Hiking Guide
WTA's hiking guide is the most comprehensive database of hikes in Washington, and comprises content written by local hiking experts and user submitted information. All data is vetted by WTA staff. This resource is made possible by the donations of WTA members.
We respectfully acknowledge the lands we are visiting are the homelands of Indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, some of whom have reserved rights on these lands. Tribes continue to rely on and share in the management of these lands today. Please tread gently and treat these places with respect.
Results List
77 HikesWelcome Pass
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 4.6 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,800 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,200 feet
Providing access to the gorgeous views along the High Divide, Welcome Pass is a nice option for those looking for a workout. Count the 66 switchbacks from the trailhead to the pass at 5,200 feet.
Baker Lake - Maple Grove
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 8.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 500 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,000 feet
Magnificent old growth forests, stellar views of Mount Baker, turbulent tributaries, and, of course, a beautiful lake make this trail a great path to travel.
Table Mountain
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 2.6 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 725 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,700 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
Table Mountain trail offers a variety of nice views, and opportunities to get away from the parking lot crowds at Artist Point. But heed the cautions before you set out.
Horseshoe Bend
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 2.4 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 220 feet
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Highest Point
- 1,200 feet
Here's a Mount Baker Highway gem that's low enough to be passable all year and at the same time easy enough for the whole family. It's also a terrific spot to witness the power of water.
Maple Creek Loop Trail
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 1.4 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 250 feet
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Highest Point
- 850 feet
Maple Creek Park is a 73-acre Whatcom County Park sitting just outside the town of Maple Falls. It contains a section of the developing Bay to Baker Trail, as well as a 1.4 mile-long loop trail. Along the loop are several junctions, none of them marked. To keep on the main loop, the hike is best done counterclockwise.
Granite Mountain (Mount Baker)
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
A summit scramble near Hannegan Pass in the North Cascades. Route finding experience required.
Copper Ridge Loop
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 34.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 8,600 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,260 feet
Experience the variety offered by the North Cascades: high mountain ridges with spectacular views, a remote river valley, and even a self-propelled cable car river crossing. Popular side trips include Hannegan Peak and Whatcom Pass.
Copper Ridge
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 13.9 miles, one-way
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Elevation Gain
- 1,800 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,260 feet
The Copper Ridge Trail forms part of the popular and iconic Copper Ridge Loop. The trail climbs to a ridge with stunning views before dropping down to the Chilliwack River Valley.
Chilliwack River
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 17.3 miles, one-way
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Elevation Gain
- 2,365 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,440 feet
The Chilliwack River Trail is an important part of the Copper Ridge Loop and is also part of the traverse between Hannegan Pass and Ross Lake via a connection with the Little Beaver Trail.
Park Butte
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 7.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,200 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,450 feet
Hikers must pack out their waste on this trail and dispose of it in the receptacles at the trailhead
On Park Butte, hike to an historic fire lookout and come face-to-face with Koma Kulshan. Along with unobstructed panoramic views of Mount Baker, the Twin Sisters, and the rest of the North Cascades, the route to Park Butte offers dedicated campsites, wildflower-filled alpine meadows, rushing waterfalls, and a stunning variety of mushroom species.
Heliotrope Ridge
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 5.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,400 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,100 feet
The road to this trailhead is washed out. Closure is anticipated to last until January 2023
If you'd like nose-to-nose access to Mount Baker, this first-rate woodsy walk delivers. Over a relatively short, well-maintained trail with mild elevation gain, you can be glacier-side in no time... if the creek crossings allow.
Lake Ann (Mount Baker Highway)
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 8.2 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,150 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,900 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
Enjoy up-close, breathtaking views of Mount Shuksan’s west face, along with views of Fisher Chimney, the upper and lower Curtis Glacier, as well as Mount Baker from the trail to Lake Ann. The lake in a rocky basin, in the midst of this spectacular scenery. On some days you can hear ice echoing through the valley as it crashes down the face of Mount Shuksan. This is a late season hike, as snow can linger here into August.
Canyon Lake Community Forest
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 7.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,400 feet
This community forest is managed as a nature reserve, where hikers will find a wide ranging variety of wildlife, and a retreat from the noise and bustle of city life.
Ptarmigan Ridge
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 9.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,800 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,100 feet
Rarely can hikers approach a climbers’ realm so easily, with minimal elevation gain, and enjoy beautiful views all along the way.
Swift Creek
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 16.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,700 feet
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Highest Point
- 3,930 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
Part of the scenic Pacific Northwest Trail, rugged 8-mile Swift Creek Trail accesses the Mount Baker Wilderness.
