FALL 2026
Your Chelan County Fall
starts here
Golden larches on the ridgelines. Apples picked the morning you eat them. A wine harvest that runs clear through October — and room to breathe in every town.
WELCOME TO FALL
The whole valley turns gold
Autumn is Chelan County at its best and its least crowded. The larches go gold above Mission Ridge, the orchards run flat out through harvest, and every tasting room, cidery and farm stand is pouring the year’s work.
Long light, cool mornings, warm afternoons. It is also the easiest season to eat well here — the fruit hasn’t travelled, and neither have you.
HAPPENING NOW
Fall in Chelan County
OCT 2–3 · 9–10 · 16–17
Leavenworth Oktoberfest
Three weekends of Bavarian bands, alpine beer and the keg tapping at the Festhalle.
OCT 3 · 10 · 17
Tamarack Festival
Three Saturdays of guided larch hikes, live music and a gear swap at Mission Ridge.
SEP 19 – OCT 31
Pumpkin Patch at Chelan Valley Farms
U-pick patch in Manson. Free admission, free parking, tractor rides at weekends.
TASTE THE SEASON
Eat and drink your way through harvest
Where to Eat
195 places — Bavarian beer halls, orchard cafés, taquerias and lakeside patios.
Where to Drink
Tasting rooms, cideries and breweries pouring through the busiest six weeks of their year.
FROM THE JOURNAL
Fall reading
SEASON GUIDE
Fall in Chelan County: meet me there this fall
Why the shoulder season is the one locals wait for, and where to spend it.
HARVEST
Markets & farms
U-pick orchards, roadside stands and Saturday markets across the valley.
PEOPLE
Growing the valley: Yaksum Canyon Truck Farm
A Cashmere grower on soil, season length and selling what you pick that morning.
SEVEN COMMUNITIES
Explore the Cities
Each town has its own flavor — pick a basecamp and branch out.
Chelan
Leavenworth
Wenatchee
Cashmere
Manson
Entiat
Plain Valley
Stehekin
MAKE A DAY OF IT
Fall Things to Do
On the Trail
Arts & Culture
Family Fun
Food & Drink
Shopping
Plan your fall getaway
Time a visit around the larch turn, book a harvest weekend, and find the right place to come back to at the end of the day.
