Ross Lake National Recreation Area

Attractions

Ross Lake National Recreation Area, a popular spot in the Northern Cascades, welcomes visitors from the U.S. and Canada for activities like fishing, hunting, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, and hiking. Its trailheads link to extensive trail networks in North Cascades National Park, Pasayten Wilderness, and Skagit Valley Provincial Park. Along the North Cascades Highway, the National Park Service runs campgrounds at Newhalem Creek, Colonial Creek, and Goodall Creek for tents and RVs.

Boat-in camping is allowed on Ross Lake and Diablo reservoirs, with permits from the Wilderness Information Center in Marblemount, Washington. Desolation Peak Lookout, an active fire lookout staffed each summer, offers wide views of peaks like Hozomeen Mountain and is famous as the setting for Jack Kerouac’s Desolation Angels. A six-mile trail from Ross Lake leads to it.

Access

Ross Lake NRA provides primary access points for motorists and backpackers entering the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Public automobile access is via two roads: the North Cascades Highway, which bisects the NRA east to west, and the southern terminus of the 43-mile gravel Silver Skagit Road near the Canada–US border at Hozomeen campground. The nearest large town west of the park is Sedro-Woolley, Washington, with Winthrop to the east and Hope, British Columbia to the north. No entrance fee is charged.