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Updated 02/11/23 7:04 PM

North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park is only 120 miles from Seattle and is a beautiful Pacific Northwest wilderness located up near the Canadian border.

Washington

2011

About The Park

North Cascades National Park is a relatively easy park to get to but one that not many people get to visit. It’s only about three hours from Seattle but in 2017 it had only 30,000 visitors which ranked it as number 55 out of the then 59 national parks in terms of visitation. Maybe with Olympic National Park being more accessible, and Mount Rainier National Park being more spectacular, North Cascades National Park has too much competition.

That being said, this national park won’t disappoint you. State Road 20, also known as the North Cascades Highway, passes right through the park. As you drive along it you have beautiful views of mountains, waterfalls and glaciers. With 312 glaciers in the park there are more glaciers here than in Glacier National Park.

North Cascades National Park is strictly a summer park. It is located up in the mountains only 20 miles from the Canadian border. The park is only operational from late May until September. The snow comes early and Highway 20, the only road that leads in or out of the park, is closed for much of October thru April. The far northern location tends to keep the temperatures on the cool side. Summer temperatures range from the 50s to the low 70s. This can make for some nice hiking weather provided you carry along some extra layers for when the sun is obscured by clouds and the wind picks up.

As you drive along the highway 20 there are a number of interesting sites that you can either see from the road are just a short hike to them. The Ladder Creek Falls was a surprising find just off highway 20 near the Skagit Information Center. The falls can be found at the eastern end of the town of Newhalem along Highway 20 inside of the park. You park directly across the river from the Gorge Powerhouse and take the suspension bridge to cross the river to the Ladder Creek Gardens. Take the stairs along the creek to viewpoints of the falls.

The highway goes right across an impressive chasm and from it you can see Gorge Creek Falls and the beautiful lake opposite it. The falls are 242 feet high. Unfortunately due to the angle of the view from the bridge they are somewhat obscured but there is another falls just east of the bridge that sprays down onto Highway 20.

Ketchum Creek falls is less than a mile down the road from Gorge Creek and you can see this one from your car. The drops about 160+ feet and you don’t even have to get out of your car to see it if you know where it is. It comes up quickly so most people notice it as they drive by. There’s a large turnout on the south side of the highway just before reaching the falls so that can be a marker.

There are three other overlooks that are pullouts on Highway 20. The Diablo Lake Overlook looks out over a beautiful Lake as does the two Ross Lake Overlooks.

Wildlife

Among the mammals are black bear, grizzly bear, timber wolf, bobcat, coyote, lynx, cougar, mink, river otter, deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, beaver, pika and hoary marmots.

Bald eagles, golden eagles, trumpeter swans, owls and peregrine falcons are some of the larger bird species found. The Pileated Woodpecker, the largest of the woodpeckers, which can stand as much as 19” high with up to a 30” wingspan, are seen in the park.

Among the more interesting reptiles is the Pacific Giant Salamander which grows up to 12”.

All five species of Pacific Salmon are found in the park.

Lodging

There is no typical national park lodge in the park.

Ross Lake Resort

Loding can be found at the Ross Lake Resort. This is off highway 20 the main road through the park. You leave your car in their parking area and the resort is accessed by their boat. Accomodations are cabins and prices are reasonable. However, it appears that the demand for lodging here is high and it books up early so plan way ahead.

North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin

The North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin is only accessible by boat, ferry, plane or hiking (it is a 20-mile hike from highway 20). It is in the remote southern part of the national park on Lake Chelan. It looks very nice with reasonable rates. The ferry can be gotten at the town of Chelan and is a 2.5 hour (or 4 hour) trip which I am sure is very scenic.

Clark’s Skagit River Resort

We stayed at the Clark’s Skagit River Resort in Marblemount, WA. The accomodations were cabins and were less expensive and very nice although probably not as nice looking as the above two options (per their website pictures). It was located a few miles west of the park right on highway 20 situated on the banks of the Skagit River and was the most convenient lodging to be had. It is a family business and we appreciated their hospitality.

There are very few lodging options in the North Cascades National Park area. A web search yielded the Mt. Baker Hotel in Concrete, WA which is about 40 miles away.

