Beebe Springs Wildlife Area

I wanted to get out for a relatively easy hike with my puppy, as he seemed tired from doggy day care the day before (and we did a decent hike in the Chelan Gorge the day before that), so I decided to head down to Beebe Springs while my Discover Pass was still valid. I was curious to see if there were any wildflowers popping, and while there were a little, it wasn't nearly as much as I had seen in the Chelan Gorge.

It had been quite awhile since I had hiked in this part of the Beebe Springs Wildlife Area (I have hiked the upper section a couple of times recently), and I decided to head down the Discovery Loop trail, as last time we had walked around the LaChappelle and Grasslands trails. The Discovery Loop trail is a nice wide gravel path and easy going.

Start of the hike

I saw what I thought at first was an arrowleaf balsamroot at the start of the trail, but it looked a little different. I now believe it is actually Carey's balsamroot instead. Surprisingly, I did not see another Carey's balsamroot nor an arrowleaf balsamroot on the rest of the hike.

Carey's balsamroot

I continued along the trail, and let my puppy Summit do his usual sniffing. Fairly quickly we came to the junction with the North Spur Trail where there was a worker in a truck spraying water on a small burn area. I saw some other recent burn areas further along in the hike; I'm guessing there was some invasive species they wanted to eradicate and burned the area? Anyways, I continued along the North Spur Trail and eventually found a short side trail down to the riverbank, where my dog could drink some water.

Columbia River

golden currant

I came back on the North Spur trail and continued along the Discovery Loop, finding some Oregon grape along the way that was just starting to flower. I wasn't expecting the flowers to be yellow, so I didn't know what I was looking at until after the hike.

Oregon grape

Eventually I reached the end of the loop back near the parking lot. Checking my watch, I realized I hadn't even reached a mile, so I decided to continue onto the LaChappelle trail. The last time we had been here, a section of this trail was flooded and closed, however that was not the case today. Most of the trail is gravel, however there was a short section of dirt through a marshy area, which was part of the area closed last time.

There were a couple of streams draining into the Columbia, with a bridge over one of the larger streams. There was quite a bit of water pooled up on the side of the trail, and I could see something decently sized moving through the water. It was hard to make out what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was a fish. Given the shallow depths, I wasn't expecting to see a fish, especially one of that size.

Bridge on the LaChappelle Trail

Eventually I got onto the Grasslands trail, and made my way back to the car. I was hoping for some more wildflowers on the walk, but it was still nice to get out and get some exercise.

Back at home after a fun morning of solo mountain biking up at Echo Ridge, the family and I decided to head to Beebe Springs Wildlife Area for a quick hike. We had to head into Chelan for errands, and Beebe Springs is only a couple of miles outside of Chelan.

There are a couple of options in terms of where to start, and we opted to head down to the main parking lot by the Columbia River. There were only a couple of cars in the lot, not surprising given it was already in the high 80s by the time we arrived.

From the car we headed South on the LaChappelle trail, through what looked like a dense stand of willow shrubs. Shortly thereafter, there was a closed sign on the trail, as it looked like it was flooded, or had been recently, with a serious amount of mud and standing water.

Walking on the LaChapelle Trail in Beebe Springs

We backtracked and hopped on the Grasslands Trail, passing by a cool metal statue of a Native American riding a horse. Farther along the trail there were more metal statues of Native American women working the fields, and there was signage along the way, providing history of the area.

Cool statue on the Grasslands Trail

More statues along the Grasslands Trail

We passed over the Beebe Springs Creek, and the trees lining the creek provided a brief respite from the sun. Much as expected on a summer day, it was hot! We eventually reached Frank’s pond, which is open for kids to fish. And indeed there was one youngster trying his luck at fishing as we passed by. We didn’t spot any fish in the crystal clear water, however we did notice a frog sitting in the pond.

Frank's pond in Beebe Springs

Frog relaxing in Frank's pond

Headind down to the LaChappelle Trail

In search of some shade on this hot summer day

We headed down a set of stairs and connected back onto the LaChappelle Trail, following that South until it became overgrown near the Beebe Bridge. Turning around, we decided to look for a shaft spot to cool down, eat a little food, and drink lots of water. Near Frank’s pond there was a large informational stand, which provided some much needed shade.

Back onto the Grasslands Trail, we made our way back to the car. We passed a couple of places to sit, and noticed how none of them were in the shade.

Bench in Beebe Springs

A nice summer stroll along the trails at Beebe Springs. We didn’t get much of a view of the Columbia River along the trails we took, but it was a great place for a family hike, and I enjoyed learning more about the area that is our new home.