The scenery here was nothing short of gorgeous. I snapped a photo of a river edged by trees, the water glinting in morning light. That’s the Wenatchee River, cutting through this fertile valley and giving life to the orchards spilling down from the slopes above including Peshastin.
This tiny town has roots deep in the pioneer era, courtesy of the Peshastin Ditch, dug by settlers around 1889 to irrigate those orchards. Without it, this semi-arid desert wouldn’t be full of fruit trees and farming and would likely smell more like dust than apples. The ditch, and those orchards, are still the backbone of the place.
Today, Peshastin is modest in size: Just one elementary school, a library, maybe a taco truck or two, and the kind of small-town heart you don’t find in the big city. It’s also just five miles from Leavenworth (not THAT Leavenworth), so if Bavarian architecture and brats call your name, you’re close.
Peshastin sits at the foot of the Peshastin Pinnacles, a 34-acre state park famous for sandstone spires that look like natural cathedral towers. Hikers and climbers flock here for sweeping vistas of orchards, mountains, and, yes, the same Wenatchee River winding past your train window.
Small town, big river, even bigger views.
