-
North Cascades National Park
Cascade Pass from Cascade Road in North Cascade National Park. Courtesy National Park Service/Deby Dixon.
Associate Pages
Visitor Statistics
North Cascades National Park
North Cascades National Park#306 Most Visited National Park Unit
38,208 Visitors
Ross Lake National Recreation Area
#76 Most Visited National Park Unit
1,088,528 Visitors
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
#303 Most Visited National Park Unit
38,785 Visitors
Source: NPS, Rank among 378 National Park Units 2019.
Park Size
North Cascades National Park504,654 acres (Federal), 504,781 (Total)
Ross Lake National Recreation Area
115,960 acres (Federal), 117,575 (Total)
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
59,337 acres (Federal), 61,946 (Total)
Park Fee
FreeCamping Fees - Free Backcountry with permit, Free to $16 at other developed campgrounds.
Dock Fee (Lake Chelan) - $5 per day, $40 for Annual Pass.
Shuttle Bus (Lake Chelan) - $7 adults (one way); $4 under 12; extra for bike, etc.
North Cascades Weather
From late fall to spring, this is snow country, with common avalanches and road closures, but mid-June to September are temperate with higher temperatures in the Lake Chelan region that might surprise you. There are still frequent storms even during the spring, summer, and fall, so be prepared and check the weather forecast often. Bring a variety of clothing no matter the time of year.
Photo above: Mountain goat in the North Cascades. Courtesy National Park Service/Brumond-Smith. Photo right: Pelton Peak, Yawning Glacier, and Magic Mountain north of Cascade Pass. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
North Cascades National Park
It's three parks in one. North Cascades includes the national park of the same name, plus Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. From defined campgrounds to lakes for fishing, boating, and frolic, the three areas of North Cascades National Park Complex hold a wide array of opportunities for your recreation and tourist desires. And as you can see from the attendance, particularly in the Ross Lake portion, there's plenty of public input to convince you that traveling three hours east of Seattle is well worth the trip, even though you may not be as aware of this park as you are of Olympic National Park or Mount Rainier National Park. And as an added bonus, right now at least, it's free to enter and enjoy.
Sponsor this page for $100 per year. Your banner or text ad can fill the space above.
Click here to Sponsor the page and how to reserve your ad.
Although most visitors to the three areas of North Cascades will access the park off the Route 20 corridor, there's so much to do inland. But it requires planning and knowledge of the whens and wheres. Access to Ross Lake for boating, or Lake Chelan for that matter, takes planning. Hozomeen is the only road access location on Ross Lake and it can only be gotten to from Canada. You can access the lake from a southern point, but that requires portage of your canoe, kayak, or other water craft around Ross Dam to camps and boat access. For the more hardy and experienced, yes, but worth the trouble if you like to carry and have an adventure. Visiting the history here also takes some doing; much of it surrounds Stehekin, including the remnants of the Old Stehekin School, House that Jack Built, or Rainbow Falls. But there's also a good deal in Newhalem, which can be driven to off Route 20.
Photo above: Climbing by the hardy during winter at Sahale Peak. Courtesy National Park Service.
North Cascades Then
Lots of history abounds in the park from two hundred and sixty prehistoric sites to Indian heritage to white settlement historic mines and long lost hotels. Some more recent and unique lodgings are still there.
Indian Heritage - Due to the rugged nature of the mountains, two cultures emerged. One, east of the mountains in the Columbia River Basin, and two, in the Pacific Northwest/Puget Lowlands. Each would trade through the mountain passes such as Cascade, which the natives called Stehekin, meaning the Way Through. Today there are pictographs by the Chelan people on the cliffs around the lake; a representation of that pictograph can be seen in the North Cascades Visitor Center. Skagit area tribes have inhabited the area for over eight thousand years. When white settlement came, about one thousand tribe members lived in the region.
Miners and Builders - Miners began searching for treasure in the 1850s, but found little. A small strike in the late 1870's along Ruby Creek led to a boom, but it fizzled by 1880. In 1892, a silver streak was found near Thunder Creek, causing a second mineral boom. That lasted twenty years, but yielded less value due to the cost of getting the ore out, than the mining companies wished. Due to the remote location and lack of roads, settlement of the region, as well as logging and other pursuits, lagged behind other areas. It was not until 1972 that the North Cascades Highway, Route 20, was built, the first modern road through the passes. Even now, that highway is not passable in winter.
North Cascades Now
The origin of the national park and recreation areas in the North Cascades region began in 1897 when it was designated a Forest Reserve. Arguments about creating a national park began with a petition prior to the Reserve in 1892, but it took over seventy years before environmentalists and other advocates would win the battle. North Cascades was designated a national park on October 2, 1968. The act to create the park also created the Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas.
Today ninety-three percent of the park is designated wilderness, named for Stephen Mather, first director of the National Park Service, with built facilities concentrated around the Route 20 corridor and the Lake Chelan area. Some interesting facts. The park reaches to the Canadian border. Its high point is Goode Mountain at nine thousand two hundred and twenty feet above sea level. There are three hundred glaciers within its boundaries.
Photo above: The Nlaka'pamux Tribe, 1914, by James Alexander Teit. Courtesy Canadian Museum of Civilization, Library of Congress. The tribe lived in the eastern section of the North Cascades.
North Cascades National Park
Things You Should Not Miss
1. Take a park ranger tour. Check at a visitor center during the summer season for the schedule of hikes and talks around the Skagit District (Highway 20), Hozomeen, or Stehekin. If you're on the Stehekin Shuttle, stop by and check out the Stehekin School. It's history of education in the backcountry with likely unavailable school choice options. There are evening programs and Newhalem town tours as well.
