North Cascades National Park Travel Information
Jagged snow-dusted peaks, glaciers, waterfalls and shadowy valleys
compete for attention in North Cascades National Park. Glacially cold
Ross Lake spills over into Canada at the north end, a popular
destination for canoers and kayakers. Lake Chelan noses into the
south tail of the park, and visitors can connect by boat down to
Chelan. Traversed by 386 miles of hiking trails and dotted with
designated backcountry campsites, North Cascades serves up solitude
with mountain scenery. There are several peaks in the 6,000-foot
range to bag, some of them part of longer trail systems or day-trip
destinations. For short albeit rewarding and steep day hikes, choose
from a selection of trails accessible from Highway 20 and winding
roads leading off into the mountains. The Pacific Coast Trail
crosses through the Liberty Bell Roadless Area before ending in
British Colombia. Climbers head to Liberty Bell for quality Cascade
rock, while hikers enjoy the lakes and subalpine meadows. There are
a number of campgrounds that can be reached by road, although some of
the more remote locations involve long stretches of gravel. North
Cascades National Park is 113 miles east of Seattle.
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