. The lake and surrounding mountains are beautiful. The park and facilities were clean and appear to be well-maintained. While we were there, the winds were calm in the morning/early afternoon, but it started to pick up in the evening. Also, there was a note on the bulletin board in the campground that said that May and June are the high mosquito season there. Yep, I wish I had known that beforehand.

The north campground has two loops. The outside of each loop has pull-through sites with water and electric hookups. The sites on the inner loop are primitive. All sites are fairly roomy. Most sites have tent space. There are water faucets all along the loop.The public restrooms are in the center of each loop. They have running water and flush toilets. There are four, private, pay shower rooms along one of the outside walls. In 2021, it cost a minimum of $ 0.50 for 3 minutes, with $ 0.25 for each additional 1.5 minutes. There is a dual dump station at the north campground - it is free for campers at Lake Wenatchee State Park; there is a use fee for others.

There are some wide, easy trails around the north campground, great for strolling or biking. There is no drive-able access to the lake at the north campground. You need to walk down a trail to get to it. Thus, if you want to kayak or paddle board on the lake, you will need to carry (or cart?) your gear to the lake (~750+ ft minimum to triple that, depending on where your site is). At the small beach, there are picnic tables and a bathroom with water faucets.

The south campground only has primitive camping sites, and the sites tend to be much smaller. On the other hand, the southern portion has more amenities. There is parking next to the beach with restroom and shower facilities. There is also a store where you can buy camp gear, candy and some camp food, ice cream and some hot snacks (e.g. nachos). Firewood is expensive at the store ($7 a bundle). There is also a vendor where you can rent kayaks and paddleboards. The south park is also where the boat launch is located, along with an amphitheater and group campsite. You can also rent horses at the park.

There is no path between the north and south campgrounds. To go between them, you will need to walk along the side of the highway for about 0.6 miles.

In summary, Lake Wenatchee State Park is a great place to spend a few lazy summer days. Mid-week was not too busy, though I can imagine the park getting busy and full on a...

South Entrance, 2 stars for the fact that dogs are OK on the beach (saw multiple dogs do their business on the sand, owner eventually cleaned up after one of them the other one peed.. On the sand... That people lay on.. And kids play in.. 😣 Gross).

Also it wasn't a very sandy beach so kinda tender to walk on, lots of rocks and pebbles mixed with sand and twigs.

But aside from the questionable hygiene and the tons of barking of letting adorable dogs on the beach, the nature is gorgeous, 5 STARS for that. The surrounding mountains and beautiful (although glacier cold) lake is breathtaking (literally breathtaking for the lake.. It's super cold). The bathrooms have changing rooms (though the doors are short so taller ppl, this is uncomfortable, and they have a shower. Also their was canoe or floatables rental with life jackets kiosk. Their are picnic tables strewn about and the campsites are not far away from the beach. You do need a Discover Pass or you will get ticketed, you can i believe pay for the day as well instead of getting the pass. Their is a paved parking lot and a dirt road parking lot. Oh their was a horseback riding rental area near the entrance as well.

I wish their was no dogs on the beach though. If you don't mind that, this place is fantastic, I enjoyed myself regardless of my negative thoughts of...

There was absolutely no privacy between camps, we were hoping this would be a great fishing/swimming place but we were wrong. Do not camp on the north end, they don't have an area for fishing unless you have a canoe and even then, I'm not sure how good it would be, you have to go to fish lake, and swimming there isn't the best. Avoid campsite 150 at all costs! It is next to the trash amd restrooms which I thought would be convenient except for the fact that the yellow jackets were so overwhelmingly present that is was impossible to eat, cook, or hang out around our camp without getting dive-bombed by 10-20 at a time. When we asked the rangers if there was anything they could do, they were rude and told us to just ignore them. Which was impossible! Everytime you ate, Cooked or opened any kind of meat/dairy products as well as trying to pack or wash dishes we would get swarmed by them. I am royally disappointed that I paid 150$ for a large(wasn't large at all) spot that I could not relax in unless it was nightfall, or I was in the tent or car. I would have asked for a refund had it not been for it being labor day weekend. I will never camp here again, I would rather go...