North Cascades National Park

You would think a National Park that is only three hours from a major city would be a pretty popular place. To the contrary, this National Park is actually one of the least visited in the country. Why is that? Is it because it doesn’t have a lot to offer and it’s just not worth visiting? Well, there’s actually a couple of good reasons for this but it’s certainly not because it lacks magnificent natural beauty.

The strange thing about North Cascades is that the primary area of the park along the HIghway 20 corridor, where most of the the day hikes and scenic viewpoints are, is not actually part of the National Park. The “park” is made up of National Recreation Areas, National Forests and the National Park. The National Park sections are primarily the backcountry wilderness areas. Consequently, most people visiting North Cascades, do so and never actually step foot in the National Park. As strange as it is, other than it effecting visitation statistics it really doesn’t matter and for the sake of this discussion, it’s all North Cascades National Park complex.

The North Cascades mountains tower over 9,200 feet into the sky. There are over 300 glaciers in the park complex, more than any other national park in the lower 48 states. Beautiful glacial lakes sit amongst the mountains with their blue/green waters contrasting the snow capped mountains. Yet the crowds consists mostly of local Washington residents and those doing more extensive traveling through the region. I suspect others simply stop at the more popular National Parks south of here. That’s OK though, we really enjoyed this park that at times reminded us of Glacier National Park, without the crowds.

The only accommodations in the park itself are primitive campgrounds. The main hub for the park is in Winthrop, just to the east and this is where we stayed. Winthrop is a western themed little town which is a bit touristy but fun. Making Winthrop your basecamp puts you about an hour and a half to the visitors center on the far end of the park.

You don’t have to put out a lot of effort to enjoy this National Park. A leisurely drive down Highway 20, the North Cascades Scenic Highway, makes for an extremely enjoyable day. In particular we enjoyed the following:

Washington Pass Observation Site

This was one of our favorite spots. There’s a very short trail to the overlook which is magnificent. The vantage point gives you an amazing mountain view but also an aerial perspective of Highway 20 below at one of the hairpin turns. This was one of the top three views in the park that we saw.

Ross Lake Overlook

Ross Lake is a narrow remote lake that stretches from Highway 20 to the Canadian border. No roads leads to the lake, so this overlook is the only sneak peak for most people. It’s a brief, and worthy roadside stop.

Diablo Lake Vista Point

Diablo Lake is the staple of the park and if people only do one thing at North Cascades, it’s visiting this spot. Here you might find the crowds but don’t let that deter you, it is a magical spot. It’s one of many glacial lakes, so the turquoise waters of this magnificent lake are breathtaking.

Gorge Overlook

The best way to see the gorge is to park in one of the two parking areas on either side of the bridge and then walk across the pedestrian part of the bridge. It’s a steel grate walkway so it can be a little intimidating for those afraid of heights. There’s a nice waterfall to view from the bridge and also a short paved trail that can be walked as well, which is nice but nothing special.

Sterling Munro Trail

At the visitor’s center at the far end of the park are a few short nature trails and a small boardwalk right behind the visitor’s center called Sterling Munro Trail. This extremely short walk gets you to an amazing view of the Picket Range, a jagged, rocky, snow-covered mountain range.

There are many hiking opportunities in the park but what we found is that the timing for visiting this National Park is difficult. In mid to late June the temperatures in Winthrop (1,800 feet above sea level) were getting into the mid and upper 80s already, however, there was still considerable snow on some of the higher elevation hikes. Consequently, we had to make some adjustments but still did some great hikes, including the following:

Rainy Lake

This 2 mile hike is pretty low effort as well, especially considering the amazing payoff at the end. A well groomed trail traverses along a stream and ends at another glacial lake with waterfalls cascading at the far end. This reminded us of Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park.

Cutthroat Lake

This was a very enjoyable 4 mile hike through the forest but with nice mountain views along the way. The tricky part is a river crossing to be able to get to the side of the lake that has an open area to hang out and enjoy the view. We opted not to do the river crossing and were stuck in a very muddy area with nowhere to sit. Nonetheless, we still really enjoyed this hike.

Blue Lake

I’m not sure there’s anyplace else a 5 mile moderate hike can take you to a place like this! The trailhead is at around 5,400 feet in elevation, then you gain over 900 feet once you reach the lake. There were several snowy areas along the trail but nothing that presented much of a problem, however further exploring at the lake is where I encountered lots of deep snow. This is an epic spot with yet another glacial lake with snowy rock ledges sharply descending to the lake. Make this a full day adventure because you will not want to leave once you get there. It often takes a long challenging hike to get to a place like this.

Maple Pass

Maple Pass Trail was going to be my “must do” over the top hike, but adding deep snow to a 6 1/2 mile hike with over 2,000 feet of elevation change just wasn’t in the cards for me. I’ll put it on the “go back” list but after hiking Blue Lake I was a little less disappointed about missing this one.

For a little more exhilarating adventure the 19-mile road to Harts Pass will get your “heart” pumping. This road takes you to the highest point in the State of Washington that one can drive on a maintained road, and I use the word “maintained” lightly. The road, officially named NF-5400 and built in 1893 for a gold and silver mine access, is gravel, extremely steep and narrow with sharp drop-offs and no guardrails. It’s said to be the most dangerous road in Washington – maybe a little overstated in my opinion, but extremely gnarly just the same. Over the 19 miles the road gains 4,081 feet and reaches an altitude of 6,204 feet above sea level. Continuing on the road a bit further to Slate Peak, reaches an altitude of 7,488. We made it about two thirds of the way past Harts Pass to Slate Pass until we got to some deep snow and made a call to stop there. The views are phenomenal! Your limitations won’t be your vehicle on this road, rather your fear level and sense of adventure.

There are many other more popular National Parks than North Cascades, that are more accessible to most people. But with that popularity and convenience comes more crowds which can make those experiences more challenging. North Cascades is a good balance of some amazing scenery reminiscent of these other parks without the crowds. A trip to this park should be a serious consideration if this resonates with you. Besides, there is a lot more to see and do in northwestern Washington to add on to a trip to North Cascades.

Be sure to check out our pictures from North Cascades National Park.