We’ve mentioned before that one thing we love about our RV is the huge front window. It’s like the difference between TV and an IMAX movie screen. The larger view makes driving days special, pulling us right into the environment in which we travel.
We’ve taken sooooo many gorgeous drives. Some through national parks and others to them. Our top picks (in no particular order) are:
- Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument (post here)
- Northern California’s Avenue of the Giants (post here)
- Southern Utah parks such as Arches and Canyonlands (post here)
- Utah Highway 12 and Burr Canyon (post here)
- Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge Road (post here)
- Colorado’s Independence Pass and the drive through Colorado National Monument (post here)
- Yellowstone (post here) and the drive to the Grand Tetons (post here)
- South Dakota’s Badlands (post here)
- Chief Joseph Highway / Beartooth Pass (post here)
I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few, but we can now add Washington Pass and the North Cascade Highway in the North Cascade Mountains of Washington state to the list.
This North Cascade Highway (state route 20) is often closed between November and April due to heavy snowfall so plan accordingly. We were there in fall of 2021.
SR-20 runs east and west and is Washington state’s longest highway, travelling 436 miles from US 2 (near the Idaho state border in Newport) to US 101 at Discovery Bay on the Olympic Peninsula.
In this post, I’m only going to discuss the stretch from the Methow Valley on the east side of the cascades to I-5 on the west side.
There’s a gradual ascent as you pass Twisp, Winthrop and head towards Mazama and Washington Pass. We didn’t stop for any hiking or biking but there were plenty of trailheads along the route between Mazama and the Washington Pass Overlook being used.
Our first stop was Washington Pass Overlook and it should not be missed! This rest stop and 1/4 mile paved jaunt includes show-stopping alpine views of towering granite peaks, white granite outcroppings, and plenty of conifer. There’s a great view of the Liberty Bell Peak, deep canyons, and those jagged ridgelines in a domino-like line up.
SR-20 
WA Pass Overlook 
Stop #2 on SR-20? A pretty overlook at Ross Lake.
Ross Lake
You can’t miss the next stop, Diablo Lake. With its gorgeous coloring and small islands, it’s a popular stop and, luckily, has a large parking lot.
Both the reservoir that forms Diablo Lake and the reservoir that forms Ross Lake are the result of dams along the Skagit River. Their arresting blue-green color is from rock particles (created by the glaciers grinding against the rocks) called “glacial flour” that is carried from mountain streams into the lakes. The glacial flour hangs in the upper layers of the lake reflecting turquoise light scatter instead of the more typical blues.
Diablo Lake 
Continuing west, the road follows Gorge Lake which in this section looks like a very wide river until reaching Gorge Dam (which we did not stop at). Just a bit further west, however, where SR-20 crosses Gorge Creek there are a few places to pull over and park. Short walks include waterfalls and views up from the dam.
Newhalem is a popular stop because of its historic steam locomotive and short trail to Ladder Creek Falls (neither of which stopped for on this leg of the journey). Visit the North Cascades Visitor Center near Newhalem for more information on staying in the Park, additional drives, hikes and interactive trails in the area.
Where the North Cascade Highway meets I-5 (north and south) around Burlington, WA, we headed north to meet a friend in Bellingham and take a one night out-and-back trip to Mt. Baker (more on that in our next post!).
