Fourth of July Pass

There are two ways to attain Fourth of July Pass - from Thunder Creek or from Panther Creek. Both offer wonderful opportunities to travel along burbling, blue-green creeks. And both offer excellent views of the North Cascades and camping possibilities. Go out and back or stash a second car and do a traverse.

Probably the most scenic way to hike to Fourth of July Pass is from the Colonial Creek Campground on the Thunder Creek trail. The stats on this page reflect this hike. The trail starts out easy, as it gently wanders alongside Thunder Creek for 2 miles. One-third of a mile past the bridge, you'll reach the trail to Fourth of July Pass on the left. Taking this trail, you will soon begin a steep ascent, climbing 2000 feet in just 2.5 miles to Fourth of July Camp (3400'). You'll appreciate the cool forest cover as you climb, and then the views of Colonial Peak, Snowfield Peak and Neve Glacier as you near the camp. If backpacking, this is the place to stay - some of the camp spots have fabulous views.

From the camp, it is less than a mile to the pass - 3600' and 5.3 miles from the trailhead. On the way, you'll pass a nice overlook of the Panther Potholes just short of the pass. The view at the top of the pass isn't any better.

Alternatively, you can access the Pass from Panther Creek (parking at the East Bank trailhead between mileposts 138 & 139 on Hwy 20). The way is also pleasant, also alongside a burbling creek. But while it does have a camp, it is not as scenic. And hikers may be disheartened along the trail when it takes a surprising and unexplained turn downhill after having marched upwards for several hundred feet. Probably the best way to see this section is as a traverse from Colonial Creek Campground or the opposite. If you can swing two cars, the whole walk would be 11.7 miles.

Note that a backcountry camping permit is required for backpackers, obtainable from North Cascades National Park.

Driving Directions:

From Marblemount follow the North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) east for 24 miles. Just past milepost 130, turn right into the Colonial Creek Campground and proceed 0.5 mile to the trailhead, near the amphitheater at the day-use area (elev. 1250 ft). Water and restrooms available.

Recent Trip Reports

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There are 36 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.

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Fourth of July Pass — May 24, 2009 — ZE TROVAO

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Blowdowns | Snow on trail

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The trail was totally dried and opened up to the 4th July campsite. There were a few logs blocking t...

The trail was totally dried and opened up to the 4th July campsite. There were a few logs blocking the trail, but I easily bypassed them. From the 4th July campsite to the 4th July pass, the trail was covered with snow after 0.5 mile from the campsite, so that I lost the trail after that point and had to return. The view of the Boston pass was very rewarding, and weather conditions were perfect, with no winds and temperatures up to the 70's, even at the 4th July campsite.

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Thunder Creek, Fourth of July Pass — May 17, 2009 — Mocchihiker

Day hike

Issues: Blowdowns | Snow on trail | Bugs

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Thunder Creek trail is totally clear and open to junction with Fourth of July Pass trail. Heard in a...

Thunder Creek trail is totally clear and open to junction with Fourth of July Pass trail. Heard in a previous report that it was snow free to McAllister Camp.

There are a few blowdowns on the Fourth of July Pass trail. A couple are significant enough that you have to go around them by climbing above the trail.

Encountered first snow just pass Fourth of July Camp--approximately .7 miles and 200 feet from the Pass. About 1/4 mile to the Pass we lost the trail and were postholing in at least 4 foot deep snow.

Went back to a lovely lookout spot just above the Panther Potholes for lunch. Nice views and no mosquitos. Mosquitos were pretty bad at the Camp just a little bit lower.

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Fourth of July Pass #758 — Jul 09, 2008 — whitebark

Day hike

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The trail to Fourth of July Pass from Thunder Creek, is in good shape although steep and eroded in s...

The trail to Fourth of July Pass from Thunder Creek, is in good shape although steep and eroded in spots. From the Thunder Creek junction, the trail climbs steeply in tight switchpacks. Trees mostly block the views but the shade is welcome. After gaining 500 feet, the grade eases off, and the trail traverses the slope for a pleasant half mile, passing through numerous cool ravines with splashing creeks. The trail crosses one last wooded flat, then resumes the steep climb, which doesn't cease until the trail arrives at Fourth of July Camp. At the camp openings in the tree cover provide glimpses of massive, glacier-capped Cascade peaks. Bugs are few, mostly mosquitoes. There is no snow anywhere nearby, in fact things have gotten rather dry and dusty. A side trail leads to more camps and a source of water.

It's worth continuing on the Fourth of July trail a short distance further to a rocky ledge overlooking the Panther Potholes. Fourth of July Pass itself is deeply wooded and viewless. I looked around for the start of the abandoned Ruby Mountain trail, but didn't find it.

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Fourth of July Pass #758,Thunder Creek,Panther Creek #758 — Jul 04, 2008 — Robert-Paul

Day hike

Issues: Bugs

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Hike from Thunder Creek TH to Fourth July Camp was hot but clear and sunny on well maintained and st...

Hike from Thunder Creek TH to Fourth July Camp was hot but clear and sunny on well maintained and steep trail. Great water along the trail to refresh everyone (including our Bernese packer, incidentally this is a great trail within NCNP for dogs since it is in the recreation area). No snow around the top. Bugs present but tolerable. Nice views of Neve glacier at the top, and other glaciers and peaks, across Thunder Creek. Raging gigantic waterfalls off of the glaciers in the far distance looked prehistoric could be heard all night.

We spent the night on the top, and did a shuttle hike, heading down on the Panther Creek trail. This trail has a few issues at this time. It had an EXTREMELY dangerous crossing for this time of the year, requiring knee+ wade across part of the ""creek"", and a log crossing (mostly) over this raging swollen creek which left life to one slip of the foot. Several sections of the trail also had dense brush where the trail was hard to follow, with lots of nettles (shorts not recommended). Some downed trees had been cut, but not all, and obviously not too many people have been through this area yet. We saw zero hikers on the trail all the way from the pass to the trail head. Other than that, beautiful trail. LOTS of bear scat, but didn't see any bruins.

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Fourth of July Pass #758,Ruby #736 — Jul 06, 2007 — Ramblin Randy

Day hike

Issues: Bugs

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Our intention was to get as high up Ruby Mountain as we could on a day hike from Colonial Creek Camp...

Our intention was to get as high up Ruby Mountain as we could on a day hike from Colonial Creek Campground. We only made it to 4000 feet before we hit our turnaround time.

I don't know how this ever got a 4-boot rating in the ""Don't Waste Your Time..."" guide book. I would put it in the ""Don't Do"" category. There are only a couple of narrow views of Tricouni and Colonial Peaks along the way and the rest of the time you're on a steep trail in heavy timber. The trail is in good shape, though, and cleared of all windfalls until you reach 4th of July Pass and the Panther Creek trail. There were no bugs until we reached the pass but there they were fierce.

The start of the trail up Ruby Mountain was hard to find but we finally discovered it. It begins between a small pond and a puncheon bridge as you start descending the west side of the pass. A couple of hundred feet up this trail is a no-longer-maintained sign. Lots of small windfalls over this path but it's fairly easy to follow for as far as we got.

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