Guide to North Cascades National Park

The North Cascades National Park is one of America’s least visited National Park and definitely less busy than it’s big name neighbors Mount Rainier and Olympus. Like all outdoor spaces these days, it is increasing in popularity and for good reason: It’s awesome! It’s the one place/ park in the lower 48 states where you can see the most glaciers and the layers upon layers of mountains go on forever. It’s home to beautiful glacial lakes and towering Pacific Cedar trees. If you’ve got a couple days in Washington, I highly recommend a 2 day (at least) visit to this incredible park.

Best day hikes in North Cascades National Park:

Best hikes for families:

Blue Lake

Blue Lake in the North Cascades of WA is a short and sweet hike to a dreamy alpine lake with views of the incredible Liberty towers and many nearby peaks. It’s great for the whole family although I wouldn’t recommend a dip in this lake- it’s cold! You can check out my entire trail guide here for this hike.

Distance: 4.8 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 900 feet
Difficulty: Easy- Moderate

Trail of the Cedars:

This is a great short 1 mile RT hike through towering Cedar trees with informational plaques on the flora as well as a really cool suspension bridge right at the start. This trail is great for families as it is flat and there’s lots of fun Cedar trunks you can climb in and a wide trail for people to spread out on. Read my official trail description here:

Distance: 1 mile RT
Elevation Gain: flat
Difficulty: Easy

Best hikes for experienced adventurers:

Cascade Pass Hike

Cascade Pass offers views of several impressive peaks and glaciers and on warm days you can hear blocks of ice break off of nearby glaciers booming down the mountainside. It’s a decent climb up 30-some switchbacks that define the first 2.7 miles of trail and then a little beyond that. It’s only 1800 feet over 3.5 miles to the pass so doable for experience hiker families but not a walk in the park either. Get there early to snag a parking spot, especially on weekends. The road out is also a long unpaved journey- take it slow.

Distance: 7 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 1800 feet
Difficulty: Moderate

Park Butte Lookout Hike

The best hike in the North Cascade range has to be Parke Butte Lookout. It’s challenging without being ridiculous, bursts with wildflowers in the summer, and just offers jaw dropping views from a beautiful, historic WA lookout. I consider it one of the best hikes in Washington state if you are up for the challenge and don’t mind the crowds. For a more detailed trail guide, visit my post just for this hike here.

Distance: 8.2 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 2030 feet
Difficulty: Moderately strenuous

Hidden Lake Lookout Hike

Like Park Butte lookout, this is another strenuous trail that offers a reward of being up close to multiple mountain summits and touching the sky itself in a beautifully preserved lookout. This is likely the most difficult trail on the list (right after Park Butte) and one that we missed being short on time. If you can, this is another fantastic hike experiencing beautiful WA backcountry and offering a chance (First come first serve) at staying the night in a historic lookout.

Distance: 9 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 2900 feet
Difficulty: Strenuous

Must see in North Cascades NP:

Washington Pass

This is a great viewpoint to stop and stretch your legs while taking in the views of one of the highest points along Hwy 20. The viewpoint is just under 0.2 miles RT from the parking lot and offers amazing views of the Liberty towers and  Liberty Bell Mountain. It also includes cool informational plaques about the building of the North Cascades Scenic Route 20 and designation of the park back in the 1970s. This viewpoint is right around the corner from Blue Lake’s trail head.

Diablo Lake Viewpoint

This is another glorified parking area with astounding views of Diablo Lake. Diablo Lake is actually a reservoir formed by the Diablo Dam and is great for canoeing or kayaking. The brilliant turquoise color comes from glacier flour (ground up rocks from nearby glaciers) that is suspended in the water.

When to visit North Cascades National Park:

While some roads and trails are still accessible in the winter, the North Cascades are definitely full glory starting in Early August. If you visit earlier than August, you risk the road to Artist Point still being closed and some of the trails still being icy. A visit in August ensures meadows bursting with wildflowers as well. Visit into the Fall (mid Sept- Oct) for less crowds and golden larches.

National Park Fees:

There is no fee to enter the park! However be mindful as a lot of the listed trails are just outside the park and managed by BLM so require at $5 fee if you don’t have a pass.

Where to stay near in the North Cascades:

There are not many towns within the park however I highly recommend some of the towns along the outskirt.

Winthrop: Best access for hiking Blue Lake and seeing both Washington Pass and Diablo Lake view point. (also one of the cutest towns we visited in Washington)

Concrete: Best access for Cascade Pass, Trail of the Cedars, Hidden Lake Lookout or Park Butte Lookout.

Hotels:

  1. Rivers Edge Resort– Winthrop $100+ in summer. We stayed here and absolutely LOVED it. It is located perfect on main street in Winthrop meaning you can walk to the (limited) restaurants and bars and really enjoy the old wild west feel of the town. Each of their cabins is private, well thought out, and most have private hot tubs on their balconies. We loved our stay here!
  2. Cascade Mt. Baker Hotel – $90 in summer. Great spot especially for hitting Park Butte lookout as it is the closest hotel to the TH. The room was huge, comfortable, and convenient to any of the again limited food options in Concrete.

Best campgrounds:

  1. Goodell Creek Campground- FREE. Easy access to the Skagit River for kayaking/ boating receational activities. 19 first come, first serve sites- vault toilets and drinking water, no showers or hookups.
  2. Gorge Lake – $10. Easy access with a boat launch and nice views onto Gorge lake. 8 sites available online. Vault toilets only- no drinking water or hookups.
  3. South Loop campgound- $16. Easy access with boat launch onto Diablo Lake boat launch. Reserve online during high season. Flush toilets and potable water/ no hookups or showers.
  4. Newhalem – $16. Very convenient to the Trail of the Cedars and other close by nature walks. Reservable online (see link below) and has flush toilets and potable water- no showers or hookups.

*For more options and details about camping in North Cascades National Parks- or to make reservations, click here.

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