North Cascades National Park in Washington State

The National Park Service attributes jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 300 glaciers to North Cascades National Park. Three park units in this mountainous region are managed as one and include North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. 

We entered from the west on Washington Highway 20. Most of the roads in the area of North Cascades Park are actually located in the recreation areas. Much of the Park is accessible only through hiking trails or rivers. Many areas of the Park are inaccessible by motor vehicles during the winter as they receive over 200 inches of snow.  

The first picture shows one of the 300 glaciers in the Park. The Park has been shaped by glaciers over the eons. 

Much of Seattle's electricity is generated by hydroelectric facilities in the Park. The second picture shows one of several dams. 

The beautiful lake in the third and fourth pictures was created by one of the hydroelectric dams. In the final picture, notice the islands in the lake. As glaciers in the surround- ing high country slowly wear down the mountains, the grinding of rock against rock produces a fine silt that meltwater streams carry into the lake below. This "rock flour" suspended in the water reacts with light to give the lake its blue-green color.