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Hiking near Stehekin in North Cascades National Park. Photograph by Justin Bailie.
It’s been called a hidden gem so many times, it might as well be its formal nickname. But we love North Cascades National Park for what it’s not: It’s not easy to get to, it’s not very busy, and it’s not even a simple park.
NCNP is a national park and then some. The top part of our Cascade spine is a patchwork of protected lands—a spread of national park here, a finger of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area land there, and a sliver of hydroelectric dams and powerhouses in the middle known as Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Together they’re the North Cascade National Park Complex, though the beauty spills over into national forests beyond even that.
The North Cascades are more welcoming than they seem, thanks to a stunning highway winding from western greenery to the burnished colors of Eastern Washington. Plus, boats ferry people up Ross Lake and Lake Chelan, and trails spring from the region’s few roads.
One note: More so than in any other natural space in Washington, the North Cascades demand a good look at the weather forecast before a visit. Many sections are closed for whole chunks of the year, and snow is visible in some parts year-round. But once you’ve explored Mount Rainier and the Olympics, the North Cascades are a must.
Jump to an Activity:
What to Do | Where to Hike | Where to Stay | What to Know
What to Do
Do the Drive
Not all the beautiful scenery on the North Cascades Highway is actually in the national park, but that doesn’t make it any less stunning. A road trip from Marblemount to the Methow Valley (when it’s open!) means a route through thick forest, by scenic overlooks (halt for Diablo Lake and Washington Pass), and past ragged snow-covered peaks. Expect no cell service and endless splendor.
Highway 20 curls through the North Cascades.
Get Electric
The national park complex includes the region around Ross Lake, a man-made but dramatic 23-mile-long reservoir. It was formed by a dam that now produces electricity as part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project for Seattle City Light. The town of Newhalem, not far outside national park boundaries, has a walking trail to Ladder Creek Falls and a seasonal light show, plus visitor centers around the historic buildings.
Explore the Lakes
As part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, Seattle City Light runs a seasonal Diablo Lake Ferry and a Diablo Lake Boat Tour. Learn about when the area had an island full of monkeys (really). The ferry goes to Ross Lake Resort, but that hotel also operates its own water taxi. Just be prepared that there is not much to do there besides rent a boat, which is a great way to hop onto the islands and rugged shoreline of Ross Lake.
Sojourn to Stehekin
It’s a town, but it’s not a road. It’s in North Cascades National Park, but it’s accessed through the arid Central Washington town of Chelan. Stehekin is a strange and beautiful settlement at the top of Lake Chelan, and while it’s a lot of work to get there, the sights (and bakery) are worth the trip.
Where to Hike
While the North Cascades include some of the most remote peaks in the state—maybe even in the Lower 48—there are plenty of mellow routes. Trails around Newhalem are available year-round. Our list of favorite North Cascades hikes sticks to routes within the national park proper, like two historic lookout cabins.
Just outside park boundaries are other spectacular hikes like Maple Pass Loop; as a bonus, those trails mostly allow dogs. One paved path to Rainy Lake is even on our list of the best accessible hikes in the state.
Where to Stay
For its size—more than half a million acres—there aren’t many places to stay in the North Cascades National Park. The North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin has rooms in the quaint town, but areas like Ross Lake and Washington Pass will be days away.
A few campgrounds sit within park borders, and Colonial Creek Campground makes our list of the state’s 30 best drive-in spots. Ross Lake Resort, a series of floating cabins accessible by motorboat, is as remote as indoor accommodations get.
Consider a backcountry site (with a permit!), or check out our list of North Cascades campgrounds, from the easily accessed to way out there.
I’m on a float: cabins at Ross Lake Resort.
What to Know
Check the Weather
Unlike Mount Rainier and the Olympics, the North Cascades wilderness area has a rather limited season. Some folks, like backcountry skiers, use the lands year-round, but most visitors enter the park in summer months.
The high-elevation section of Highway 20, from Ross Lake to near Mazama, is open only from about mid-May to late fall, and even when it opens many trailheads are still buried deep in snow. Year-round parts of the park include Stehekin, whose ferry goes up Lake Chelan through the winter.
Learn Literary History
Here’s one name you may not have expected to hear in the remote Cascades: Jack Kerouac. The famous On the Road author wasn’t even the only beat poet to live in a mountaintop cabin here. Gary Snyder also took up residence as a paid fire lookout, and both writers produced works that spoke to the isolation (and, by Kerouac’s description, desolation) of the region.
Look but don’t engage: a mountain goat in the North Cascades.
Know the Wildlife
The North Cascades are among the few regions in Washington that contain grizzly bears, though most bear sightings are of less dangerous black bears. The woods are also filled with high-alpine pikas and bald eagles and shaggy mountain goats.