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Mount Despair, North Cascades National Park North Unit, 1967

North Cascades National Park
IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)
Location:	Washington, USA
Nearest city:	Seattle, WA
Coordinates:	48°42′0″N, 121°12′0″W
Area:	685,000 acres (2,772 km²)
Established:	October 2, 1968
Total Visitation:	1,003,000 (in 2003)
Governing body:	National Park Service

Lower Curtis Glacier in 2003 compared with 1985

Spectacular scenery is visible from the North Cascades Highway

Looking toward Magic Mountain from the Cascade Pass trail. Yawning Glacier has retreated significantly since 1980.

North Cascades National Park is a U.S. National Park located in Washington state.

The park complex consists of 685,000 acres (2,772 km²) of the Cascade Range in four separate, yet adjoined, units: North Cascades National Park North Unit, North Cascades National Park South Unit, the Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas which are managed together with the park. Several national wilderness areas and British Columbia parkland also adjoin the National Park. The park features rugged mountain peaks. Approximately 93 percent of the park was designated as wilderness in the Washington Wilderness Act of 1988, which also set aside Wilderness area in Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park.

Nearly all of the national park is protected as the Stephen T. Mather Wilderness, so there are few maintained buildings and roads within the North and South units of the Park. The park is most popular with backpackers and mountain climbers. One of the most popular destinations in the park is Cascade Pass, which was used as a travel route by Native Americans. It can be accessed by a four-mile trail at the end of a gravel road. The North and South Picket Ranges, as well as Eldorado Peak and the surrounding mountains, are popular with climbers due to glaciation and technical rock. Mount Shuksan, in the northwest corner of the park, is one of the most photographed mountains in the country and the second highest peak in the park (9,127 ft / 2,781 m).

The park had 318 glaciers with an area of 117 km² (Post et al., 1971), which is the most of any park in the lower 49 states. All the glaciers in the park have retreated significantly from 1980-2005 and the rate is increasing. The recent warmer climate has led to more summer melting and more winter melting events, reducing winter snowpack. Several glaciers in the range have melted away in the last decade [1]. The Boston Glacier, on the north slope of Boston Peak, is the largest glacier in the park with an area of 7 km². The other large glaciers (with areas greater than 2.5 km²) are:

• Redoubt (Mount Redoubt)
• Nooksack (Mount Shuksan)
• Sulphide (Mount Shuksan)
• Challenger (Mount Challenger)
• Inspiration (Eldorado Peak)
• McAllister (Eldorado Peak)
• Neve (Snowfield Peak)

This park is noted for its wildlife. Due to its wilderness nature, it is home to wolves, grizzlies, lynx, moose, wolverines, and many other rare species.

Another interesting way to experience the park is by boat up Lake Chelan to Stehekin. Boating, including canoeing and kayaking, as well as fishing and backcountry camping are popular on Ross Lake.

Although one gravel road open to the public enters the park, most automobile traffic in the region travels on the North Cascades Highway (Washington State Route 20), which passes through the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The nearest large town on the west side of the park is Sedro-Woolley, Washington, while Winthrop lies to the east. Chelan is located at the southeastern end of Lake Chelan.

• Map of North Cascades National Park
• Ross Lake National Recreation Area
• Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
• Skagit Valley Provincial Park
• Mount Baker Wilderness
• Pasayten Wilderness
• Glacier Peak Wilderness
• Mount Rainier National Park
• Retreat of glaciers since 1850
• North Cascades

• Post, A.; D. Richardson, W.V. Tangborn, and F.L. Rosselot (1971). "Inventory of glaciers in the North Cascades, Washington". USGS Prof. Paper 705-A: A1-A26. 

• Official site: North Cascades National Park
• Education: North Cascades Institute
• Photos of North Cascades National Park - Terra Galleria
• Guide to North Cascades National Park on Compassmonkey.com
• Glacier Research: North Cascade Glacier Climate Project reports

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