Bagley Lakes
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 2.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 150 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,300 feet
Road closed: The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter
Bring the family for this easy hike at Heather Meadows. Two sparkling alpine lakes, an abundance of wildflowers, an impressive mountainous backdrop and a year-round snowfield make this a hike that will please everybody. What's more, this trail gets a fraction of the foot traffic that the trails at Artist Point get in late summer.
Yellow Aster Butte
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 7.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,550 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,150 feet
Visitors to this trail must pack out all human waste not bury it.
Find supreme wildflower gardens and a high-country plateau speckled with shimmering tarns-but that's not all. Spectacular alpine vistas abound too-of Baker, Shuksan, and all those rugged and craggy peaks straddling the 49th parallel. Yellow Aster Butte may be a misnomer (those yellow-petaled delights are actually daisies), but you definitely don't want to miss hiking here.
Goat Mountain
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 8.2 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,100 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,600 feet
From the top, you’ll marvel at vistas of icy peaks including Mounts Baker, Shuksan and Sefrit. Big alpine meadows with plenty of huckleberries in the fall!
Mazama Park via Ridley Creek
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 7.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,600 feet
Hike a trail that WTA is helping restore. The Ridley Creek trail provides access to scenic Mazama Park and views of Mount Baker.
Winchester Mountain
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 3.4 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,300 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,521 feet
The trail up to Winchester Mountain is less than two miles long and only 1300 feet of elevation gain, with access to a lookout at 6500 feet with outstanding 360 degree views. What’s the catch? The road.
Twin Lakes (North Cascades)
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
Silesia Creek Trail is closed due to the Chilliwack Fire
The trail to Twin Lakes is actually an extremely rough forest road that is, in theory, driveable for high-clearance vehicles. If you elect to drive it, you'll have immediate access to the trails to Winchester Lookout, High Pass and Silesia Creek. If you park at the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead (a popular option, which makes parking difficult on nice days), you have a 2.5 mile road walk to arrive at the lakes.
Hannegan Pass and Peak
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 10.4 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,100 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,200 feet
The wide-open trail to Hannegan Pass and Hannegan Peak offers spectacular mountain views, glorious alpine wildflowers, waterfalls and glaciers. Choose to hike to 5050 foot Hannegan Pass (about 8 miles roundtrip) or press on to the 6200 foot summit of Hannegan Peak -- 10.6 miles roundtrip.
Church Mountain
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 8.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 3,750 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,100 feet
The rewards for this strenuous hike are a bouquet of fall colors and a vast panorama of North Cascades mountains.
Chain Lakes Loop
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 6.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,820 feet
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Highest Point
- 5,400 feet
This gorgeous loop hike has it all: big views of Mounts Baker and Shuksan, as well as the North Cascades, alpine lakes for swimming, and well-maintained trail winding through meadows and heather. And with wildflowers in spring, blueberry bushes for trail-side snacking in late summer and blazing color in the fall, you can't pick a bad season to visit.
Baker River
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 5.2 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 300 feet
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Highest Point
- 900 feet
Take a mellow walk on a trail that wanders among large old trees and huge mossy boulders. The trail alongside Baker River takes you on a path of gentle up and downs, splashing your way through stream crossings and past open areas filled with young alder, huckleberry and salmonberry. On a quiet spring day, your chances of seeing wildlife are excellent.
Anderson and Watson Lakes
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 6.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 1,100 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,900 feet
This trail features plenty of variety, with destinations spaced perfectly for families or first-time backpackers. Beautiful hemlock forest, meadows dotted with wildflowers, gleaming lakes, mountain views, juicy berries and excellent camping are all available. Wait until later in the hiking season though, as this area is known for its bugs.
Railroad Grade
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 7.0 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 2,000 feet
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Highest Point
- 6,000 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
This popular route for summitting Mount Baker is also a brilliant summer wildflower hiking destination.
Mount Shuksan
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Highest Point
- 9,127 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
Mount Ann
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 10.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 4,000 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
A scramble up a mountain near Lake Ann. Climbing experience and equipment required.
Fire and Ice Trail
North Cascades > Mount Baker Area
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Length
- 0.5 miles, roundtrip
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Elevation Gain
- 100 feet
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Highest Point
- 4,400 feet
The road to Artist Point is closed for the winter season
The Fire and Ice trail is the Mount Baker area's premiere interpretive trail, telling the story of how glaciers and volcanoes shaped this impressive place.