← Washington guide · National Park
North Cascades · A day that begins with one good stop.
See your first dayWhy this place matters
Less than three hours from Seattle, an alpine landscape beckons. Discover communities of life adapted to moisture in the west and recurring fire in the east.
Read the full NPS story ↗
A flexible first day
These are ways to explore, not a timed itinerary. Check conditions before you set out.
Use the North Cascades Highway corridor for a first look when it is open.
Give Ross Lake viewpoints or a trailhead a full afternoon.
The mountain highway and trail access are seasonal.
Find your bearings
Switch stops to see where this chapter sits in the wider state.
Outline: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 cartographic boundary files. Points show guide starting areas and NOAA stations.
NOAA 1991–2020 · monthly normals
These stations show two parts of the state; neither is a forecast or necessarily local to this site.
No monthly snowfall normal is published for this station. Choose the other station to compare snow.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 42.8 | 44 | 47.1 | 51.3 | 57.5 | 62 | 67.1 | 67.4 | 62.6 | 53.8 | 46.5 | 42 |
Normal = 1991–2020 average at the named NOAA station. Snowfall is new snow over a month, not snow currently on the ground. A blank NOAA snow series is shown as unavailable, never as zero. See current NOAA snow depth ↗
Weather changes the trip
The mountain highway and trail access are seasonal. The graph above uses a named NOAA station; conditions at this place may differ with elevation and weather. Check the local NWS forecast ↗
Keep exploring Washington
Start with Seattle’s waterfront and neighborhoods; save a second day for a ferry or a park. See current events ↗
Make the trip yours
Tell WTDO your dates, where you start and how you travel. The first plan is free.
Plan this trip free