Wenatchee's Loop Trail: The Open Half Has Its Own Fall Deadlines

"We know the loop being closed has been really impactful," Nicole Brockwell, the City of Wenatchee's Engineering Services Manager, told NCWLIFE in its September 30 report on the South End Bike and Pedestrian Access Bridges project. The same report moved the reopening of the T.W. Clark Pipeline Bridge from November 2026 to "this winter."

That leaves the bridge reopening as the least certain date on this fall's trail calendar. North of the closure, the open part of the Loop has its own deadlines: a water shutoff at Wenatchee Confluence State Park, a detour coming out on the East Wenatchee side, shorter winter hours on the Rocky Reach Trail, and a December closure at Horan Natural Area. Those dates are firmer, and they decide what a walk or ride on the open half looks like between now and spring.

Two Pages, Two Reopening Dates

The City of Wenatchee's project page, last updated in February 2026, still says the Loop closed at the east and west access points and across the Clark Pipeline Bridge "for 17 months," with reopening "anticipated" in November 2026. That page hasn't caught up with the schedule. Construction started in April 2025, and Public Works Director Tom Wachholder told NCWLIFE the city now hopes to reopen the bridge this winter and have the whole project "100% complete by the end of next year," which means the end of 2027.

Hale Dog Park and the skate park are part of the same closure. The city's page says both stay closed while the contractor builds the ramp to the new bridge and moves utilities, and it expects that closure to last "through this Winter." Anyone whose dog walk started at Hale will need another option for at least the rest of this winter.

"When it's all said and done, you will be able to walk from downtown Wenatchee to downtown East Wenatchee," Brockwell said in the same NCWLIFE piece. On the East Wenatchee side, the new access bridge will cross Highway 28 and come down to street level near Ninth Street and Valley Mall Parkway.

Where the Open Loop Runs Now

Chelan PUD describes the Apple Capital Loop as a 10-mile paved loop along both sides of the Columbia River. The city's project materials call it an 11-mile loop, and neither source explains the gap. Whichever figure is right, the closure removes the southern river crossing, and that's the part that turned the Loop into a full circuit.

On Chelan PUD's trail map, the northern river crossing is labeled Odabashian. The map also marks the parks along the route.

Based on the map and the city's description of where the closure sits, a shorter northern circuit over the Odabashian crossing, or an out-and-back on the open sections, should work while the Pipeline Bridge is closed. No official advisory confirms that route is open end to end, so check posted notices at the trail before committing to a full lap.

The Dates North of the Closure

The open half has a fall and winter schedule that has little to do with the bridge. In order of when each one starts:

1. October 1 through March 31. Chelan PUD lists the Rocky Reach Trail, a five-mile paved trail that connects to the Loop, as open 8 a.m. to dusk.
2. October 14, 7 p.m. The North Central Washington Audubon Society hosts a Zoom presentation on its Winter Raptor Survey Project.
3. Saturdays through October. The Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market is listed for Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., May through October at Pybus Public Market. No winter market schedule for 2026 has been posted.
4. October 26. Washington State Parks says domestic water at Wenatchee Confluence State Park is tentatively scheduled to be shut off for winterization starting that day. The restrooms will stay open.
5. End of October. The city expects to remove the East Wenatchee-side detour near Kirby Billingsley Hydro Park once the trail under the ramp structure is restored.
6. December 1 through March 1. The eagle-protection area at Horan Natural Area is closed.

The October 26 shutoff is the date to remember on long rides. A lap that used to include a water refill at Confluence will need water carried from home or picked up downtown from late October on. The Rocky Reach Trail hours matter more each week as the days shorten, because "dusk" in December comes early in the afternoon.

Horan Gets Better as the Weather Turns

While the Hale closure takes away a familiar starting point on the south end, the north end has one that's at its best right now. Footpaths and a pedestrian bridge connect Confluence State Park to Horan Natural Area, and bicycles aren't allowed there. The State Parks brochure describes two miles of gravel trail and 15 viewing stations through the wetland, while an NCW Audubon page on Horan describes a 1-mile dirt trail system, so the trail length depends on which source you read. It also describes fall as the season when waterfowl gather in flocks and deer grow their winter coats.

NCW Audubon's July 2026 update on Horan describes the 100-acre area this year: Virginia Rails heard in the cattails along the ponds, Bald Eagles returning, and deer on the grounds. The returning eagles are the reason for the December 1 closure. From then until March 1, the protected section is off-limits, so the walking loop people use in October won't be fully available by the first week of December.

So the seven weeks or so between now and December 1 are the window for walking all of Horan while the fall waterfowl are in. Anyone who has been waiting for the Loop to reopen before getting back to a weekly walk can do that walk in full on the north end right now.

One caution on schedules. An online Horan page advertising third-Wednesday bird walks is a 2020 schedule. As of early October, NCW Audubon's current events page lists the October 14 talk and no guided Horan walk this fall.

Getting Across the River Without the Pipeline Bridge

For trips that have to cross the Columbia, the city's project page points walkers and cyclists to Link Transit and notes that every Link bus carries a bike rack. The route the city names is Route 12, which runs between Columbia Station, Fred Meyer, and 11th Street and Devon. Link's schedule book, effective October 5, 2026, includes a Saturday timetable for it. The pages reviewed don't confirm Sunday service, so look at the current schedule book before planning a Sunday crossing.

On the Wenatchee side, Brockwell told NCWLIFE the city is repainting the sharrows on the South Avenue detour route. The full street-by-street detour is on the city's project page as a map image. Use that map rather than memory, since the East Wenatchee side changes once the detour comes out at the end of October.

The steel that will bring the south end back is also on a near-term schedule. NCWLIFE reported that the trusses that carry the new access bridge over Highway 28 were due for delivery in October, with completion expected this winter. Once the trusses are in place over the highway, the "this winter" estimate will be easier to judge.

Pybus as the North-End Starting Point

With Hale out of the picture, Pybus Public Market at 3 N. Worthen St. makes a practical place to start and finish a north-end walk. Its posted winter market hours run 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with breakfast from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and shops and tasting rooms open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Breakfast service starts at 8 a.m., the same hour the Rocky Reach Trail opens, so an early start can end with breakfast at Pybus.

For bikes that sat through the closure, Arlberg Sports in downtown Wenatchee lists bike service and repair along with bike, ski and water rentals. Its rental page describes the operation as downtown Wenatchee rentals, which makes it an option for out-of-town guests who want to ride the open half with you.

If you're thinking about a home where the Loop is part of the weekly routine, Camiekae Lynch can walk you through how the Wenatchee riverfront fits together now and once the Pipeline Bridge reopens.