O
pen your eyes and take a look around — you never know what you might find. Here in North Central Washington, wildlife is all around you, you just have to know where to look. If you are lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a black bear through the trees or spot an osprey dive into a river for a midday snack. The region holds an abundance of wildlife for viewing. You can find eagles and osprey along the Columbia River and its tributaries, bighorn sheep along Highway 97/A north of Wenatchee and deer pretty much anywhere. Stay long enough and look hard enough and you might even have a chance to watch the mountain goats that scale the sheer cliffs near the upper Wenatchee River, Entiat and Methow River valleys. Here are some tried-andtrue spots for wildlife:
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WENATCHEE VALLEY VISITORS GUIDE | SPRING & SUMMER 2022
Wildlife
Wenatchee has lots of birds and areas to view them. Walla Walla Point Park and Horan Natural Area are good places to start. Big game The Beebe Springs Natural A short drive north Area along Highway 97, on Highway 97/A out of northeast of Chelan, is an Wenatchee will take you into easy stop off the road and bighorn sheep country. They offers blinds for bird viewing. are often seen close to the Racoons and beavers also highway. reside in the area. Ride the Lady of the Leavenworth’s EnchantLake ferry up Lake Chelan ment Park and Blackbird and you’ll often see bighorn Island offer 2.5 miles of sheep and mountain goats on waterfront trails with opporthe steep, rocky shore. tunities to see osprey, eagles, gray catbirds, hummingbirds, Birds yellow warblers, cedar waxEagles, osprey, hawks wings and more. and herons can be spotted A section of the Great up and down the Columbia, Washington State Birding Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow Trail known as the Coulee and Okanogan rivers. Corridor stretches between The 11-mile Apple Capital Moses Lake and Grand Recreation Loop Trail in Coulee in Grant County.
World photo/Don Seabrook Moose regularly pass through the Wenatchee Valley. But keep your distance from all wild animals to keep it safe for you and the wildlife.
Hundreds of bird species can be found along the route, including Sandhill Cranes, Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Egrets. The Cassimer Bar Wildlife Area, at the confluence of the Columbia and Okanogan rivers, just off of Highway 97, is a great spot to see doublecrested cormorants, spotted sandpipers, turkey vultures, warblers, eastern kingbirds, western tanagers, blackheaded grosbeaks, and many other birds, along with beavers and amphibians. Visitors should turn off Highway 97 near milepost 264.
Fish
The fish hatcheries in Leavenworth, up the Entiat Valley, at Chelan Falls and at Winthrop are all good spots to see salmon in the
World photo/Don Seabrook After one osprey lands, the other will take off as a pair of birds trade off nesting duties over transmission power lines as seen from the Hobby Lobby parking lot in East Wenatchee. Local public utility districts maintain nesting poles in the area to encourage ospreys from building nests near the power lines, but the birds don’t always cooperate.
late summer and fall, when salmon return. They are easily seen from Enchantment Park and Blackbird Island in Leavenworth.
