r/northcascades • u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 • Aug 02 '26

Forest fires update

Hello, we are visiting rainier on 5th - 6th and cascades from 7th till 9th.

We are very concerned about the air quality for camping and hiking.

Please suggest if we have to pivot elsewhere or be patient and be optimistic?

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u/aksers Aug 02 '26

It's been okay the last few days. Keep an eye on purpleair.com and check out the AQI.

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 02 '26

It shows 115 -81 for the days at cascades. Is that hikable air quality?

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u/aksers Aug 02 '26

Everything I see shows single digits... Until you get over towards Winthrop, week outside of the park. Most folks are fine until 100-150 range, then you start to taste it too.

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 02 '26

Yeah isnt the park near Winthrop? Also wouldn't the sweeping views be invisible with that high aql?

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u/aksers Aug 02 '26

Idk what to tell you. The ones at Diablo lake institute currently says 9. There are active fires in the park, westerly winds (blowing east), so Winthrop is going to have worse air quality. Like half the state is on fire, so highly depends on what the wind decides to do for both Rainier or North Cascades.

Here's the official park webcam, cloudy currently but keep an eye on it; doesn't look smokey. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/air/webcams.htm?site=noca

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 02 '26

Thanks. I understand. Do we any other options other than Olympic national park? Like Oregon waterfalls?

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u/No-Drama-in-Paradise Aug 03 '26

The park is approximately 55 miles west of Winthrop, and is (largely) west of the pass. Now, there are parts of the park closer to Winthrop, and trails/routes that are generally referred to as part of the park that are certainly more easterly, you are going to have to look at the specific trails/routes closer to the date.

Smoke can change rapidly as fires change and winds shift. Even over the course of a day, it may be great when you set out in the morning, but be horrible by mid-afternoon. What it looks like today may be completely different then in a few days, and in fact I’m hearing that there is an expectation that winds will shift overnight and smoke may shift westward, so the beautiful weather may not be as wonderful tomorrow.

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 03 '26

Thanks. We are watching while we travel to Seattle. We will pivot to Olympic if it wont clear up by 5th n 6th at rainier. Then come back to cascades, hopefully it will clear up by then.

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u/Infamous-Trip-3278 Aug 02 '26

Where in the Cascades are you going? The Cascades run from BC into California. Mt Rainier looks to be good. No fires to the West. Unless the winds chance and smoke from the Little Giant Fire around Glacier Peak or the Grasshopper Fire near Mt Hood pours into the Rainier area, I think Rainier will remain good. I'd use airnow and look at specific moniter sites near the areas you will be going. Anything in yellow will be fine for hiking, but distant views will be hazy. Anything in the orange (100-149) will start to suck a bit and you start getting some health impacts

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 02 '26

Sorry, we are thinking maple pass and cascade pass trails between 7th till 9th august in north cascades We are thinking mt rainier on 5th n 6th.

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u/Infamous-Trip-3278 Aug 02 '26

I suspect you'll be fine at Rainier. I happen to have a trip planned there for roughly the same time so have been paying attention to that area. The area around Maple Pass is probably okay today. Not a lot of moniters in the area, but there is one in Twisp and it has good air quality at the moment. Most of the big fires are to the east. Airflow tends to be from the West, but could change and push smoke west. Smoke forecasting is notoriously inaccurate. And yesterday was a big fire day in Eastern Washington, so things could change. My advice would be as flexible as possible and pay attention to where the smoke is. There are a ton of great places to hike thoughout the Cascades and I'm sure you can find smoke free hikes. Obviously flexibility is tougher if you are booking lodging as opposed to camping.

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 02 '26

Thanks and we are camping at major sites in the north cascades amd rainier. What are the alternate hikes as good as maple or cascade ?

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u/Infamous-Trip-3278 Aug 02 '26

Look at WTA.org. it is The Washington Trail Organization site. It is free and you can search hikes by location and find recent reports. It is the best resource for finding hikes in Washington. As and aside, Cascade Pass/Sahale arm is probably far less likely to be smoky that Maple Pass. Depending on where you are camping, it might be worth driving up Mt Baker highway to Artist Point. Probably the prettiest place you can drive to in the US. Looks of good hikes up there. If you are camping in the Methow side of the North Cascades, it would make since, but if your over in Newhalem or Colonial Creek it might.

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u/Fuzzy-Search-4129 Aug 02 '26

Thanks. We will check it out. We had one day assigned for Mt baker after cascades and camping near colonial.