9. Fishing
If you’re looking for angling opportunities then add fishing to your list of things to do in North Cascades National Park. Starting with the basics, anyone fishing in the park will need to first obtain their Washington fishing license.
According to the National Park Service, the following fish can be found within North Cascades National Park:
- Gorge Lake, Diablo Lake, Ross Lake: Rainbow trout, eastern brook trout, cutthroat trout
- Skagit River: Steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout, golden trout, eastern brook trout
- Lake Chelan: Burbot (fresh-water cod), golden trout, lake trout, west slope cutthroat trout, kokanee (land-locked salmon), largemouth bass, smallmouth bass
- Stehekin River: Cutthroat trout, rainbow trout
The Skagit River is the only river in Washington that has all 5 species of salmon including Chinook, Chum, Coho, Pink, and Sockeye.
Fishing Guides
Guided fishing trips are available on the Stehekin River via Stehekin Fishing Adventures where an all day float will run you about $550.
NOTE: Anyone interested in fishing at North Cascades National Park should first check out the NPS website for fishing rules and regulations.
8. Desolation Peak
Made famous by the poet/writer Jack Kerouac who notably stayed here as a fire lookout for 63 days in the summer of ’56, Desolation Peak features a picturesque fire lookout and sweeping panoramic views of the North Cascades.
The best way to get here is starting with a roughly 45 minute boat ride from Ross Lake Resort which makes this hike doable for day hikers. From here the accounts of just how long the trail is vary from 8 miles to 14 – quite a range!
I’d plan for at least 10 miles and about 2.5 – 3 hours getting up and another 2.5 hours coming down. This is one of the more challenging things to do in North Cascades National Park as far as our list goes.
“I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all.
The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of past childhood or past manhood and all the living and the dying and the heartbreak that went on a million years ago and the clouds as they pass overhead seem to testify (by their own lonesome familiarity) to this feeling.”
JACK KEROUAC “THE DHARMA BUMS”
