Washington State's Rite of Passage: The Cascade Loop

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

 

Washington State Highway 20 runs from Anacortes on the tip of Fidalgo Island through the 90-million-year-old high terrain that separates wet and windy west Washington from the drier, flatter land beyond. The drive is called the Cascade Loop and, according to Rob Thorlakson, marketing director of Sun Mountain Resort, driving this loop is a rite of passage for those who live on Seattle's sheltered shores. If you go, you are traveling through history. The history of the state, of their country for some. The history of their families for others.

Incongruous Towns

The loop, which stretches 400 miles around the Cascades, should be savored slowly. It's a fun drive into the most complex and least understood geology in North America, but it's also a journey into the heart of rural America past clapboard churches, red barns, flower-bedecked stone walls, deserted sawmills, rickety vegetable stands, and old-world country stores in villages still clinging to the 1950s. Along the route, you'll find pleasant luxury resorts, interesting towns reinvented to appeal to tourists, and several attractions to lure them from their cars.

Towns that stand out include Anacortes, named for the wife of the first postmaster, now delightfully decorated with wall murals by local artist Bill Mitchell. About 130 miles east lies Winthrop, one of two towns in Washington State with a new identity. When Winthrop lost its sawmill, a benevolent mill owner staked the town for an architectural makeover in 1972, transforming it into a Wild West replica. Streets have wooden sidewalks, stores have hitching rails, and bars have seats that were saddles. The locals say "Howdy," and visitors look around wondering when the stagecoach will come in.

Leavenworth, 125 miles south of Anacortes, reinvented itself as a Bavarian village 50 years ago. It lost its railroad in the 1920s, limped through the Great Depression, then rediscovered itself in the early 1960s as a Black Forest-like tourist attraction. The transformation, completed without government funding, has become a way of life for the 2000 locals, many of whom have visited the Bavarian region of Germany to further develop what they have created. More than a million visitors a year find their way to this delightful aberration in the central Cascades.

Friendly Accommodations

The drive between those towns passes two other interesting summer holiday towns: Wenatchee and Chelan. Chelan, on the lake of the same name, has an atmosphere more Swiss than Bavarian. Both towns have extensive vineyards located in one of Washington's best wine-growing areas. Visiting the wineries has become one of the state's top attractions.

The magnificent hiking and mountain biking may entice most visitors, but other outdoor activities include gliding over the Methow Valley in a Morning Glory Balloon piloted by owner Kurt Oakley, or careening down the Wenatchee River rafting with Gary Planagan's Osprey Rafting.

Finding a place to stay in the Cascades is never a problem. Leavenworth has many wonderful inns, including the Best Western Icicle Inn located downtown with its own cinema and close proximity to rafting. Downtown Chelan has Campbell's Resort a family favorite for over a century. Five miles away in Manson is the waterfront family-oriented Wapato Point Resort.

To savor the mountains, stay at the Firestone Inn at Wilson Ranch in Mazama just short of Winthrop where some of the mystique of area pioneer Jack Wilson may rub off on you. Or drive a few miles above Winthrop to reach Sun Mountain Lodge which is particularly proud of its 5000-bottle wine cellar. Dining in its restaurant as the sun sets over the Methow Valley is surely a lasting memory of the Cascade Loop.