Wenatchee, WA

Wenatchee occupies the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, where irrigation from the two waterways supports extensive agriculture in the surrounding valley. The Chelan County seat had 35,508 residents in 2020 and faces East Wenatchee across the Columbia. Its name comes from the Wenatchi people who inhabited the confluence at European-American contact. The Wenatchee Reach was shaped by the Ice Age Missoula floods. The city hosts Washington State University’s Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, connecting university research to the region’s agriculture, and the annual Washington State Apple Blossom Festival runs from late April into early May. Along both banks of the Columbia, the ten-mile Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail passes through the area’s riverfront parks.