Best trails in North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park is a rugged, wilderness of conifer trees. The park features hiking trails along tree covered mountains that seem to stretch on forever, alpine meadows, impressive glaciers, the Skagit River, and stunning views of alpine lakes like Lake Ann or Diablo Lake. Scenic drives along the North Cascades Highway, boating on Ross Lake, climbing at Cascade Pass, Mount Shuksan, Mount Triumph, and Eldorado Peak, visiting the Stehekin Valley at the northern tip of Lake Chelan, and access to viewing wildlife such as grizzly bears, beaver, gray wolves, and over than 200 bird species are just some of your options. The park is free and open 24 hours a day, all year. Please note that avalanches typically cause closure of North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) in winter - between late November and mid-December; reopening is usually early May. The road is closed at the Ross Dam trailhead, milepost 134, east to the Early Winters Information Center, milepost 178. Trails east of the closure are inaccessible but the majority of the park can be reached if road conditions permit.