Located at the northwest end of Lake Chelan, the town lies just south of the North Cascades National Park.

[5] The upper end of Lake Chelan was part of a major east-west corridor for Native Americans for at least 9,000 years connecting communities on either side of the Cascade Range.

In the 1800s, Native Americans in the Lake Chelan and Upper Skagit Valley referred to the pass between them as Stehekin meaning "the way through".

A road was built connecting the original dock on the south side of the Stehekin River to mining areas up the valley in the 1890s.

[9] The Stehekin Valley Road was included in Washington's inventory of state highways during the first half of the 20th century before passing into the hands of Chelan County and later the federal government.

An evacuation order urging Stehekin residents to leave was issued in late July 2024 during the Pioneer Fire.

In case of a catastrophic necessity, the fire crews also built a floating dock on the lake to assist in a last-minute evacuation.

[19] A network of trails through the mountains east of Stehekin provide access by foot from the Methow Valley area.

[22] Stehekin has a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen Dsb) with warm to hot summers and heavy winter snowfall.

Winter temperatures are much colder than those encountered on the windward side of the Cascades, but are still moderate compared to areas further east.

With no cell phone reception, Stehekin had previously only been served by highly expensive satellite and radio telephones.

The move was made possible under federal and state grants that provided support for any telecommunications company willing to extend service to rural areas.