The rest of the search yielded results that were all for hotels in Hope, British Columbia and Glacier, WA. They all say they are about 32-38 miles away from the park but that cannot be the distance to highway 20 which is the only drivable road through the park. By my calculations they are substantially further and looking at the reviews there was no mention of North Cascades National Park. If you are looking for lodging and Hope, BC or Glacier, WA are the only available choices then I would advise you to look very hard at what staying in these places entails if your focus is on touring North Cascades National Park. You might have a considerably longer drive to get to the park than you would like.

Hiking

Cascade Pass Trail

This was a great hike. There are some caveats though. Reaching the trailhead requires a 23-mile drive down Cascade River Road of which only the first 10 miles is paved. The road was in good shape when I took it but this is something you have to ask about at the visitor center. The hike is and out-and-back hike listed at 6.5 miles and rated moderate by the NPS and difficult by All Trails. It did not seem that long or difficult when we hiked it. According to the park service it is also one of the most popular hikes in the park and gets lots of traffic in the summer months so if solitude is what you seek be aware. That being said we hiked on a mid-August weekend and did not see many people.

Also, be sure to put on insect repellent in the summer. We didn’t and, at some point while hiking in the forest, the insects discovered us and swarmed us to the point that we ran to get away. Fortunately we weren’t far from exiting the forested part. Once we were out in the open we lost the insects and the hike was great. We crossed some small snowfields along the way, saw glaciers and great beauty. Once you reach the pass you are looking down the valley and the view is spectacular. It is a beautiful spot to sit and have your lunch and take it all in. A mountain goat came to within about 50 feet of us. You can see some photos of the trail and scenery with the photo gallery link below.

Rafting In The Park

All along your drive on Highway 20 from Interstate 5, assuming you came from the West, you will constantly see the Skagit River shadowing the road. It begins at Ross Lake in the national park and runs to Skagit Bay north of Seattle. It’s a substantial river and if rafting appeals to you that’s a nice way to spend a few hours. The river does have some serious rapids in places but the area in and around the park is very benign and it really is just a float. We spent our last sunny afternoon on the river and it was nice just to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery. If your legs are tired from hiking, or you’re just looking for something that you can just sit back and enjoy, then I would recommend a float down the Skagit.

Other - Points of Interest etc

If you’re in the area for some length of time and are looking for something else to do, you could take a drive to Mount Baker. Mount Baker is known for its ski area which is accessed via State Road 542 to the north and which is a long way from North Cascades National Park. The surrounding area, the Mount Baker Wilderness, has much of the same things that you would find in any national park - wildlife, hiking trails, waterfalls and scenic beauty. From the town of Concrete, Washington about 20 miles east of the national park is a road leading into the southern portion of the much closer Mount Baker Wilderness. There’s hundreds of miles of hiking trails on Mount Baker. The mountain is covered in snow all year round at the upper elevations but there’s alpine meadows at the lower elevations which bloom with wildflowers.

North Cascades National Park Gallery

Other Resources

North Cascades National Park on the National Parks Service website - NPS.gov

North Cascades National Park - Wikipedia

Waterfalls in North Cascades National Park

Cascade Pass Trail - All Trails

Picture of Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park

Picture of rafting on the Skagit River in North Cascades National Park

Other National Parks Within a Day’s Drive

Since going to either of these national parks would probably have you flying into or out of Seattle the distances to Seattle are listed.

Olympic National Park Massive trees, Hurricane Ridge and two rainforests lie 157 miles to the southwest and involves a ferry from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend then driving to Port Angeles. It is about a 200 mile drive if you go through Seattle to Port Angeles. The ferry route is much more relaxing, scenic and you can, if you can time the ferry right, get there faster. However, If you are staying in Olympic at Kalaloch it is 130 miles from Port Angeles and another 3 hours. In this case it might be a faster trip going through Seattle and around the southern part of Olympic National Park.

Olympic National Park is about 75 miles east of Seattle.

Mount Rainier National Park has a massive glacier covered mountain and the aptly named Paradise Inn and it is about 212 miles to the south and a 4.5 to 5 hour drive. Mount Rainier is about 90 miles southeast of Seattle.
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