Gallagher Flat Wildlife Rec Area
It is a risk of van-dwelling; pulling into your planned overnight stop only to see signs posted prohibiting overnight parking. That is what happened when I pulled into the Walmart just outside of Chelan, Washington. I’m not about to break the city ordinance, so I set out to find another place to overnight. Google-maps gives me a great bird’s eye view of the area. And that is how I found Gallagher Flat Wildlife Rec Area just outside of Chelan.
The end of the dirt road, and the only place large enough to turn around.
Google showed a few dirt roads leading around the rec area so I set out to check it out. As luck would have it, there are no gates and no signs prohibiting camping/parking so I set off down the dirt road to find my spot. Abut a 1/2 mile out I was met by a very low hanging tree, effectively blocking me from going any further into the rec area, and I was on a single lane dirt road with no place to turn around the van, let alone a van with a trailer in tow. I weighed my options and chose to back it up a hundred yards where it was level (enough) to get the turn around done. My van’s power steering screamed and groaned, but it pulled through.
Sadly, people do not pick up after themselves
I settled in at the next area that I could pull the van off the dirt road. Guarded by a few trees and shrubbery from the highway, I have had a peaceful afternoon, evening, and night. I hiked out to the end of the dirt road (I’m happy I did not continue forward, the road gets very rutted out here) to find a great spot to camp… if it were not for all the trash.
During my stay here, three other cars went down the road and came back past a few minute later. Not much to see down there, although this would be a great place to bird-watch. All in all the area served it’s purpose; a place to stay overnight without hassle of a Walmart parking lot. I wouldn’t recommend it to large RV’s or to those towing large trailers, but for us van or cab-over types it is a peaceful spot.
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