North Cascades Highway

The North Cascades Highway is quite possibly the most beautiful drive in Washington. Whenever we can, this is the route we take home from visiting family.

It's not a year long route though. With an annual snowfall of 15 feet as well as several avalanche zones, it is impossible to keep the route safe for travel for close to six months of the year.

There are a few stops along the way to make, such as the town of Winthrop, but the real beauty is the mountains. The road winds along cliffs, through avalanche chutes, and sweeping switchbacks. There is nothing fast about driving this road. You can try, but you would be missing the true beauty and ruggedness of this drive.

Even during the summer you will see snow along the route in some of the more shaded areas. Every year the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) closes the route when they deem it to dangerous and they can no longer keep up with the snowfall. To give you an idea they have a few pictures of the cleanup as well as what it looks like mid-winter on their Flickr page here and here. It's pretty amazing what they do every year to open it back up for passage.

As you wind your way up the first of the major switchbacks, which is also a giant avalanche chute, Liberty Bell Mountain comes into view. This is a popular spot for rock climbers. In fact the entire area along this road is one large recreation area. If it has to do with outdoor recreation, you can find it going on here. On this trip we saw people skiing down the Liberty Bell avalanche chute, saw mountain climbers, and people riding horses.

Because we had been driving for several hours at this point, we decided to take a break. The rest area was closed off, but the road was clear, so we parked the jeep outside the gate and took a hike back into the area letting Emma run around in the snow. The weather in the area is a funny thing. Here we were walking along snow that was anywhere from two to four feet deep, yet the sky was clear and the tempurature was a nice 65 degrees. Just right for a walk.

Emma had never really been in snow before so this was a new experience. It didn't take long for her to start playing in it. It was fun watching her pick up the scent of animals that had left tracks in the snow. Always something interesting to smell, and the roll in.

After spending time stretching our legs, enjoying the crips air, and playing in the snow it was time to hit the road again.

Waterfalls are everywhere along this road. Some are easy to stop and see, others will catch you by surprise. It is not uncommon to find yourself on a bridge along a cliff that is there simply to allow the road to go by a waterfall.

This particular waterfall is located across the highway from a viewpoint over Ross Lake. It's a great place to take in the sights. From here you can see into British Columbia, Canada. The view is spectacular.

As the sun began to settle down over the mountains we made one last stop before making the final push for home. Where the highway crosses Diablo Lake there is a campground and a few hiking trails. We decided it was a chance to get one last break in before dark.

Emma, being the graceful puppy that she is, promptly fell off the foot bridge and into the creek below. She was out of the water in short order on her own, but still gave us a start.


Off to home we went. We would highly recommend you make this trip yourself. Just be sure to give yourself some time to enjoy it. We think it is a beautiful enough drive we keep track of the opening day so we can make the trip. We also see how late in winter we can go over as well just to enjoy the drive in the snow with very isolated roads.

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