| Lake Chelan State Park is a 127-acre camping park on the forested south shore of Lake Chelan. The park has 6,000 feet of shoreline, lakeside views and expansive lawns for strolling and playing. The park gets an annual average rainfall of 11 inches. Summer tends to be hot and dry. Annual average snowfall is 42 inches. A coniferous forest and a lake provide respite from summer heat in this Eastern Washington park. A large, sandy beach and boating opportunities attract visitors. Daily ferry service is available to the roadless community at the head of the lake. In the winter the watercraft launch is open weekends and holidays only, depending on water level. The park has one single-lane launch with a nearby 28-car parking lot that fills rapidly on weekends. The park offers 495 feet of dock, some of it near the launch and some of it at the opposite end of the park near lakeside camping. The lake was carved by two competing glaciers, the Chelan Glacier and the continental ice sheet. Their back-and-forth movement created the broad lower lake and narrow upper lake. Native Americans used this site as a home and hunting area for many years. The name "Chelan" is a Salish Indian word meaning both "lake" and "blue water." The location of a cabin owned by John Stevenson is visible in the park. One of the earliest white settlers in the area, Stevenson was a colorful trapper, blacksmith and ferry operator. He was the first postmaster on the southshore. In 1880, Col. John Merriam established a military post on the shores of Lake Chelan. Civilian settlers began arriving in 1886, and the town was incorporated in 1902. According to local lore, Lake Chelan was used as a lure in a real estate scandal of the 1940's. Unsuspecting buyers were sold inferior property in the mistaken belief they were buying property on the shores of Lake Chelan, or so the story goes. The real estate company, when accused, refused to acknowledge ownership. As a matter of public record, 124 acres of Lake Chelan State Park was acquired through a court settlement against a company named Babco, Inc. in 1943. |
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