July 28, 2025 Edition

The Official 2025 Oktoberfest in Leavenworth program will be available in early September and as a digital flipbook on the Oktoberfest page at Leavenworth.org. 

We currently have some ad space available for Chamber members if you are looking for some increased visibility this fall.

$250 - Small Ad, 2.4"h x 3.6"w 

$450 - Large Ad, 5"h x 3.6"w

Only a few slots remain and the deadline for artwork is August 8th so act fast if you are interested by contacting Dana via this e-mail link.

The City of Leavenworth is currently accepting applications for this grant program. For 2026, there are two funding options: $125,000 for tourism-related activities and $50,000 from the General Fund for projects benefiting area residents. Applications are due September 3rd, 2025. Click the button to learn more and apply.

Weekend Summary:

This Friday, staff assisted visitors at Stuart Lake, and Eight Mile trailheads. Staff are now stationed at the Snow Lakes trailhead Friday-Monday due to high usage. Additionally, staff were stationed at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery on Saturday, educating 16 groups on the current river conditions and redirecting them to put in at the Icicle Bridge river access. The Hatchery parking lot will be locked for the remainder of the season, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service recommending that recreators do not float the river due to low water levels and the potential for harm to salmon spawning habitat.

Six volunteers from Marlin Handbell Ringers staffed the Stuart Lake, Eight Mile, and Icicle Gorge Trailheads. This weekend was busy, with volunteers counting 632 total vehicles parked at 1PM Saturday. Volunteers at Eight Mile trailhead notified emergency services of a stuck car leaking gasoline onto the road.

Another six volunteers from the Cascade Education Foundation were stationed at the E. Leavenworth Boat Launch, Barn Beach River Access, and Icicle Bridge River Access. Volunteers counted a record high of 78 vehicles in the parking lot at the Icicle Bridge put-in and along Icicle Road Saturday at 1PM. The City’s free shuttle continues to see heavy use.

Volunteer Impact:

• Visitor Interactions: 3260 (+248 from last week, +1167 from same week last year)
• Surveys Conducted: 134
• Trash Removed: 9.5, 30 Gallon Bags

Survey Highlights (134 respondents):

Visitor Origin:

• 85% of River users surveyed were not from Chelan County
• 91% of Trail users surveyed were not from Chelan County
• Our furthest survey respondent was visiting from Ukraine

Recreation Type:

• 31% of hikers surveyed were headed to Colchuck Lake, and an additional 28% were headed to the Enchantment Core zone
• 64% of river recreators were using tubes

 Conditions Reported:

• Volunteers found trash piles in restrooms, and extremely unsanitary conditions. Although not required to, MHR volunteers at Stuart Lake trailhead cleaned the facilities and removed garbage.
• Eight Mile, Stuart Lake and Colchuck trails all have downed logs. Snow Lakes trail has minor rockfall blocking part of the trail. Plan to spend additional time on the trail due to conditions.
• The forest service has been able to dig two new latrines at Colchuck Lake, but we still recommend bringing a WAG bag and packing out your own waste due to extremely high pressure on these toilets.

Post-Recreation Plans:

• 30% of respondents planned to visit a restaurant after their float or hike
• 40% of respondents planned to return home immediately after their activity

Transportation & Parking

• 17% of river recreators planned to use the City’s free shuttle (respondents who used a commercial outfitter are included in this statistic; usage among private river recreators is higher)
• The Chelan County Sheriff's Office is ticketing vehicles parked on either side of the road up to Stuart Lake trailhead. Infractions can reach up to $5000 and a Federal Misdemeanor charge if you are blocking access to emergency vehicles.

For more information about the program, or to register as a backup volunteer please email Matt @ Recreation@leavenworth.org.

Headlines

REMINDER: The numbers shown below are footfalls; the counting of the number of times a person walks by the camera, not the number of individual people that do so. The reports are based on the retail calendar for 2025. 

Sponsorship packages for Kinderplatz, Give a Schnitzel and Prost still available! 

Websites
Leavenworthchamber.org
Leavenworth.org

Our mailing address is:
Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce

PO Box 327
940 Highway 2 Suite B
Leavenworth, WA 98826-0327

If you have questions, please call us at (509)548-5807

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