North Cascades National Park

Otherwise known as the American Alps, North Cascades National Park is a relatively unknown gem close to the border of Canada. Out of the three Washington national parks, this is the least visited. I had always seen pictures associating this park and mountain goats, yet sadly did not see any mountain goats. But! I did see a handful of black bears out on my hikes.

My top hikes I wanted to do were sadly closed due to wildfires in the area. And not like, you aren’t supposed to hike it, but the 10 mile road to drive back to the trailhead was closed. Fortunately this is a massive area filled with endless hiking. After coming off a few intense days in Olympic, I was pretty tired when I got here. And almost all of the hikes in North Cascades have a ton of vert, so if you’re looking to hit the trails here, be prepared. I’d highly suggest stopping at one of the visitors centers if you are looking for a specific type of trail or to see a certain animal. They are full of top tips. This is how I ended up hiking the Sourdough Mountain trail to see bears, and I saw three different black bears! I got rained on about half the time I was here, but I persisted through the rain, mostly because I didn’t have anything else to do. And just my luck, it rained enough to put the wildfires out the week after I left!