Best Trails in North Cascades National Park

Incredible. Sunny and blue skies after a light snow fall. Only made it to the glacier as the trail becomes hard to find due to snow (and ranger suggested possibly needing a pickaxe), but the views are unparalleled the entire way up. The road to the trailhead is slow with lots of washboards and some big potholes, but doable. Start early to get up before the fog rolls in.

Awesome views and worth the effort. We had snow at top and did see a massive bear (at a good distance). A top rated hike - don't skip it. We logged it just over 7 miles.

Went a few days ago. Saw two bears. One was a brownish black bear that people thought was a grizzly bear.

This hike gets five stars for the easy access it provides to an up close and personal view of Mt Baker. This is an awesome hike and I think the closest you can get to the summit of M t Baker on a known trail. As long as you have your ten essentials you can hike right up to the glacier as the trail ends due to the glacier. No special equipment needed. Glaciers are typically blue as they are compressed ice where as snowfields are typically white. Do not walk on snow on top of a glacier or you could fall to your death into a crevasse. In fact there are often groups practicing crevasse rescue in this area.

The Railroad Grade section has you mostly on top of a ridge line with marmots cheering you on as you climb up and up gradually. If you have a fear of ledges or heights this might not be a great hike, although I think there are some trails to the side that parallel the high trail for the camp sites.

Eventually the worn trail ends and you have to use your skills, the wear patterns on the rocks and the evidence of any trail markers others have made to get to the top. Just set your sites on hump at a time and you will eventually reach the end of the road. Baker was nice enough to come out of the clouds long enough to make the hike just a little better.

We did this trail on a clear, sunny day with moderate temps. After hiking the 36 switchbacks to the pass we continued up the Sahale arm until we could see Doubtful Lake and the glacier above it. We heard from other hikers that a black bear eating berries was visible below the trail but we did not see it. There was a mountain goat and her kid roaming around the pass. The views are spectacular and I couldn't stop myself from taking lots and lots of photos. This was a 'bucket list' hike. 9/14/17

Beautiful hike. The more challenging end of "moderate" Hiked it counter clock wise. The descent is hard on the knees. Fall colors are starting to show.

Amazing hike great views!