The forestry road to the the trailhead was closed because of snow when we there in late June but I plan on returning one day in late July or August to hike this trail. CASCADE PASSĪlso on the list is Cascade Pass, one of the most popular trails in the park. A hike to Big Beaver or Hidden Hand and a watertaxi back seems like a great way to spend a day. Look at the NPS map of Ross Lake for trailheads to plan out your hikes. See their website for more information about stops and prices. Ross Lake Resort will take you by boat to a number of trailheads around Ross Lake, from where you can hike back to your car. I would particularly like to do a hike/ water taxi combo on Ross Lake. There are lots of other day hikes in the park that we did not get to because of time constraints and snow cover but have plans to return to one day. See the NPS's helpful PDF for a list of the trails and their descriptions. Several interpretive trails lead from the Visitor Center around the Newhalem area. You can explore a large topographic map of the park and all of its glaciers as well. They have multiple 5 minute long videos that cover different topics about the park, from glaciers to climate change. The Visitor Center itself is also worth a tour. (You can also check out the Wilderness Center in Marblemount outside of the park for backcountry permits and trail conditions.) Stop first at the main Visitor Center in Newhalem (there are also Visitor Centers in the north section of the park and down by Lake Chelan) and talk to the rangers about weather conditions. North Cascades Visitor Center in Newhalem Some of the trails we wanted to do were inaccessible due to snow in late June, including Rainy Lake and Cascade Pass. If you want longer trails, you will find plenty of those off the highway but you will need to check on the weather and snow cover before setting off. I guess you can’t go wrong then with what you decide to do! We decided to hike several short trails and drive through the entire park rather than taking one, day-long hike and only seeing part of the park but sometimes I wish we had been able to do a longer hike when I see other people’s pictures. If you have a second day, then do one of the longer hikes around Ross Lake or hike up to one of the passes, such as Cascade Pass or do the Maple Pass Loop. It took us about 8 hours to drive from one side of the park to the other and come back again, stop at the Visitor Center at Newhalem, and do a couple of shorter hikes. When you hit Washington Pass just outside the park on the east side, stop and see that before turning around to come back. I have listed some of our favorites below so pick and choose based on your family’s preferences. Start at the Newhalem Visitor Center and then drive east, stopping at overlooks and short hikes along the way. There are quite a few viewpoints and short trails along Highway 20 so I would plan on making a whole day of it, especially if you are going there and back as we did. It takes about an hour to drive through the park on Hwy 20, starting at the North Cascades Visitor's Center in Newhalem and ending at Washington Pass which is just outside the park in the national forest on the east side. A Day Trip Plan To North Cascades National Park Complex
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