9 Best Sights in North Cascades National Park, Washington

This extremely popular, 3¾-mile (one-way), four-hour trail is known for stunning panoramas from the great mountain divide. Dozens of peaks line the horizon as you make your way up the fairly flat, hairpin-turn track, the scene fronted by a blanket of alpine wildflowers from July to mid-August. Arrive before noon if you want a parking spot at the trailhead. If you're feeling fit (and ambitious), a much longer hike (23 miles) goes all the way to High Bridge, where you can catch a shuttle to Stehekin in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Moderate.

Explore nearly 4 miles of waterside terrain on this route, which is accessed from the Sourdough Creek parking lot. An excellent alternative for parties with young hikers is to take the Seattle City Light Ferry one-way. Moderate.

Old-growth forests are the focus of this kid-friendly boardwalk route, a ½-mile loop through the trees off the North Cascades Scenic Highway. Interpretive signs provide details about flora along the way. Easy.

An easy, accessible, 1-mile paved trail leads to Rainy Lake, a waterfall, and a glacier-view platform. Easy.

Take this flat and easy, 1¾-mile, wheelchair-accessible trail through stands of huge old-growth firs and cedars toward the Skagit River. Easy.

This short trail—partly boardwalk—leads to a campsite used 1,400 years ago by Native Americans; interpretive signs tell the history of human presence in the region. Easy.

Starting from the North Cascades Visitor Center, this popular introductory stroll follows a short 300-foot path over a boardwalk to a lookout above the forested Picket Range peaks. Easy.

A 5-mile climb into an alpine basin with three pretty lakes, this steep and strenuous hike takes five to six hours round-trip. Difficult.

Less than ½ mile long, this loop trail winds its way through one of the finest surviving stands of old-growth western red cedar in Washington. Some of the trees along the path are more than 1,000 years old. Easy.