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Courtesy National Park Service

AN ANCIENT OCEAN FLOOR and sweeping mountain views spread out in front of poet Gary Snyder when he manned a fire lookout on Crater Mountain, high in the North Cascades, in the 1950s. Today, thanks to his vigilance—and others’—the North Cascades National Park Complex’s (nps.gov/noca) pristine crags, streams, and more than 300 glaciers can be enjoyed by nearly anyone, though the park, which stretches from the Canadian border to Lake Chelan, averages just 21,811 visitors annually.

That could change. If a proposal from conservation coalition American Alps Legacy Project gains traction, the park would expand by 35 percent and embrace parts of the Mount Baker– Snoqualmie National Forest, Okanogan National Forest, and the Ross Lake National Recreation Area.

Until then, there’s still plenty to captivate visitors, like the salmon that burst from rapids August to December—and the 500-odd bald eagles that feast on them. All five Pacific species—coho, chum, pink, sockeye, and chinook—migrate up the park’s Skagit River, making it unique among rivers in the Lower 48.

Adventurers can also hike under towering cedars; paddle canoes on Diablo Lake, stained turquoise by glacial grit; take a passenger ferry to Stehekin, a time-warp village at the headwaters of Lake Chelan; or explore alongside artists and scientists at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center (ncascades.org). It makes a great base camp for visitors to the park, which is 93 percent designated wilderness.

The wild is getting wilder, too, points out guidebook author Craig Romano.

“Wolves, moose, and grizzlies are all moving back into the area, making this place more exciting than ever.” —AC

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Find Out More

Please visit our Tourism Partners


Bellingham/Whatcom County Tourism

800-487-2032

City of Blaine

800-624-3555

Skagit Tours

877-875-2448