Horse Lake Reserve

When you stand in the middle of Horse Lake Ranch, you stand in the middle of a conservation success story.

This 1,500-acre reserve represents a critical piece of protected open lands in the Wenatchee Foothills.  Wildlife can move from mountains to the valley. Mule deer will always find a winter haven here. People can hike for miles on trails that start right out the city’s back door.

Comprised of two former homesteads, Horse Lake has outstanding habitat for mule deer, elk, upland game birds, and reptiles. Historically, the sagebrush lands once held struggling fruit trees, part of an early 1900s scheme to grow apples and pears on dry lands. Two brothers, Lee and Everett Burts, farmed wheat on part of the ranch until 2001. They then replanted 270 acres of wheat fields with sagebrush to restore wildlife habitat. Finding a buyer to protect the land was exactly what they had hoped for. The Wallace families, who owned the other ranch included in the Horse Lake property, also wanted the land to be protected from development.  John Wallace said, “I did not want to see this area covered with homes and I wanted the public to be able to enjoy the property.”

With assistance from the Icicle Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, expertise from the Wenatchee Sportsmen and the Wallace and Burts families, the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust was able to preserve a piece of our local heritage, forever.

Horse Lake Ranch has 360 degree views that showcase land rich with agriculture, water that flows from the Cascades to support healthy salmon, geology that formed our region’s dramatic valleys and ridges, and the people who make this area so special.  It truly represents why the Land Trust and its members work so hard to preserve those key areas in North Central Washington, and why collaboration is the key to success.  Take an opportunity to visit Horse Lake Ranch, watch the trees change, listen for the birds, and take in the view of the Enchantments—then you can understand how success is measured.

The Land Trust has started a large scale restoration project at Horse Lake.  Click here for more information.