2. Visit a Visitor Center. Almost imperative for first time visitors, especially at large parks like North Cascades with regions that are hard to get to. Coming in from the west, stop first at the North Cascades Visitor Center and let a ranger give you options for the day or week, whether you're there to hike, camp, or just drive. A drive along the Route 20 corridor will take you to many, but of course not all, of the most interesting sites.
3. Hike. So many options here, it's hard to describe. Short interpretive trails, some with boardwalks, from the North Cascades Visitor Center and other trailheads for the less long walk inclined to one of the four hundred miles of accessible, or perhaps limited access, walks through a wilderness so vast, there's one hundred and twenty-seven lakes. Boy, there's a tough to do list. For those that want to backpack hike, there are one hundred and forty campsites along the trails of North Cascades where you can pitch your tent.
Photo above: Steheken School, North Cascades. Photo by Jet Lowe, 1987, Historic American Buildings Survey. Courtesy Library of Congress.
T-Shirts and Souvenirs
North Cascades National Park T-Shirts and Souvenirs from the official souvenirs of America's Best History. Great for nature, national park, and heritage history fans.
Visitor FAQ
What's There Now
Visitor's Centers/Museums
North Cascades Visitor Center - Along the Route 20 corridor prior to reaching Ross Lake at Milepost 120, Newhalem. Orientation, restrooms, video program theater and exhibits, book store, short interpretive trails, and near Newhalem Creek Campground. Open summer season daily, weekends during May/October. Closed winter.
Skagit Information Center - Newhalem. Exhibits on hydroelectric power and information. Late May to late September. Daily in the summer season. Friday to Sunday fringe months.
Park and Forest Information Center - Located outside the park in Sedro-Wooley not far off Interstate 5. Open year round. Information and book store. Run jointly by the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and North Cascades Institute. Times and days vary.
Wilderness Information Center - Marblemount. Just inside the park boundaries off Route 20 at Milepost 105.3. Exhibits, orientation, backcountry permit office, and book store. Open daily early May to early October. Closed winter.
Golden West Visitor Center - Stehekin, Lake Chelan NRA. Open daily early May to early October. Closed winter. Exhibits, walks and talks during the summer season, evening programs, book store, and backcountry permits. Lake Chelan Ranger Station in Chelan open year round, except federal holidays.
Glacier Public Service Center - Glacier off Mt. Baker Highway, Route 542. Exhibits on Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, orientation, permits. Staffed by Forest Service and National Park Service in summer. Open extended weekends during summer season. Most weekends rest of the year.
Methow Valley Ranger District - Winthrop. Information, book store, permits. Staffed by Okanogan-Wenatchie National Forest and National Park Service staff in summer. Weekdays with extended weekend hours in summer.
Photo above: Stehekin at the top of Lake Chelan. Courtesy National Park Service/Deby Dixon.
Lodging and Camping
Lodging - There are a variety of in park options to choose from. At Ross Lake, there's the Ross Lake Resort. It's unique, but pricey. Twelve cabins and three bunkhouses on log floats with no road access, but you can hike there or take a ferry, then resort truck. There's more lodging at Stehekin, including the Silver Bay Inn, North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin, Log Cabins at Stehekin run by a pastry company, the Stehekin Valley Ranch plus other cabins.
For those that want to stay nearby, but not inside the park, check out the lodging choices at your favorite online lodging choice, or contact the local or state visitors bureau.
Camping - Defined by car or boat or backcountry through your feet, there's a good amount of options within the park, or in the National Forests that surround it. Within North Cascades, there are five car campgrounds; Goodall Creek (Route 20 corridor east of Marblemount, Milepost 119, 19 sites (open year round), no hookups, Group Campground, fee), Newhalem Creek (Newhalem, 111 sites, RV's allowed, but no hookups, Group Campground, closed winter, fee), Gorge Lake (Route 20 Corridor, Milepost 126, 6 sites, open year round, free), Colonial Creek (Route 20 corridor, Milepost 130, 142 sites, fee, no hookups, Group Campground, some sites open Year Round), and Hozomeen (North Ross Lake, 75 sites, free, road access only from Canada, open Year Round). Boat in only campgrounds are located at Ross Lake, Diablo Lake, and Lake Chelan. In the backcountry, there are one hundred and forty defined sites along trails, and you are allowed, by permit, to camp in the wilderness. Check at a visitor center for the permit and the rules and regulations.
Photo above: Lake Chelan, Historic American Buildings Survey, Date Unknown, Courtesy Library of Congress.
Directions
For most first time visitors, the highest traffic area of the park is the Ross Lake NRA area. Getting here is a bit easier than other parts of the park. It's located seventy-six miles, a bit over one and one half hours, off Interstate 5. Take Exit 230 on Route 20, North Cascades Highway and travel east. About halfway there, you'll be in the park. Getting to other parts of the park are more difficult. For example, reaching Lake Chelan (Stehekin) National Recreation Area has no car access. Only access by foot, boat, or plane. Ferry access is from Chelan, Washington, through the Lake Chelan Boat Company. Not a cheap trip; Adults over $40, children half price. Once there, you can take a shuttle bus for a fee to the campsites and attractions of the park, or rent a bike.
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wehatchee National Forests
Surrounding Northern Cascades National Park are two National Forests that provide additional recreation from hiking to fishing to camping to river rafting. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie, west of the park, is one of the most attended national forests in the nation. Okanogan-Wenatchee is located north and east of the park. At both locations, there are defined campgrounds, dispersed camping, and even a few camping cabins.
Photo above: 1908 view of Lake Chelan in the Cascade Mountains. Pillsbury Picture Company. Courtesy Library of Congress.
