Old West Lives On In Small Town Of Winthrop Summer Season Of Outdoor Recreation Kicks Off With ‘Forty-Niner Days’

Springtime in the Methow Valley is a season of wildflowers, flowing streams, grazing horses and towering scenic peaks that send travelers digging for their video cameras.

Nowhere else do all of those attractions blend together better than at Winthrop on Highway 20 at the eastern end of the North Cascades Highway. The best-known restored and restyled Old West town in Washington state, Winthrop is a prime starting point for trail rides, fishing, river rafting, camping and a variety of other recreation activities.

Each year’s first major celebration in town is the “Forty-Niner Days” festival on Mother’s Day weekend, May 13 and 14, made even more colorful in combination with the Washington Outfitters and Guides Association’s annual Packers Rendezvous.

Saturday morning, an old fashioned parade passes through the Old West-styled town. Crowds on the boardwalks applaud and wave at the passing bands, carriages, buckskinclad “mountain men” and local cowboy outfitters with strings of pack animals.

Afterward, the crowds amble the short distance to the town park where more than a dozen packers have set up cook tents to serve authentic trail camp meals to hungry visitors. People have an afternoon to enjoy watching Dutch oven cooking at its best and chatting with the chefs. Some trail chefs stack their ovens six high, filled with roasts, vegetables, cobblers and cakes.

There’ll be outfitters to talk to and brochures to take home describing soft adventure horsepacking trips into Winthrop’s nearby mountain wilderness areas, the Pasayten and the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth recreation area, as well as other parts of Washington state.

The crowd always enjoys the horse and mule packing demonstrations by the U.S. Forest Service on Saturday and the outfitters’ packing competition on Sunday, following the Cowboy Breakfast.

Auctions of western artwork, Dutch ovens and packing and fishing trips, among other items, are held both days. Saturday night, people gather in the Winthrop Auditorium, the Big Red Barn at the city park, for the traditional “Evening With The Outfitters.” Visitors are entertained by a variety of country music, cowboy poetry and dancing.

Downtown, main street is filled with unusual shops lining the boardwalks of Winthrop, including The Last Trading Post’s collection of Old West antiques, modern-day hats, souvenirs, books and trinkets.

Across the street, adjacent to the Winthrop Palace, is the Winthrop Brewing Co., a new brewpub featuring brewer Dan Yingling’s pale ale, bitter ale and dark porter ale, plus a menu of soup and sandwiches, chili, hot dogs, sausages and baked potatoes. There’s inside seating, plus a deck overlooking the river and a beer garden on the river.

The popular Emporium at the center of town, housing a grocery and specialty gift shops, was rebuilt after Winthrop’s well publicized fire in 1993 and once again looks much as it has for decades. Just down the street is Almquist’s Old Time Pottery, creator of mugs, teapots and dishware that’s made only in Winthrop.

The White Buck Trading Co. has western wear, including hats and buckles, and Hildabob’s is a center for clothing and original western artwork by noted painters.

Winthrop Mountain Sports rents and sells sports equipment to match every season in the Methow. Restaurants cater to a wide range of tastes, from Sam’s Place to the Winthrop Palace, Three-Fingered Jack’s and the Duck Brand Hotel and Restaurant.

Osprey River Adventures offers whitewater and float trips on the Methow and Chewack Rivers around Winthrop, as does Downstream River Runners and Alpine Whitewater.

There are several major celebrations during the year, including a rhythm and blues festival, a rodeo and the Antique Auto Rallye on the second weekend in September that includes a parade of antique and classic vehicles through town.

In between celebrations and special activities, Winthrop also attracts people who love the fascinating history of the Methow Valley. There were no white settlers in the region until 1883, only migrating Native Americans who stopped to fish for salmon in the Methow River. In 1891 Easterner Guy Waring, who named the town for Massachusetts’ colonial governor, John Winthrop, started his Methow Trading Co. - which operated for 49 years - and opened the first post office.

Most of the town was built after 1893, including Waring’s home, built in 1897. Today his log home is open to the public as the Shafer Museum, filled with attractive displays of tools, clothing and memorabilia from Winthrop’s early days. A recent expansion at the museum added several adjacent buildings, including a well-stocked old country store. Displays of old mining equipment have been set up outdoors.

Since the history of the town is relatively short, many of the early buildings erected in Winthrop are still being used, some of them spruced up to fit the town’s new “old” image. Other aging structures languish in fields on the outskirts of town, turned grey by the sun and wind, providing welcome scenic opportunities for artists and photographers.

Despite the tourists, this is still an authentic cowboy town. Ranchers around Winthrop tend herds of cattle and care for their horses as a way of life. Occasionally, cattle are even herded down the main street. But, most of the time, it’s filled with cars, bicycles, RVs and browsing vacationers.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go Getting there From Spokane, start the 200-mile drive to Winthrop by heading west on Highway 2, then north on Highway 97 along the Columbia River to Pateros. Turn west on Highway 153 and travel the scenic Methow Valley through Methow, Carlton and Twisp to Winthrop. Saddling up If the mountains around Winthrop entice you to a closer look, try one of the many outfitters who offer pack trips into the forests and wilderness areas near Winthrop. They’re the same cowboys who tend cattle in the area and they love sharing a slice of their lives and stories of the North Cascades with visitors. Area packers include Claude Miller’s North Cascade Safari; Aaron Lee Burkhart’s Early Winters Outfitting; Steve Darwood’s Cascade Wilderness Outfitters in Carlton; John Doran’s North Cascade Outfitters in Twisp and Brian Varrelman’s Sawtooth Outfitters in Pateros - all local residents who know the trails well and are used to accommodating even greenhorn riders. Also, the Chewack River Ranch, a working cattle ranch, offers horseback riding, mountain biking and a hot tub for the end of the day of outdoor activities. Things to do Just outside Winthrop is the Bear Creek Golf Course. The area has numerous rainbow trout fishing lakes and a state park. The quiet Davis Lake Resort campground, open for fishing in early September, is one of the best rainbow trout lakes in the area and offers both tent and RV campsites with water and power, restrooms, showers and boat rentals. Where to stay Lodging in the area includes downtown RV facilities at the Pine Near Trailer Park, across from the Shafer Museum on the hill above main street. There are 26 full hookup sites with pullthroughs in the grassy park, plus a laundromat and restrooms. The Old Tyme Fiddlers entertain with jam sessions during the Forty-Niner Days. Close by, there are also RV facilities at Derry’s Resort and 5-Y Resort, both on Pearrygin Lake north of Winthrop, the KOA Campground on the Methow River east of town and at Big Twin Lake RV Park west of town, among others. Above Winthrop is Sun Mountain Lodge, an internationally known resort that features fine dining, huge stone fireplaces, a swimming pool, hot tubs, lounge, exercise room and a 360-degree panoramic view of the North Cascades and the Methow Valley. There are cozy cabins at Winthrop Mountain View Chalets, comfortable rooms at The Virginian Motel and the Winthrop Inn, all on the east side of town. On the west side, Wolf Ridge Resort’s log units and townhouses have scenic views of the mountains, plus a swimming pool. Nearby is the newly renovated River Run Inn & Resort, with an indoor pool, facing the Methow River. A few miles farther west is the Mazama Country Inn, with family-style dining, a hot tub and sauna. Whom to call The Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 39, Winthrop, WA 98862 (509-996-2125), provides information about services and area activities. Lodging and RV resources are available by calling (800) METHOW-1.