Getting to North Cascades National Park

Primary access to the North Cascades and Ross Lake National Recreation Area is off of State Route (SR) 20, which connects to I-5 at Burlington. Branch routes lead to Baker Lake (Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest) and the Cascade River. In winter SR 20 is closed at Washington Pass beyond Ross Lake. There is no car access to the Stehekin Valley and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Take Highway 2 to the town of Chelan where passenger ferry and plane access is available. There is also trail access off of SR 20. The only road access to the shore of Ross Lake is via the Silver-Skagit Road (gravel) from near Hope, British Columbia.

Public Transportation

Plane
Nearest major airport is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seatac) near Seattle, Washington. Chelan Airways (509/682-5555) provides floatplane access to Stehekin in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

Bus
Greyhound (1-800-229-9424) offers transport along the I-5 corridor in Western Washington and to Wenatchee in Eastern Washington. Connections to county bus systems for Skagit and Whatcom Counties (SKAT and WTA) are possible but do not reach into the park complex on the westside of the mountains.

From Wenatchee, the Link Transit public bus system (no Sunday service) in Chelan County (1-509-662-1155) connects to the passenger ferry at Chelan allowing foot passengers to visit Stehekin by boat.

A van shuttle is available in the Stehekin valley from the Stehekin Landing and runs to various lodges, camps and trailheads up valley.

Mountain Transporter (509) 996-8294 offers shuttle services to trainheads, including airport pick-up.

Lake Chelan Ferry
Passenger boats provide round-trip service between Chelan and Stehekin with scheduled stops at Field's Point and Lucerne. Daily service is available form mid-March through early fall with reduced service during the winter months. For more information including current schedules visit www.ladyofthelake.com.

Train
Amtrak (1-800-872-7245) offers transport along the I-5 corridor in Western Washington and to Wenatchee in Eastern Washington.

Very little of the park is accessible via public transportation.

Contact the park (360/856-5700 ext.515) for more information.