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One of the swimming spots at Douglas Creek

For our second installment of our new series “Travel Unkonventionell” we visited the Douglas Creek/Palisades Area.  Located about 15 miles off of Highway 28, about half way between Wenatchee and Quincy, Palisades has long been a North Central Washington secret spot for camping, swimming, cliff jumping, and all other manners of rowdy behavior.

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The view from above: Looking down into the town of Palisades

There are few regulations and no paid campsites here-it’s pretty wide open and user groups vary.  This is the land of sage brush, sunshine, broken bottles, and bullets.

Douglas Creek is also the land of natural waterslides, lichen spotted basalt, and wide open desert; a landscape in sharp contrast to those just 30 miles to the west in Leavenworth.  The ability to jump in the car and drive from thickly forested mountains to the sun baked desert in less than an hour is one of the reasons we love to live where we do and this destination fits the bill.

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One of the swimming spots at Douglas Creek

For our second installment of our new series “Travel Unkonventionelle” we visited the Douglas Creek/Palisades Area.  Located about 15 miles off of Highway 28, about half way between Wenatchee and Quincy, Palisades has long been a North Central Washington secret spot for camping, swimming, cliff jumping, and all other manners of rowdy behavior.

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The view from above: Looking down into the town of Palisades

There are no regulations or paid campsites here-it’s pretty wide open and user groups vary.  This is the land of sage brush, sunshine, broken bottles, and bullets.

Douglas Creek is also the land of natural waterslides, lichen spotted basalt, and wide open desert; a landscape in sharp contrast to those just 30 miles to the west in Leavenworth.  The ability to jump in the car and drive from thickly forested mountains to the sun baked desert in less than an hour is one of the reasons we love to live where we do and this destination fits the bill.

While Palisades may not be so secret today, it is a beautiful attraction worthy of a visit for a good part of the year.  The area is great not only for summer days in the sun but it’s also a beautiful spot for viewing wildlife, fishing, fourbying, and hiking.  And, while Palisades will probably always enjoy a reputation as a getaway for partying, it’s relatively clean and well-kept thanks to the efforts of many people that have volunteered their time to clean it up.  As always, remember that if you pack it in, pack it out.

The town of Palisades is located in a deep basalt canyon whose walls tower and form large mesas.   According to the Douglas County PUD website, “It is now agreed upon that glacial flooding from Lake Missoula, between 10 and 15 thousand years ago, carved out the Moses Coulee and transformed the land on its way toward the Pacific Ocean.  The flood water that broke free from immense glacial dams in Idaho and Montana is said to have traveled at a rate of flow 60 times greater than that of the Amazon River.”

Settlers arrived in the Palisades area around the turn of the century and began farming and growing fruit trees, a practice that continues today.  Along with a handful of farms and old homesteads, Palisades also has an elementary school.  Sadly, the general store which also housed the local post office is no longer open yet sits on the main road as a testament to the town’s history.

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The now closed Palisades General Store

Douglas Creek can be accessed either by driving through Palisades, off of Highway 28, or from the opposite side, accessing the area from Waterville.  We chose to go through Palisades, so we can’t vouch for the alternative and as always, we recommend checking local conditions if possible before heading out as the road has been closed in the past.  The road coming from Palisades is primitive and involves a stream crossing, so go at your own risk and be prepared to take it slow if necessary.

Keep an eye out for wildlife when you visit Douglas Creek.  On our trip, we spotted trout, marmots, magpies, a kestrel, and signs of beavers.  Also known to frequent the area are porcupines, mule deer, rattlesnakes, and coyotes as well as a variety of birds and the occasional naked hippie.

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One of the free campsites/hangouts at Douglas Creek

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These pools were made for swimming and the cliffs are great for jumping, but do swim at your own risk and keep an eye on kids and dogs-this area requires some scrambling and wading depending on time of year.

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Basalt on the side of the road

Directions:

Directions from the north (Coming from Waterville):
Take State Highway 2 about eight miles east of Waterville and follow Road H southwest down Slack Canyon into Douglas Creek Creek canyon.

Directions from the south (Coming From Wenatchee):
Follow Highway 28 and turn onto Palisades Road and follow for about 10 miles. When the road turns east away from Douglas Creek, look for a left turn at the graveled Wagon Road.  Take this road approximately drive 1.5 miles.

While Douglas Creek is located on BLM land, most of the land in the area and along the access road is private property, so please remember to stay on public lands and mind all no trespassing signs.  And, a friendly wave as you pass by a local resident never hurts!

For more information on the history of the area: http://www.dcpud.org/Community/ThePalisadesCommunity.aspx