Camas Meadows

Blog for Camas Meadows Lodge™. Located on Camas Meadows Natural Area Preserve outside of Leavenworth, Washington. http://www.camasmeadowslodge.com All materials and photos copyrighted 2006-2017©

Monday, March 09, 2009

Where is Camas Meadows?

When we get inquiries about Camas Meadows Lodge the first question people ask is "Where is Camas Meadows"?

It was not always this way.

At one time everybody in the Northwest knew where Camas Meadows was located. Camas Meadows was one of those special places that everybody knew and loved. Residents of eastern Washington would come up to Camas to camp and get out of the summer heat. Camas Meadows is a good ten to fifteen degrees cooler than Wenatchee.

The meadow would be filled with campsites. I am sure the sound of kid's laughter drifted across the meadow. Like all special places, stories were told and retold about Camas Meadows and became legends.

For the story on Camas Meadows and the legends it inspired, please see the stories about Mountain Goat and Coyote's Racetrack in "The Wenatchee Valley and its First Peoples", written by Richard Scheuerman.

In the early 1800's, two eastern guys came out west writing the first guidebook about the Northwest. They never did come closer than a couple hundred miles to Camas Meadows, but their guidebook did start changing the Northwest. We recommend that you read the University of Nebraska version of the Lewis and Clark Journals.

The Wenatchi Indians would come up here in the summer to harvest the Camas root for which the meadow is named. Camas Meadows was a special place for the Wenatchi Indians for thousands of years. It is still a special place.


The knoll that figured so prominently in the story about Mountain Goat and Coyote is directly across from Camas Meadows Lodge. The "white fog" that drifted across Camas Meadows in the story still makes it appearance after rain storms during the spring and summer months.

Come experience the legend that is Camas Meadows.

We are starting to get snow followed by clearing skies, but spring is definitely just around the corner. The snowfalls now melt away in a day or two rather than adding to the snowpack.

With daylight savings time, it is easier to get up and experience the magic of Camas Meadows in the morning. But even if you sleep in, the view is still pretty good at mid-morning. All the weekends in March are still open.

Oh, Camas Meadows is also known as CamasLand on the Forest Service maps. We are just up Camas Creek road from Highway 97. Twenty minutes from Leavenworth and thirty minutes from Wenatchee.