Visitor Center

WELCOME TO PATEROS! 
Recreation Basecamp for all Four Seasons 


CITY OF PATEROS


CITY OF PATEROS APPLE PIE JAMBOREE

FESTIVALS & FUN
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Pateros is famous for summer sun, July - Apple Pie Jamboree, and August - Classic Hydro Races. Check out the event calendar for small-town celebrations, like the annual Arbor Day Celebration and Christmas in the City. Stop in for Movies in the Park and the local market. Celebrate Native culture with a June Salmon Bake. Setup camp in Pateros (tent, RV, or hotel) and enjoy a waterfront-walk to the bakery before heading out to Activities & Attractions in Okanogan Country

PARKS & RECREATION

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 The City of Pateros boasts five riverfront parks - two boat launches accessing Lake Pateros (20-mile long reservoir of the Columbia River).  The city parks have two playgrounds, a swim beach, multiple access points for kayaks and paddle boards, picnic shelters, kitchens, restrooms, free showers, RV & tent camping, tennis & basketball courts and more. 

Park Maps - Copy (Click Map for PDF) 

ART - BE INSPIRED

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DECOMPRESS with the quietness of Lake Pateros. Visit the hometown and place of inspiration of Richard Beyers. Picnic on the shores of Lake Pateros in front of the foundry where his famous works were created. Visit "Fish Swimming over Old Pateros” on the Pateros Schools campus or take a boat down river and visit “Joe Billy Sloan” standing on a rock in the lake pointing at steelhead.

Art and architecture critic Rae Tufts wrote of Beyer’s work this way: “Richard Beyer’s Waiting for the Interurban is probably Seattle’s best-known public artwork of figurative realism… It is also unquestionably, the most popular piece of public art in town.”

Light up the old reservoirs with a handheld flashlight. Richard Elliot’s “Reflections on the Columbia” were originally installed in 1992 and restored in 2016 after the Carlton Complex Fires. The original model of the installation is on display at the museum.

“IN A SMIPLE UTILITARIAN OBJECT, the plastic reflector, central Washington artist Richard C. Elliot found a way to make magic." -Opening sentence to Sheila Farr's book Richard C. Elliott Primal Op.

"The Methow Fisherman", inspired by a circa 1930 photo of a Methow Indian mounted on horseback, gaffing salmon in the Methow River. The life size sculpture stands in a native landscape as a monument to the Methow Tribe. Artist Virgil "Smoker" Marchand, a Colville Tribe member, crafted landmark sculptures of Native Americans throughout the West. 

“Smoker was a strong voice for his people, and he brought a unique perspective to tribal government,” said Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville Tribe. 

Home of Native Cowboy Poet Harold Otto
WHEREAS, Harold Otto has deservedly been called "the Poet of Pateros" and the "Bard of the Methow" for such poetic verse as:
"For many years, I herded cows
Upon the dusty trail.
I've throwed my rope around their horns, 
And twisted on their tails...
...To a bunch of cows that seemed to know
Just how to make me mad.
And anything that bothered me
Just seemed to make them glad."

HISTORY BUFFS WELCOME
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In 2012, the City converted its firehall and jail to a museum. The initial collection was donated by Douglas PUD from the Wells Dam Visitor Center collection. The Wells Dam Visitor Center was closed in 2001 amid increased security following the September 11 terror attacks. The Pateros collection continues to grow and includes exhibits:  

Relocation of Pateros and Construction of Wells Dam
Pateros Philippines, Sister City, Namesake, & America's 1898 "Splendid Little War."
 Fort Okanogan - The first American-owned settlement with Washington State
Early days of Pateros and the Apple Industry
Railroad & Steamboats

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Pateros was relocated in the 1960s to make way for the Wells Hydroelectric Project. Most of old Pateros is buried. Historical signage and exhibits are throughout city parks, along walking trails, and in the downtown shopping area. The Riverview Pavilion is a multi-functional building housing city wells and water source, historical exhibits, and a stage for community events. Join us at the pavilion in winter for hot chocolate, chili, and Santa or this summer for popcorn and an outdoor movie.  

MONUMENT to the METHOW

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The Monument was dedicated on May 27, 2017 and is an educational exhibit about the Methow Tribe. It is also the center piece of the annual salmon bake and celebration of Native traditions.  

From the Heart
I first learned of the original Methow people while writing a series of articles for the Methow Valley News. "We are the Methow, a History of the First People of the Methow Valley as told through the Miller Family" was bound and published by the Shafer Museum.
It is an honor to be part of the Methow Monument Project, creating an educational space that honors the Methow People and their descendants who continue to live and work in this beautiful landscape - Joanna Bastian, Methow Monument Committee

Methow Arts - Memorial to the Methow Public Art Video

HIKE IT!

Outdoor Activities - CopySeventy percent (2.4 million acres) of Okanogan County is public lands. Pateros is a short, sunny, drive from all of your trails. Want to stay close? Alta Lake is just a couple of miles up the Methow has a State Park, Whistlin' Pine Ranch, 2 miles of trails, and boat launch. Cassimer Bar is a 514-acre natural area at the mouth of the Okanogan and filled with wildlife. It is a great place to see beaver, swans, hawks, eagles, vultures, owls, osprey, and all kids of waterfowl. Adventure out into the Heart of the Okanogan with trails at Carter and Tiffany Mountain or further out into the Okanogan Highlands. Link to Okanogan Country Hiking Guide. 

LOCAL HOSPITALITY

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Waterfront rooms on Lake Pateros are the perfect place to setup camp. Explore Pateros and Okanogan Country from the luxury of your own room. Reserve your room today at Lake Pateros Motor Inn or Howards on the River.  Take your morning walk along waterfront trails and grab a coffee or pastry at the Superstop or Sweet River Bakery. Wrap up your day with a Kodi's burger and beer or a piping hot bakery pizza. 

GOLF

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Book your tee time and experience the panoramic views and mountain air of Eastern Washington. Play 18 holes of golf at Alta Lake Golf Resort while the kids go for a swim at the State Park. Visit Gamble Sands, GolfDigest 2022 Editors' Choice, with its panoramic views of Lake Pateros and the Cascades.

HUNTING AND FISHING

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Pateros is the perfect place to launch that family fishing trip. Pateros has two boat launches, plenty of parking, easy access, restrooms, tent and RV sites, free showers, and an RV dump station. Drop into Ives Landing Park RV Park and spend the night. Wake up to a free shower a couple of blocks from a pastry and coffee. Fuel up at the Superstop, grab a breakfast burrito on your way to your favorite hunting grounds. Ives Landing Park is a number one launch for going waterfowl hunting. Open in all weather, the launch gives you access to 20-miles of lake and the Methow and Okanogan Rivers. Just out of town, the Pateros Wildlife Area Unit, one of many areas in the Okanogan, has a diversity of wildlife, including wintering mule deer, raptors, chukar, gray partridge, and California Quail. Within a few miles is the Wells Wildlife Area the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area, and the Methow Wildlife Area.   

Just passing through? Memorial Park has curbside parking just $15 per night with restrooms and free showers.