North Cascades National Park

Less than three hours from downtown Seattle, the alpine landscape of North Cascades National Park invites guests to witness the rugged peaks of the North Cascades Range as well as the most extensive glacial system in the lower forty-eight states. The west side of the park is highlighted by the raging Skagit River which is fed by the glacial melt of over 370 glaciers. The damming of the Skagit River in the last century has greatly impact the river’s salmon population which traditionally has supported all five Pacific salmon species. On the east side of the park, snowfields of the North Cascades and a few glaciers fed the Stehekin River which is susceptible to spring floods. Along the banks of the river, the National Park Service still operates the 50-acre Buckner Orchard in the community of Stehekin which has been growing apples since 1912.

The region was first inhabited by Paleo-Indian Native Americans and by the time European explorers arrived, it was inhabited by Skagit tribes. By the early 19^th century, the region was frequently visited by fur trappers with both British and American companies fighting to control the fur trade. Following the establishment of the 48^th parallel as the Canada-United States border in 1846, explores arrived to chart potential routes through the mountains for roads and railroads. Throughout the late 19^th century to early 20^th century, there was limited mining and logging in the region. The first significant human impact to the region did not occur until the 1920s when several dams were built in the Skagit River valley to generate hydroelectric power for the growing Seattle area. Civil engineers constructed three dams of the Skagit River to harness the power of the river thus creating three lakes: Gorge (1924), Diablo (1930), and Ross (1949). These dams and hydroelectric plants continue to operate to this day supplying clean energy to the Pacific Northwest.

The dam construction and increased human presence in the North Cascades led many concerned citizens to begin to lobby Congress to protect the region. Their efforts resulted in the creation of North Cascades National Park on October 2, 1968. The park is roughly 500,000 acres and one of three national parks in the state of Washington; Olympic and Mt. Rainier being the other two. North Cascades National Park is almost entirely protected as wilderness, and so the park has few structures, roads or other improvements. Most of the park is accessible from Washington State Route 20 which follows the Skagit River through the park. Numerous campgrounds, hiking trails, and overlooks are just off the highway that winds through the North Cascades. Visitation to the park is somewhat limited during the winter months due to the heavy snow and high avalanche risk due to the steep terrain. Fishing in the Skagit River is another popular activity within the park, especially in the late summer when both sockeye and coho salmon return to the place of their birth to spawn.

Although not technically within the national park, nearby Mount Baker is a 10,781 feet active glacier-covered stratovolcano in the Cascade Range. Probably formed roughly 25,000 years ago prior to the most recent glaciation, Mount Baker is composed mainly of andesite lava flows and breccias. Mount Baker lies within what is known as the Cascade Volcanic Arc which also includes Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. The last major eruption of Mount Baker was roughly 6,700 years ago. In 1975-76, steam began emerging from Sherman Crater which lies just south of Mount Baker’s summit. This activity resulted in monitoring that was more intense than previously applied at any other Cascade Range volcano prior to the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Although the thermal activity has lessened, Mount Baker remains the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens. As result of renewed concern about volcanic eruptions in the Pacific Northwest, Mount Baker is one of several Cascade volcanoes that are high priority to have their monitoring systems enhanced in the coming years. The volcano is within the Mount Baker National Recreation Area where Baker Lake and numerous campgrounds lie in peak’s shadow within old growth forest of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.