Within the next three weeks, three separate schedules close down the powerhouse end of Chelan Falls. Chelan PUD's pipe crews on Chelan Falls Road stop for the winter on October 15. Chelan Falls Powerhouse Park ends its day-use season on October 31. The game-fish season on the lower Chelan River ends the same day. After that, Chelan Falls Park is the community's only riverfront, and it's the one spot along this stretch that got a rebuilt shoreline in the past year.
That makes the winter question in Chelan Falls a narrow one. Day use at Chelan Falls Park runs year-round, and the rest of this post covers how that park now meets the river and what the closed-up powerhouse end will look like when it reopens.
Three clocks, one end of town
The three schedules come from two different agencies, and each answers to its own reasons. In date order:
- October 15. Chelan PUD said in its September 2 traffic notice that the pipe project between the Chelan Falls Acclimation Facility and the City of Chelan Treatment Plant "is expected to wrap up for the winter on Oct. 15." Crews generally worked Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- October 31. The Chelan Falls Powerhouse Park page lists both day use and restrooms as April 1 through October 31, 7 a.m. to dusk.
- October 31. In the WDFW pamphlet rules for the Chelan River, the stretch from the railroad bridge to the Chelan PUD safety barrier below the powerhouse has an "other game fish" season that runs from the Saturday before Memorial Day through October 31.
Powerhouse Park at 200 Powerhouse Road covers 20 acres, with a picnic shelter that has no power, a restroom and a swimming area. It's a summer park by design, and it has also been one of the work zones. The PUD notice described one-lane traffic and short delays near the park entrance starting September 8. Once the pipe was in the ground inside the park, crews were to move down Chelan Falls Road toward the treatment plant, with traffic control and one-lane closures "for a week or two" starting in mid-September.
So once October 31 has passed, the park is closed for the season, the river section next to it is closed to fishing, and the construction between them is paused. All three will come back in spring on their own schedules.
What the one-lane stretch was building
The PUD's traffic notice called it a new underground pipe. The project's environmental paperwork is more specific. Chelan PUD's SEPA Determination of NonSignificance, dated February 6, 2026, describes the main piece of work as a new force main sewer line that would carry process waste:
"from the Chelan Falls Acclimation Facility's radial flow clarifiers directly into the City of Chelan's sewage treatment plant instead of being discharged into the Chelan River."
The facility's waste will go to the city's treatment plant, and that discharge into the Chelan River will stop. The same document gives the scale. The line is 4-inch HDPE pipe, 4,420 linear feet long, laid an average of 4 feet below grade in a trench about 2 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Where it crosses the Chelan River, the pipe hangs from the bottom of the bridge alongside existing utility lines.
The project also includes a new pump for an existing lift station and the demolition and filling of a waste abatement pond of about 1,350 square feet inside the acclimation facility's footprint. In total it disturbs about 10,190 square feet of ground.
The timeline has already moved once. The SEPA checklist had construction starting in summer 2026 and finishing by the end of the year. By June 15, 2026, a Chelan PUD commission update listed the "Chelan Falls Hatchery Wastewater Force Main" as "Anticipated Summer 2026 – Spring 2027." The September notice then set the October 15 pause. Spring 2027 is the latest published target. The PUD hasn't announced a restart date, so the one-lane stretch could be back on Chelan Falls Road anytime in spring.
The park that stays open has a new edge
Chelan Falls Park is the larger of the two parks and the only one open year-round. That's also where the PUD spent last fall on the riverbank.
The PUD announced the work on September 18, 2025. It was a bank stabilization project along the Columbia River, meant "to prevent further erosion from changing river flows, and the impact of waves and recreation." During construction, the north parking lot closed for equipment and shoreline access was restricted. The sport courts, restrooms, boat launch and other day-use facilities stayed open off the south lot. The Wenatchee World covered the project's start with the same plan: native plants, river cobble and a designated access point.
The Chelan PUD 2025 Annual Report records the work as done. Crews "stabilized and rehabilitated about 417 feet of shoreline along the Columbia River at Chelan Falls Park," planted native plants, installed river cobble, "and established a designated river access point for park visitors." The original notice said planting would resume in spring, though the PUD hasn't posted an update confirming that later planting.
The PUD hasn't published a description of the access point's design, such as whether it's steps, a ramp or a cobble slope. The plan is clear, though. Rather than going in along the whole bank, visitors now reach the water at one designated spot on a cobble-and-native-plant bank. After October 31, that's the main shoreline access open to the public at Chelan Falls.
What Chelan Falls Park posts for winter
The Chelan Falls Park page gives the park's size and seasonal schedule. The schedule is short, and some of what people will ask about this winter isn't on it.
- Day use: year-round, 7 a.m. to dusk.
- Boat launch: year-round, daylight hours. It's a two-lane launch, and the park also lists short-term boat moorage.
- Picnic shelter: April 1 to October 1, so it's already done for the year.
- Restrooms and showers: listed as amenities, with no seasonal dates.
- Courts and fields: pickleball courts, a tennis court, sports fields, horseshoe pits and playground equipment are listed, also with no seasonal dates.
- Size and trail: 33 acres, with a shoreline trail and a swimming area.
The page doesn't say when or whether water service or the restrooms shut off for winter. For a cold-weather visit, the posted hours cover the gates, the launch and the grounds. Bathroom access in December isn't covered.
Fishing at the confluence closes out with the parks
This section mostly heads off a misreading. On September 29, 2026, WDFW issued an emergency rule opening coho retention on the upper Columbia from September 30 through October 15. The daily limit is six fish, with no more than two adult Chinook and four coho, and sockeye must be released. That opening covers Priest Rapids Dam to Rock Island Dam only. Chelan Falls is upriver, in the Rocky Reach to Wells reach.
In the Columbia River rules, last updated October 5, 2026, salmon fishing in that reach ran only July 1 through August 31, with a 12-inch minimum and a daily limit of four. Chinook and coho retention were closed, and steelhead is closed year-round. That leaves no salmon or steelhead fishery listed off Chelan Falls Park this fall.
On the lower Chelan River, the stretch from the railroad bridge to the PUD safety barrier allows game fish at statewide size and daily limits through October 31, with all trout released. Hatchery steelhead is closed through that same period. Above the safety barrier, all the way to Lake Chelan, the river is closed waters for all species. WDFW's emergency rules page lists only the rules currently in effect, and it's the place to check before a trip, since date-limited actions come and go. The regulation summaries here are general information and not legal advice, so confirm the current WDFW rules for your exact spot and date before you fish.
On November 1, the powerhouse end has no open park, no open fishing season and no construction under way. Chelan Falls Park is still open, from 7 a.m. to dusk, with a launch that runs in daylight and a 417-foot bank finished last year.
If you follow Chelan Falls closely enough to notice which parking lot is closed and what's under the road, Find Your Chelan is glad to talk through how projects like the spring force-main restart and the restored riverbank affect properties along Chelan Falls Road. Start Your Lake Chelan Search with Lukas, who keeps track of PUD work and seasonal schedules all year.
