Wildlife

Open 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:

Big game

A short drive north on Highway 97/A out of Wenatchee will take you into bighorn sheep country. They are often seen close to the highway.

Ride the Lady of the Lake ferry up Lake Chelan and you’ll often see bighorn sheep and mountain goats on the steep, rocky shore.

Birds

Eagles, osprey, hawks and herons can be spotted up and down the Columbia, Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow and Okanogan rivers.

The 11-mile Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail in Wenatchee has lots of birds and areas to view them. Walla Walla Point Park and Horan Natural Area are good places to start.

The Beebe Springs Natural Area along Highway 97, northeast of Chelan, is an easy stop off the road and offers blinds for bird viewing. Racoons and beavers also reside in the area.

Leavenworth’s Enchantment Park and Blackbird Island offer 2.5 miles of waterfront trails with opportunities to see osprey, eagles, gray catbirds, hummingbirds, yellow warblers, cedar waxwings and more.

A section of the Great Washington State Birding Trail known as the Coulee Corridor stretches between Moses Lake and Grand Coulee in Grant County. 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 late summer and fall, when salmon return.

They are easily seen from Enchantment Park and Blackbird Island in Leavenworth.

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.

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.

World photo/ Mike Bonnicksen People gather to watch as a Creature Craft raft goes over Tumwater Dam in Tumwater Canyon. The team is in the area through Memorial Day making runs down the Wenatchee River through Tumwater Canyon.