Best Trails in North Cascades National Park

Hiked on 9/22/18

Blue Lake is absolutely breathtaking! The trail is so nice and nicely maintained, the views are absolutely gorgeous, and the lake is crystal clear and pristine.

Absolutely perfect day hike and one of my new favorites!

*Need Forest Pass

9/9/18 Hiked up to the camp with no trail issues. Keep an eye on the weather report and everything else is clear to go.
Rough hike to do in one day. Very rewarding.
Easy to get to and well maintained.

I did it some weeks ago, camping at Fourth of July. First backcountry experience... and it was tough.
It was so smoky... that the views were not what I expected...

Nice hike, no bugs. Ran into 3 mountain goats on the trail :)

Incredible!! Everyone must do this one at least once!

Excellent yet strenuous trail. Views at the top were phenomenal. Mileage is not accurate, as this trail was 11+ miles round trip. The exact one-way mileage was 5.67 miles, according to my watch’s GPS.

No complaints, this trail is now one of my favorites. The views we're breathtaking, trail well maintained. Rocky and rooty throughout the trail so wear good tread hiking boots, if you have trekking poles that's a plus. Bathroom and parking at trailhead. The lake was so green, I could of stayed here all day. Very popular trail on a weekend

Hard trail? Umm, yeah! Great views? For sure! Worth it!

Our group all agreed, this is a hike we would do again. We hiked all the way to ridge of glacier two weeks ago. So about halfway? We turned around at that point, but saw plenty of overnight backpackers headed up to base camp in order to summit Baker the next day. Tough ascents in the switchbacks. At least for us...moderately out of shape 40-somethings...but very worth the view of Baker, glacial valley, river. Lots of blueberries to snack on this time of year.

This was a good hike but if you are from the east coast, make sure this isn't you first hike. The altitude hit us badly plus it was strenuous

Nice little nature walk, with several informational signs through the trail. Great for all skill levels, No elevation gain. Public parking and restrooms at beginning of trail.

One of the bed trails I have hiked, there are many beautiful views; I like photography, so it was a real treat, everywhere I look it was an excellent opportunity to take a photo. I was made aware about the presence of goats, but I didn’t see any; the view of the lake and surrounding mountains was quite impressive.

My family and I hiked this trail on July 27th 2018....we started at 1:00pm and got back by 4:30pm. Spent a while taking pictures of the breathtaking views and my husband and son event went for a swim. If you like hiking this trail is definately a must!

We were there the first week of August 2018. Great hike! We were there with our 2 daughters who are 9 and 5. Grandma and Grandpa (68 y/o) came along as well. It is a great hike that they were all able to enjoy. We hiked this area last year. We loved it so much we did it again this year! Amazing part of the country!

A late start at 2:45 on a mostly sunny warm day. I only hiked until 5 and then turned around, only because of the late start. This is definitely a strenuous trail, more on the downhill trip. Fantastic views at a couple of places where the trees thin out. I am going to try this trail again and bring trekking poles to help on the descent.

I did this hike on July 23, 2018. It was a little hot but beautiful sunny skies. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been is Blue Lake and I’ve been hiking all summer in many national parks. This took me about 3 hours with a lunch break. Definitely a moderate hike for the average hiker. Don’t miss this hike!

Even with the haze of recent fires, this hike offered some of the most incredible views I’ve ever experienced on a hike. The first couple of miles are pretty monotonous switchbacks through the woods, but isn’t too difficult. Once you finally break out of the tree line, you have an unobstructed view of the mountain that you parked next to at the trailhead. It’s INCREDIBLE! Beautiful, immense, just breathtaking beauty. We took a bunch of panoramic pictures even before the pass, it really was that strikingly beautiful. The views at the pass itself were amazing as well, but the haze was thicker there, still great views but in photos will look a little obscured. We continued onto Doubtful Lake, and that required some additional steep hiking. As the poster a few posts below noted, the trail to Doubtful Lake is not maintained and is STEEP and narrow, and overgrown in a few spots. But certainly doable if you take your time. The lake itself is great, very serene and clear. If you just want photos though, take pictures from above and save yourself the steep hike back up; its hard to capture the immensity of the mountain that feeds the lake from the lake itself. Overall, even if you just hike to the pass, do do DO it! It’s great!

8/12:/18 Perfect hike for me and the lake was stunning. Spotted momma and baby mountain goats.

Awesome trail. We hiked in to 6-Mile and camped. Good camping at Hideaway and South Fork as well, right in the creek. Plenty of water and berries. Can grab the shuttle to Stehiken at High Bridge.

This hike is long and strenuous but the vistas along the way and at the top make the trip a must!

Great trail home to many mountain goats

Great trail! Beautiful!!

8/11/18 Enjoyed this trail from beginning to end. Beautiful scenery of the mountains, glaciers, wild flowers and lake. Its a moderate hike, our walking sticks helped our knees on the way back down. Make sure to wear good shoes We saw a couple of people in flip flops who im sure we’re struggling. There was a black bear on the trail on our return back, about a 10th of a mile from the parking lot.

we went up over the last weekend and there wasn't any snow up there.

We went from the base of the Cascade Pass Trail to Doubtful Lake and back. Let me just say, it was incredible! There were very few people there, which made it much less crowded than other big hikes in Washington (such as Rainier). We saw a black bear and several chipmunks, and there is hardly any snow left. The trail to Cascade Pass can hardly be considered difficult (though the switchback do get monotonous), but the trail down to Doubtful Lake is much less used and very very steep. However, I would definitely still recommend it. The water was so clear!

Great trail, camp grounds at base aren’t very level but are sufficient. A great view at the top of the switch backs. Going before June is dicey because the weather is still foggy and unpredictable.
Enjoy the beautiful views and naturalism.

Backpacked and camped at glacier camp. It was amazing. One of the best experiences I’ve done

Hiked to Cascade Pass the other day with my sister and dad. It was pretty special because my dad originally did the hike in 1968 - and 50 years later, he was able to do it again. It starts out in the forest in switch backs and then opens up to gorgeous views. After having lunch on the pass, we ventured a little further up Sahele Arm, which was definitely challenging in hot weather! Made it to the lake lookout and cooled ourselves by doing snow angels in some leftover patches. I would love to get back here next summer but quite a drive for me for a day hike - might end up being a backpacking trip! Amazing views, amazing hike. One I will remember forever.

Best hike we've ever done! This hike is really hard being its all uphill pretty much the entire way but the views are totally worth it!

Easy hike compared to Maple Pass & Cascade Pass that we did. Great recovery day with gorgeous scenery. Stop by Winthrop for a burger and beer after!