It’s time to reassess your image of Wenatchee, the central Washington town between the Columbia River’s Rock Island and Rocky Reach dams.

At the heart of apple country, the Wenatchee Valley attracts visitors for its wineries, orchards, sunshine, the oldest festival in the state (Apple Blossom Festival), and a collection of large Clovis points (or arrowheads) at the Wenatchee Valley Museum.

But a waterfront development project is helping to change the face of Wenatchee.

If you want to see what’s new in Wenatchee, here are nine options. If you do them all, be prepared to spend the night.

Apple Capital Loop Trail. The 10-mile trail is the longest loop trail in the state. It follows the shoreline on both sides of the Columbia River, through natural habitat and an urban waterfront park system.

Truly a multiple-use trail, walkers, joggers and bikers cover it in spring, summer and fall; cross-country skiers and snowshoers take over when it snows.

Walking tours. See 17 buildings in the historic downtown district, several on the National Register of Historic Places. Or walk one of the oldest neighborhoods, the Grandview Historic District of homes from 1910 to the 1930s. Maps are available at the Wenatchee Valley Visitors Center.

Chateau Faire Le Pont. The first winery in Wenatchee is owned by Debe and Doug Brazil. The name means, in French, “bridging the gap.”

The building was a 1920 fruit-staging warehouse that, with vision and money, has been transformed into a first-class winery and excellent restaurant.

Art of the Avenues. Find the art scattered about the city, much of it downtown and in the Art of the Avenues Sculpture Garden in Wenatchee Riverfront Park.

Find the Sleeping Otters sculpture before using the Riverwalk Crossing pedestrian bridge (Wenatchee Avenue and First Street) to the Sculpture Garden. On that entrance are two glass-and-metal arches with fiber-optic lightning.

Art of the Avenues was the first of its kind in the state in 1995. Sixty-two sculptures are on loan from artists around the country.

A walking map for the Art of the Avenues is available at the Wenatchee Valley Visitors Center.

Wenatchee Riverfront Park. Don’t miss this park, which is the centerpiece of the expanding waterfront development. The Apple Capital Loop includes a 1.1-mile section along the shoreline within the 31-acre park. Adjacent to the sculpture garden is the Wenatchee Riverfront Railway, a miniature steam train. Rides are periodically offered for children and adults on a skinny-track loop. Nearby is the Wenatchee Farmers Market, open weekends and Wednesdays through October, a fixture since 1978.

Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. In addition to the traditional history and culture exhibits, the museum has two unusual ones.

Five ancient chalcedony (microcrystalline quartz) pieces – including a 71/2-inch fluted knife and a chopping instrument (celt) from the Clovis site in East Wenatchee – are prize possessions. (The Clovis culture is the oldest recognized cultural tradition in North America, dating to about 14,000 years ago. One of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries made in the study of Early Paleozoic Era bone and stone artifacts occurred in an apple orchard near East Wenatchee in 1987.)

The other must-see is the Clyde (“Upside-Down”) Pangborn exhibit. Pangborn, born near Lake Chelan, was a daredevil World War I pilot and post-war barnstormer. In 1931, he flew Miss Veedol across the Pacific, the first such flight. The 41-hour, 13-minute, 4,500-mile trip ended with a controlled crash-landing in East Wenatchee.

Paddling. Three Canada geese flew over our kayaks as we paddled by willow trees lining the bank, watched swallows catching airborne insects, and worked though an insistent current.

Kayakers can launch at Linden Tree Park and paddle in either direction. For a little more adventure, the Cashmere-to-Wenatchee route (with Class II rapids) is suited to advanced-beginner kayakers and intermediate canoeists.

McGlinn’s Public House. Old baseball photographs and memorabilia line the walls, harking back to the days of the Chiefs, a single-A minor league team founded in 1937 and once affiliated with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Redlegs and Chicago Cubs.

It’s located in the 1922 Garfield building (111 Orondo Ave.), once a rooming house that was home to minor-leaguers.

Among McGlinn’s offerings: a couple dozen microbrews, highly praised woodfire pizza, excellent innovative salads and delicious beer bread.

Birding. Confluence State Park and Horan Nature Area run along the Columbia. Several pear orchards were converted into a mostly man-made, 97-acre nature area with two miles of gravel trail.

It’s riparian and upland habitat is home to wildlife, including mule deer, muskrats, turtles and butterflies. Level paths are ideal for birders. The park is on the Pacific flyway, offering a chance to see many of the 200 bird species, including yellow-crowned night herons, arctic terns, green-winged teal, magnolia warblers and “butter-butts,” the yellow-rumped warbler.

The 200-acre Confluence State Park includes the nature area, camping, boat launch and 4-1/2 miles of trails.

Owl Soda Fountain and Gifts. A little dry after walking around Wenatchee? Try a thirst-quenching stop. Although it has been in its current location (25 N. Wenatchee Ave.) for seven years, the fountain started in 1926 in a drug store. All of the soda fountain-related pieces were moved, including the red-topped stools.

Travel writers Maggie Savage and Sharon Wootton are authors of “Off the Beaten Path: Washington.”

Key contacts

Wenatchee Valley Visitors Bureau. Visit the Web site at www.wenatcheevalley.org for options; drop in at 25 N. Wenatchee Ave., Suite C111; or call 800-572-7753.

Wenatchee Valley Museum. 127 S. Mission St.; 509-888-6240.

Wenatchee Outdoors. Good for trail descriptions, paddling routes, maps, recreational reports. Go to www.wenatcheeoutdoors.org.

Bike tours. Tour de Vine Bike and Wine Tour, Sept. 19; 509-663-0425. Dam 2 Dam Thumbs Up! Bike Tour, Sept. 26, along the Columbia River; www.mikeutley.org (click on Events, then Mike’s Events).

Red Lion Inn. Located at 1225 N. Wenatchee Ave. near downtown, the inn is a good base for exploring the entire Wenatchee Valley; 509-663-0711.

Pretiola Bread Company. Near the Apple Capital Loop Trail at 1 Fifth St., this vegan deli and bakery is praised by locals.