Big Four Ice Caves — Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Hiked to the Ice Caves with the kids on Saturday afternoon. Great trail for kids. My 3-year old had not trouble walking the entire trail. The place is very interesting and unique for such an easily accessible trail. The only 'problem' is that the place was packed with people when we got there, around 3pm, but by 5pm it was nearly empty. The caves are big, i would say that right now they are probably 10 or 12 feet tall. The air coming from inside the cave is really cold, something like a natural air conditioner. The largest cave (in terms of height) is actually to the right side of the main caves - probably more than 15 feet high. However, the top of the cave is already getting really thin and melting quickly, so i would say that soon it will collapse. When hiking back, we took the trail under the bridge to the river (after crossing it towards the parking lot) - it is a good place for the kids to play in the water.