North Cascades National Park - Marblemount, Washington
North Cascades National Park - Marblemount, Washington
The beauty of this area of Washington is still a secret to many that would enjoy the wild, rugged beauty of the area filled with jagged peaks, cascading waterfalls giving an eyeful of outstanding splendor. The 318 glaciers are just waiting for your discovery. The mountainous region included in the National Park consists of four different parks all managed by the National Park Service as one unit.
The park had 318 glaciers with an area of 117 km² (Post et al., 1971), which is the most of any park in the lower 48 states. All the glaciers in the park have retreated significantly from 1980-2005 and the rate is increasing. The recent warmer climate has led to more summer melting and more winter melting events, reducing winter snowpack. Several glaciers in the range have melted away in the last decade.[1] The Boston Glacier, on the north slope of Boston Peak, is the largest glacier in the park with an area of 7 km². The other large glaciers (with areas greater than 2.5 km²) are:
* Redoubt (Mount Redoubt)
* Nooksack (Mount Shuksan)
* Sulphide (Mount Shuksan)
* Challenger (Mount Challenger)
* Inspiration (Eldorado Peak)
* McAllister (Eldorado Peak)
* Neve (Snowfield Peak)
The park is also home to a number of animals that will be a thrill to see as you hike in the area. Just make sure you take caution, both for yourself and for them while in their area. There are wolves, grizzlies, lynx, moose, wolverines, and many other rare species.
There is the North Cascades National Park North Unit, North Cascades National Park South Unit, Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. This area has a long history of being the homeland to many Native American tribes with trade done between the Plateau tribes to the east and the Coast Salish tribes to the west.
With a history of over 8000 years in the mountains the Native Americans are sill an important part of the present as well as the history of the area. The park complex consists of 684,000 acres (1,069 sq mi) of the Cascade Range in four separate, yet adjoined, units.
The area is popular with both hikers and mountain climbers. Cascade Park is popular since it was the travel route of Native Americans and can be accessed by a four-mile trail at the end of the gravel road. South Picket Rangers and Eldorado Peak and the mountains surrounding them are popular with climbers because of the combination of glaciations and technical rock. These climbs are not for the beginner, they are challenging and take honed skills but it is someplace that you will want to get to as you become more accomplished in your climbing skills and knowledge.
Mount Skuksan which is located in the northwest corner of the park is a popular spot for photographs of the mountains. This is the second highest peak in the park standing 9,127 ft.
You can also go exploring in the park by boat up Lake Chelan and Stehekin. You can take your pick of canoeing or kayaking as well as going out in a fishing boat. Ross Lake is a popular spot for camping.
If you choose to visit Baker Hot Spring you will find an easily accessible soaking pool surrounded by Douglas fir, maple and cedar. This 15 foot diameter soaking pool will rest both your body and your mind.
In the winter you can enjoy the cross-country skiing in the area where you will enjoy the peace and beauty found in few other places to equal this. In the summer you will want to take the nature trails but in the winter you may use them for showshoeing, backcountry skiing and snowboarding.
The area also offers you the opportunity of off highway drives, flatwater paddling and canoeing, birding, fishing, mountain biking, road biking, sea kayaking and so much more.
Discover this wonderful are of Washington. You will return time and again.
Directions: Primary access to the North Cascades and Ross Lake National Recreation Area is off of State Route (SR) 20, which connects to I-5 at Burlington. Branch routes lead to Baker Lake (Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest) and the Cascade River. In winter SR 20 is closed at Washington Pass beyond Ross Lake. There is no car access to the Stehekin Valley and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Take Highway 2 to the town of Chelan where passenger ferry and plane access is available. There is also trail access off of SR 20. The only road access to the shore of Ross Lake is via the Silver-Skagit Road (gravel) from near Hope, British Columbia.
North Cascades NP
Visitor Center, Newhalem, WA Open daily 9:00am - 5:00pm Closed for season November 3, 2008 - April 30, 2009
Open daily during summer
North Cascades NP
Headquarters,
Sedro-Woolley, WA Open Monday - Friday (excluding federal holidays) 8:00am - 4:30pm Open daily Memorial Day to Columbus Day
Open Monday - Friday (excluding federal holidays) during rest of year
Wilderness Information
Center
Marblemount, WA Open Friday - Sunday 8:00am - 4:30pm Closed for season October 27, 2008 - May 2009
During summer, open daily with extended hours
Golden West
Visitor Center
Stehekin, WA October 16 - 31: Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday - Sunday 12:30pm - 2:00pm
After November 1, 2008: Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Open during ferry times only in winter and spring
Open daily during summer
Chelan Ranger Station
Chelan, WA Mon. - Fri.:
7:45am - 4:30pm Open Monday - Friday year-round
Glacier Public
Service Center
Glacier, WA Open some weekends in fall for USFS tree permits
Open daily during summer
North Cascades has no entrance fee.
Northwest Forest Pass has a $5 a day fee or $30 annual; Lake Chelan Dock Fee Pass has a $5 Day and $40 annual.
Coast Redwoods, and their relatives the Giant Sequoias, are both native to California and do not occur naturally in Washington. The Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma has many large planted specimens of these trees in our 75-park system, but none are as large as those in California.
Western Red Cedars are native to Washington, and they are the third most massive trees in the world, after the redwoods and sequoias. They are common in the state and national parks in the Olympics and the Cascades, and are also common in urban areas throughout western Washington, including Tacoma. Many of the largest western red cedars are in the Lake Quinault area, on the Olympic Peninsula.
Within Tacoma, Point Defiance Park has about 500 acres of old-growth forest, in which you can see large western red cedars and giant Douglas firs, within a beautiful native forest ecosystem that is fully accessible by car and contains about 20 miles of walking trails. There are a few large sequoias and other big trees from California and the world in the formally-planted area at the entrance to the park. Other Tacoma parks with collections of large, old specimen trees include Wright, Jefferson and Lincoln.