North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park lies in northern Washington. It is one of three Park Service units run as a single complex with the Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. Together they protect 684,237 acres from the Canadian border south to Lake Chelan, and 93% of that is the Stephen Mather Wilderness. The complex had 1,259,419 recreation visits in 2025, of which the national park itself had 46,925.

One highway crosses the complex, and it shuts every winter. We checked the figures below on 28 October 2026. Our sources were the Park Service's pages and alerts, the Washington State Department of Transportation's, Recreation.gov, the Lake Chelan ferry operator's and NOAA's normals.

Which part of the North Cascades complex does State Route 20 cross?

State Route 20 crosses Ross Lake National Recreation Area, the corridor between the national park's north and south units, and not the park itself. The Park Service says Cascade River Road is the only road that enters the national park's boundary. Every other way into the park proper is on foot.

The road explains the lopsided visit counts. Ross Lake National Recreation Area had 1,173,028 visits in 2025, or 93% of the complex, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, around Stehekin, had 39,466. The complex as a whole was up 23.7% on 2024.

The Park Service counts more than 300 glaciers in the complex, which it describes as less than three hours from Seattle. Dogs are allowed on a leash in the two recreation areas but not in the national park, except on the Pacific Crest Trail.

What does a North Cascades trip cost when there is no gate?

North Cascades charges no entrance fee anywhere in the complex. There is no trailhead or parking fee either on trails that start on Park Service land. The park needs no entrance reservation and is open 24 hours a day.

North Cascades is not on the 2026 list of eleven parks that charge non-residents a $100 surcharge, so a visitor from abroad pays nothing to enter. Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park charge $30 a car each, so two adults in one car pay $60 for all three Washington parks. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains when the $250 annual pass pays off.

Three things cost money. Campsites cost $20 to $24 a night in season. Pay by QR code or on pay.gov within 24 hours, because payment is not accepted on site. A backcountry permit costs $10 a person plus a $6 fee, and is needed year-round. Forest Service trailheads on the land next to the park need a Northwest Forest Pass, at $5 a day or $30 a year.

When does the North Cascades Highway close for the winter?

The North Cascades Highway closes for avalanches each winter, and by 28 October 2026 the state transport department had announced no closure date. Its pass page, last updated on 27 October, says reports have ended for this season and prints no road status. The Park Service's road page still shows it open as of 14 June, on a page last updated in July.

The department's own table gives the dates for every season. Over the 21 seasons from 2005 to 2025 the road closed between 3 November and 15 December, with a median of 20 November. Five of those closures came before 15 November, so a trip planned for the second week of November may find the pass shut. The earliest closing in the table is 17 October 2003.

The road usually reopens between April and May, with a median of 1 May. In 2026 it reopened in stages. December storms had undermined the road near milepost 145, and a rockslide of about 4,000 cubic yards came down near Diablo Lake on 17 March.

The east side reopened on 30 April and the whole road on 14 June. The state says that matches 1974 for the latest opening since its records began in 1972, though its own table lists a first opening on 2 September 1972.

When the road is closed, the closure runs between the Ross Dam trailhead at milepost 134 and the Silver Star gate at milepost 171. Later in the winter the state usually moves the gates back to Newhalem, at milepost 120, and Early Winters, at milepost 178.

What is there to stop for between Newhalem and Ross Lake?

State Route 20 runs approximately 30 miles across the park complex, and the Park Service says to allow at least an hour. The road's high point is Washington Pass, at 5,477 feet. The main stops sit between mileposts 119.9 and 136, and the mileposts below are the park's own.

Diablo Lake Overlook is, the Park Service says, the most easily reached place on the road with the best sunrise and sunset views. Diablo Lake is a reservoir of Seattle City Light's Skagit project, and its level can change by 1 to 5 feet in a day. The Skagit Tours boat trips on the lake ended for 2026 on 27 September.

There are no restaurants or petrol stations on the highway inside the complex. Marblemount, west of Newhalem, is the last town with petrol and food. Break-ins are not uncommon at trailheads along the road, so leave nothing in the car.

How long is the Cascade Pass trail, and can you drive to it now?

The Cascade Pass trail is 3.7 miles one way with 1,700 feet of climb, and continuing to the Sahale Glacier makes 5.9 miles and 3,940 feet. It starts at the end of Cascade River Road, 23.1 miles from Marblemount. Pets are not allowed on it.

On 28 October 2026 the park's alert said Cascade River Road was closed to vehicles at milepost 21, two miles before the trailhead. Walkers and cyclists may go on beyond the gate. That adds two miles each way to the hike. The park's road page, last updated in July, still showed the road open, so trust the alert.

Cascade River Road is paved for about its first 10 miles and gravel after that. The Park Service calls it unsuitable for saloon cars and low-clearance vehicles, and bars RVs and anything over 22 feet. The road usually opens fully by the end of June. Cascade Pass is also a hikers' route to Stehekin: from the pass to High Bridge in the Stehekin valley is 23 miles.

How do the Lake Chelan ferries to Stehekin run this winter?

