East Wenatchee: The landing site of history

World file photo/Don Seabrook Former and present Eastmont High School students gather for a pickup game of futsal in November 2020 at the court at the Eastmont Community Park in East Wenatchee. The artificial turf field, smaller than a soccer field, opened up after two years of planning led by East Wenatchee resident Alex Cruz. It’s surrounded by fencing, but open to the public. An official futsal ball is smaller, heavier and doesn’t bounce as high as a normal soccer ball.

East Wenatchee is a city brimming with modern and ancient history.

The East Wenatchee Clovis site, where 11,000-yearold stone tools were discovered by a local farmer, is a historical marvel. The site has since been refilled, but not before uncovering important clues about the Clovis people in Washington state.

More recently, East Wenatchee was the resting place of Miss Veedol, the Bellanca Skyrocket that crash-landed near the city in 1931, after becoming the first airplane to cross the Pacific Ocean nonstop. A replica of the bright orange, singleengine aircraft flies over the Wenatchee Valley on special occasions.

The area near Pangborn Memorial Airport — named for one of the two pilots who flew the Miss Veedol — is now home to data centers, attracted by relatively inexpensive hydropwer and available land.

East Wenatchee may be a bit drier than its more forested counterpart, but it isn’t lacking in natural beauty. Gaze out across the Columbia and you will be greeted by a valley-wide panoramic view of Wenatchee, as well as the stunning landmark of Saddle Rock and the surrounding foothills.

Visitors should take a drive up Badger Mountain Road, five miles northeast of East Wenatchee. The road features spectacular views of the Wenatchee Valley and the Stuart Mountain Range. East Wenatchee is also home to the biggest indoor mall in the Wenatchee Valley, tasty restaurants and lots of nearby golf.

The 26-acre Eastmont Community Park, at North Georgia Avenue and Grant Road, provides recreation opportunities as well, including a pool, baseball, soccer and futsol fields, basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, restrooms, a playground and splash pad.

The sun sets on disc golf players playing the eighth hole at Tedford Park in late October 2020 in East Wenatchee. World photo/Don Seabrook

World photo/Don Seabrook The sun sets on fog and clouds in the Wenatchee Valley in late December in this view from Badger Mountain Road above East Wenatchee.