North Central

North Central Washington covers the eastern slope of the Cascades, the long Lake Chelan trough, and the irrigated plateau that runs east toward the Grand Coulee. Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties make up the region. The terrain is dramatic — alpine peaks at the western edge, deep glacial lakes, basalt-walled coulees, and the orchard country of the Wenatchee and Columbia valleys. Wenatchee anchors the southern end as the Apple Capital and Cascade gateway; Leavenworth runs the Bavarian-themed mountain town just upriver; Lake Chelan stretches 50 miles into the North Cascades from the town of Chelan; Grand Coulee Dam and the Banks Lake reservoir anchor the central plateau; Moses Lake and Ephrata sit on the irrigated farm country to the south; Okanogan County reaches north to the Canadian border with the Methow Valley and Winthrop’s Old West main street. Trips here run long because the distances are real. Most itineraries cluster around Lake Chelan, the Methow, or the Wenatchee–Leavenworth corridor. Summer is the high season; the Methow and Stevens Pass shift to skiing once snow arrives.