Stehekin, at the head of Lake Chelan, has no road in. The Park Service says it is reached only by foot, boat or plane. Two companies sail up the 50-mile lake: the Lake Chelan Boat Company from the town of Chelan, and the Stehekin Ferry from Fields Point. The Park Service calls Lake Chelan the third deepest lake in the United States.

From 1 November to 7 December 2026 the Lady Express leaves Chelan at about 9:30 a.m. and reaches Stehekin at noon. It starts back at 1:30 p.m., giving an hour and a half ashore. The boat company has not published the Stehekin Ferry's winter times, so a day trip after 7 December cannot be planned from its timetable yet.

The Stehekin Ferry's own site did not answer us, so its times and fare are not listed. The boat company warns that its online timetable may not be the latest, so confirm before booking.

The Park Service says there is no regular air service to Stehekin, only limited floatplane docking. Northwest Seaplanes charters a six-seat Beaver from Seattle for $2,825, one way or same-day return, which is $471 each for a full plane. There is no phone signal in Stehekin and no cash machine.

What did the December 2025 flood close in Stehekin?

The Stehekin River had the second largest flood on record on 10 December 2025, and Stehekin Landing is running on reduced services through 2026. The flood buried the drain field of the landing's wastewater plant and destroyed its systems building.

North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin is closed for 2026. With it go lodging, food, shops, fuel, laundry and showers at the landing. The Golden West Visitor Center is closed as well, and fuel has been sold only on an emergency basis since 15 September. The post office, the ferries, the valley shuttle and private tour operators carry on, and private lodging in the valley is still available.

Lakeview and Purple Point campgrounds, sites 2 to 6, are free and first come, first served. The Park Service expects an interim wastewater plant before summer 2027, and estimates that permanent construction of Company Creek Road will start in autumn 2028. The landing also sits in the burn scar of the 2024 Pioneer Fire, and the park warns of flash floods and debris flows there.

What is still open along State Route 20 at the end of October?

Most of the North Cascades season ended in September. The North Cascades Visitor Center closed on 27 September, and the Wilderness Information Center in Marblemount after 10 October. Backcountry permits now come from its outdoor self-issue station. The Skagit Information Center in Newhalem, with free wifi, opened daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until 1 November, and the park's hours page prints no later date.

The campgrounds below are the Park Service's, with the in-season prices it lists. None has showers or RV hookups. Sleeping in a car outside a campground is illegal.

The campgrounds reopen on 17 May 2027, and Recreation.gov releases sites in blocks six months and seven days ahead. Ross Lake Resort, with floating cabins and no road access, closes for the season on 31 October. The Park Service had published no 2027 opening dates for its visitor centres by 28 October.

Where did the 2026 fires close trails in the North Cascades?

Fires in summer 2026 closed trails and camps in the north and around Stehekin, but not State Route 20 or the campgrounds along it. The Border 2 Fire had burned an estimated 7,296 acres in the United States by 20 August, when it was 43% contained. It closed the whole Hozomeen area, with its docks and campgrounds, and several nearby trails and camps.

The Luna Fire closed the Big Beaver Trail from Big Beaver Stock Camp to Stillwell Camp. The Sisi Fire closed the Agnes Gorge, Agnes Creek and Company Creek trails near Stehekin. On 28 October the gate at Hozomeen, on the Canadian border, was closed until further notice.

A campfire ban covering the whole complex, charcoal grills included, began on 29 June 2026. We found no notice lifting it by 28 October, and no current alert about it either way, so ask a ranger before lighting a fire. The park planned pile burns of fire debris in October and November, with smoke visible from roads in Stehekin and around Ross Lake.

How much wetter is Newhalem than Stehekin?

Newhalem, on the west side of the crest, gets 78.85 inches of precipitation a year, more than twice Stehekin's 36.88 inches on the east side. Diablo Dam, at the lake, gets nearly as much as Newhalem. Stehekin is the warmest in summer and the snowiest: it averages 24.1 days a year at 90°F or more and 129.7 inches of snow.

The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 average highs and lows. Newhalem and Diablo Dam get about twice Seattle–Tacoma airport's 39.34 inches. November is their wettest month, at more than 13 inches, and NOAA marks all the snowfall figures as provisional.

The Park Service says the best weather generally comes between mid-June and late September. It adds that snow is off all but the highest trails by July. Avalanches are common in winter and spring, even along the highway.

How far is the North Cascades Visitor Center from Seattle?

The North Cascades Visitor Center at Newhalem is about 116 miles and 2 hours 46 minutes from downtown Seattle by our own routing. The Park Service says less than three hours. Public transport to the park is extremely limited, so plan on a car.

The distances in the table are our own routing, checked against the park's mileposts and Recreation.gov's figures. State Route 20 meets Interstate 5 at Exit 230 in Burlington. The fastest route from Seattle leaves the interstate earlier, by State Route 530 to Rockport. Chelan is reached across the Cascades on Interstate 90, not over State Route 20.

The park is on Pacific Time, and clocks went back an hour on 1 November 2026. It is one of three national parks in our guide to Washington.