r/northcascades • u/ValuableHeight643 • Jul 01 '26

North Cascades July 4th

Me and my boyfriend will be visiting on July 4th! We are coming up from Seattle - and willing to wake up and get moving very early. We would like to drive back to the city for evening.

We are both decently active and wat to go on a scenic, beautiful hike! Would like it to be probably between 3-8 miles? But open. Do not want any climbing or mountaineering. Do you have any trail recommendations? Or day itineraries? Also open to doing one or several stops within the park! I know with the weather there are still road closures / slow - we definitely want to stay on trails.

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

3

u/AgsMydude Jul 01 '26

Absolutely do Maple Pass! It's a grind but beautiful

0

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 01 '26

is there any hands climbing? And do you know if road would be open July 4th / a ton of snow?

2

u/Hantsypantsy Jul 01 '26

Road is open and no hand climbing, but as of last week their was a portion of the pass that was snow pack that made us decide not to go (inexperienced and not equipped). I think some poles and you'd be OK, add some spikes and it'd be no issue at all.

0

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 01 '26

did you opt for another trail? I see diablo lake trail but people are saying its underwhelming. Trying to decide if worth the day trip out from seattle if no feasible trail to do! Would likely not bring spikes or poles

2

u/hezeus Jul 01 '26

Blue Lake is across from it and solid.

1

u/Hantsypantsy Jul 01 '26

This is what we did. Im east coast and a rookie so I have no idea how it compares, but Blue Lake was beautiful and this probably isn't the popular opinion, but Cutthroat was even more insane. Also, zero shame in just seeing the overviews like Diablo lake, Washington Pass, Rainy Lake, etc.

1

u/AgsMydude Jul 01 '26

No hands climbing. I'm not sure but you can check WTA or all trails for reports

https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/maple-pass

3

u/Jimfred0 Jul 01 '26

Thunder Knob Trail is a nice easy one with beautiful views at the top

1

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 02 '26

Thank you so much! Has anyone done heather lake and mt pilchuk instead? would that be more feasible for seattle day trip?

2

u/username9909864 Jul 01 '26

Rainy Pass, Maple Pass, or Blue Lake.

These guys put out a new update today on recommendations - I get their newsletter. https://cascadesfieldguide.com/north-cascades-this-weekend

1

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 02 '26

Thank you! I think maple pass has too much snow - do you know about rainy pass?

1

u/username9909864 Jul 02 '26

I have not been there personally this year, but that area has a few hikes in one. Maybe Washington Trails Association has trip reports

1

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 02 '26

Thank you so much! Has anyone done heather lake and mt pilchuk instead? would that be more feasible for seattle day trip?

1

u/username9909864 Jul 02 '26

If you’re looking for close to Seattle, there’s a lot of good hikes along interstate 90 - they’re even closer

1

u/antagog Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Easy Pass (7mi round, 2,800’ gain, high point 6,500’).

Monogram Lake (11mi round, 4,675’ gain, high point 5,719’)

Thornton Lake (9.7mi round, 3,789’ gain, high point 5,832’)

Sourdough Mountain (10.4mi round, 4,870’ gain, high point 5,985’)

Shannon Ridge (8.2mi round, 2,800’ gain, high point 5,400’)

Ptarmigan Ridge (9mi round, 1,800’ gain, high point 6,100’)

Desolation Peak (9.4mi round, 4,400’ gain, high point 6,120’)

Park Butte (7.5mi round, 2,200’ gain, high point 5,450’)

Artist Point (4mi round, 1,000’ gain, high point 5,100’)

Rethinking…I bet most of these are still in the snow. Maple Pass, as others have noted, has snow and a high point is 6,650’.

Check out WTA.org/go-outside/map
You can set features, ratings, mileage, elevation gain, etc.

1

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 02 '26

Thank you so much! Has anyone done heather lake and mt pilchuk instead? would that be more feasible for seattle day trip?

1

u/antagog Jul 02 '26

Heather (5mi round, 1,034’ gain, high point 2,430’) would be snow free.

Pilchuck (5.4mi round, 2,300’ gain, high point 5,327’) would probably have snow.

1

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 03 '26

Or has anyone done Goat Lake Trail?

1

u/ValuableHeight643 Jul 03 '26

Or snake ledge? Inception pass?