North Cascades: A History of Peace and Prosperity That Still Lives Here Today!

The bounty of moisture provided by the Pacific Ocean enables the North Cascades to support glaciers when many other ranges are losing theirs. A third of all glaciers in the lower 48 states are found within the park and the attached Lake Chelan and Ross Lake National Recreation Areas. Besides their work of sculpting the mountains peaks including Mount Triumph, Mount Shuksan, and Cutthroat Peak, glaciers play a key role in native plant and animal communities. Roughly a quarter of the water in park streams comes from glaciers, and there are 500 or so water zones at the foothills of these peaks.

History of North Cascades National Park

About 8400 years ago, the people of the North Cascades started leaving us inadvertent messages about themselves. The oldest message that archaeologists have found was a quarry pit along the Skagit River, where people once extracted chunks of chert, a hard sedimentary rock suitable for making sharp edges and points. We don't know if that site was their first, but they seem never to have left since. For more than 8000 years, people made their homes in these valleys and wandered far into the high country during the summers. Known early peoples of the North Cascades include the Upper Skagit, Chilliwack, Nlaka'pamux and the Chelan.

They came for many reasons that can be appreciated even today. There were tremendous salmon runs with the Skagit's salmon coming into the park complex as far as Newhalem, a word derived from a Native American word meaning 'goat snare.' Goats were important for meat and for the exceptionally warm wools, which was widely traded.

Early park hunters used obsidian brought by trade all the way from Wyoming. The high habitats of goats were thoroughly familiar to these early hikers, who knew all the passes, the best berry patches, and the places where the elk, bears, marmots, and other prey could easily be found. Today, visitors hike through this great roadless wilderness park and relish the feeling of remoteness – of distance from people, searching out the wonder and awe with a great feeling of discovery. Nevertheless, the thrill should only be heightened knowing that one is following along a long line of hunters on these trails.

Activities and Attractions at North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park is broken up into a North Unit and a South Unit that is separated by the Ross Lake National Recreational Area and tipped by the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Each recreation area boasts a Visitor Center where many ranger-led tours and activities are available seasonally for travelers as well as boat, kayak, canoe, and other equipment rentals.

Winters here see the North Cascades accumulate a deep mantle of snow, but snowshoeing and cross-country skiers absolutely relish in the massive influx, particularly at Mount Baker. Moist Pacific storms sweep against the range, dumping four to seven hundred inches of snow across the park and its 300 active glaciers. Remember, the North Cascades are sometimes called the American Alps, and they extend for hundreds of miles and exert enormous authority on the typical weather and vegetation of the entire Pacific Northwest. The best time to visit North Cascades is typically June through September.

Hiking trails in North Cascades are not for the inexperienced hiker in general. Steep, rocky, and often covered with nearly impenetrable vegetation, the park's rugged terrain can be a challenge for even experienced hikers. However, easy walks such up Desolation Peak offer great views of Ross Lake and Hozomeen Mountain. Another easier trek runs from Cascade Pass Trail to Glory Mountain, and there are even a shuttle bus and a ferry there that will take visitors onto the Stehekin Valley.

Stehekin is a great place to pick up a mountain bike rental and hit the nearby trails, and many bikers hit the trails up to Mount Baker, which offers up some of the best backcountry sights to behold. Consider heading out onto the water by taking a four-hour boat trip up to Lake Chelan from Chelan to the community of Stehekin. In places, the bed of the deep, glacially carved lake lies more than 400 feet below sea level.

North Cascades National Park Lodging – Lodging at North Cascades

Enjoy one-of-a-kind lodging in North Cascades National Park at the exclusive North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin. Open year round, this North Cascades lodging is only accessible via seaplane, ferry, boat, or a rugged mountain trail. Discover the beauty that is the North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin with an early reservation, as the 28 units are often booked to capacity.

Since 1950, Ross Lake Resort has been a place of respite for those seeking North Cascades National Park lodging near the lovely Ross Lake. Open from mid-June to October, Ross Lake Resort enjoys a remote location on the western shores of the lake and offers complete privacy and solitude for those seeking to escape from the norm.