Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

[Begester]

Hello fellow boaters.

Has anyone been to Lake Chelan in Eastern Washington? I just booked 2 campsites at 25 Mile Creek State Park and will be bringing my SeaRay 220DA with us for the trip. I'd love to get a few opinions on what to expect while we are there. How is the water? Is it going to be extremely crowded? I understand that the water is quite deep and cold, are there any areas or special "must see" places while we're there?

What is the lake like this time of year? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Happy Boating and cant wait for Summer!

 

[Jan_eva]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

Man that sounds fun i've never been to Chelan. I've got 2 sites at Sun Lakes just east of Chelan July 5th thru 10th. My sister goes every year so we decided to join her this year. We're taking my girlfriends 32' motorhome and our 20' Maxum. It's going to be a kick in the *****!

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

I boated there for many years.

Fuel can be tough to find and pricy, the water can be very cold early in the year, so don't expect to be doing much swimming, also the lake may be low at this time of year (not sure when they raise the level now), so some docks and beaches may not be useable.

The lake is about fifty miles long and there is a very interesting small town at the far end of the lake, there are no roads to it, so a boat or float plane is the only way to get there.

It can get very rough when the wind comes up in the afternoon, so if you're out when the wind comes up expect a slow and wet ride back to the launch.

It's great place to go boating, you should have a very good time.

 

[wanttofly]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

Going on a trip there this summer, we have family in Mason. As has already been said, very cold and windy. You should be able to see down atleast 10 feet. Interesting side note, heard a couple of years ago that they think they have found proof that there are under water caverns that go from there, under the Cascades and into Lake Washington.

Should be a great trip for you, have a great time.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

Since Lake Chelan is about 1,000 feet above sea level and Lake Washington is at about 25 feet, Chelan would drain rather rapidly if there were caverns linking the two.

 

[nplorson]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

I have never be to lake Chelan, but I have been to Lake Paragin, but not with my boat. I jsut got my boat the begining of the year and just got it all finished. Paragin is fun for swimming and is very warm. I have heard that Chelan is colder then most in the year. I am hoping to take a couple trips to Paragin and atleast one to Chelan this year. Any of you do any boating in the western part of the cascades? I live in Skagit county and we were at Baker Lake every weekend of last summer. It is small but a lot of fun. There are some cold spots in it but if you get into some of the eastern coves it is a lot warmer.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

I went past the lake a couple of days ago and it was very low, but there were several boats out fishing.

 

[nplorson]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

Ya, I guess they dont let it fill up till later in the summer. We never start going out there untill around the 4th or so. We were out this weekend at a couple other lakes though and it was a blast. I am hoping that this weekend is a hint of what the summer is going to be like.

 

[Begester]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

Thanks a million for the replies everyone, looking forward to this weekend! Does anyone know where I can find the lake levels and more specifically if the boat ramp will be open? We are staying at 25 mile creek, hopefully the beach activities will be open and the lake isnt too low for that.

I'm going to be coming from the Seattle area with my 220DA Sea Ray in tow, people tell me that I-90 to hwy 97 is the better way to go as opposed to Hwy 2 as the 2 is quite windy and steep at places, is this correct?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

I-90 is a better route over the mountains, but 97 is tight, twisty and somewhat steep in places also, so you don't gain much. Most people take 2 to get there, its not a problem on the way over, but on the way back traffiic can get very bad when getting closer to the west side before Monroe.


The place your staying should be able to supply you with launch info.

The beaches will just be much bigger with more sand, the water will be very cold there though. The water is much warmer near the town of Chelan, its much shallower and much farther away from the snow melt at that end of the lake.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Lake Chelan Memorial Day weekend

I wondered why the traffic was worse than normal on H-2 eastbound, It turned out that I-90 had a 4-5 hour wait to get over the mountians on Friday.

Hope you found a good route to get over to the Lake.