The Wenatchee is a forest of transition. Its shrub-steppe habitat bridges the lush ecosystem of Puget Sound with the rugged high desert of eastern Washington state. Sagebrush at lower elevations surrenders to pine-covered slopes and eventually to the sparse vegetation atop the Cascade's volcanic summits. It is also a landscape of intricate canyons: Icicle Creek Canyon, at over 8,000 feet from floor to rim, is easily one of the deepest canyons in the Pacific Northwest. Hikers can explore thousands of miles of trail that snakes its way through this rugged Martian-like landscape.

The Yakima, Chinook, and Wenatchi Indians inhabited the forest before they were forced off the land by the gold rush of the 1880s and 1890s. For thousands of years, these tribes walked lightly on the land, leading a life of subsistence that included salmon fishing and hunting deer and elk.