Guide To Visiting North Cascades National Park + Things To Do

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North Cascades National Park is one of the less visited national parks, but not because it’s not beautiful, but because it’s too remote for some people. To me, that’s more reason to visit!

Nestled in the Pacific Northwest in Washington State, just a few hour’s drive south of Seattle, this park is famous for it’s vast wilderness, conifer-clad mountains, and diverse array of wildlife.

It’s a land of steep slopes converging into narrow river valleys, and mountain ranges blanketed in forest and covered with glaciers and lakes.

In this guide, we share everything you need to know about North Cascades National Park, including what to do there, how to get there, and tips for visiting.

About North Cascades National Park

North Cascades is the least visited national park in the USA – it only received 40,000 visitors in 2023, and you might be wondering – what gives?

Its low visitor numbers are surprising considering it’s only within 100 miles of Seattle.

The reason for this is because North Cascades is too remote and has some challenging terrain to drive over to get there. There is a lack of infrastructure and not much choice of campground, but honestly this all makes it sounds more appealing to me. What do you think?

There really is only one main road (Highway 20) that bisects through North Cascades National Park. Most of the park, which stretches north into Canada, is for the intrepid explorer on foot.

The North Cascades National Park Complex includes the north and south units of North Cascades as well as Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

18 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail runs through the park, leading trekkers to remote peaks with names like Mount Terror and Inspiration Peak.

We were happy to remain mostly in the main Ross Lake National Recreation area in the park exploring its many lakes, and hikes, including our most challenging, and rewarding hike yet in the USA, the Cascades Pass Trail.

For those who do brave the rough terrain to get here, will be met with a landscape of breathtaking jagged peaks, dense forests, and over 300 glaciers.

In fact, there are more glaciers in North Cascades National Park than any other national park in the U.S. outside of…