North Cascades National Park

Looking for an affordable way to learn more about North Cascades National Park and hone some skills at the same time? Consider attending the "Base Camp" program offered by the North Cascades Institute.

Items, some interesting, some perhaps not, from around the National Park System for a Monday morning's consideration.

Environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act are preventing the United States from properly securing its border with Canada and should be suspended, according to Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee.

It's not too many national parks will come to you, but that, essentially, is what's happening late this month when there will be a gathering at the REI store in Seattle to introduce folks to North Cascades National Park.

Located less than 90 miles from Seattle, Washington’s sprawling North Cascades National Park Service Complex is a treasure trove of ecological diversity and a rugged wilderness playground for sightseers, hikers, climbers, and boaters.

A large debris avalanche has covered an "administrative road" at North Cascades National Park Complex, and some visitor access will be affected for several months. Hikers and boaters intending to portage between Diablo Lake and Ross Lake need to take notice.

If you've ever walked through a national park, hiked down a trail, backpacked into wilderness, or paddled a wild and scenic stream, pause and give a minute of thanks for Stewart Udall.

Wolf population targets laid out in a draft management plan by Washington Department of Fish and Game officials are too low to sustain a viable population, according to some independent scientists who reviewed the proposal.

Less than a month after a conservation group expressed its displeasure with the Obama administration for not providing Endangered Species Act protection to the American pika due to the plight it might face due to climate change, a new study suggests the tiny mammals are more widespread than thought and seem to thrive in a temperature range greater than long thought possible.

National parks are incredible classrooms of the natural world. You can venture into those classrooms via field trips sponsored by many institutes and associations affiliated with individual parks. And if you sign on for a program with the North Cascades Institute between now and month's end, you can save some cash.

Too often we focus on a specific national park, and don't look too far beyond its borders at the lay of the surrounding land. But it's important to do that, because those landscapes are integral to the park itself. Well, here's a video that is a great primer on the North Cascades region in Washington state, and its namesake national park.

Can you tell by looking at a wildflower in Yellowstone National Park what the underlying geology is? Or, while hiking through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, can you identify a bird simply by its song? Do you want to get relatively up close to the elephant seals at Point Reyes National Seashore? Here's how you can do all those things and more.

Any mention of national park lodges causes most people to envision park icons such as Old Faithful Inn, El Tovar, Ahwahnee, or Many Glacier Hotel. Dozens of other national park lodges are scattered across the country, of course, although many receive little publicity and remain virtually unknown to many experienced travelers.

A small turtle from the eastern U.S. A species of trout native to Glacier and North Cascades national parks. Grizzly bears. A prairie orchard. A coral. These are among the ten plant, fish, animal, and bird species listed in a new report as being the "hottest" species imperiled by climate change.

Wolves have made a remarkable comeback in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since the recovery plan was launched in the mid-1990s. Concerned that the predators will find their way into Washington state, officials there are developing a management plan. But how many wolves are enough wolves?

In a sign of bipartisan meddling when it comes to how the national parks should be managed, the House of Representatives has passed legislation that could force the National Park Service to tweak wilderness boundaries and rebuild a road in North Cascades National Park. The chamber's majority was evidently unmoved by a Park Service analysis that best interests of taxpayers and the park would be served by not rebuilding the Upper Stehekin Road.

Many national parks have historic lookouts that are, or should be, listed on the National Historic Lookouts Register. Visitors who know where to look can see lots of splendid examples.

The newly designated Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail will link three national parks, seven national forests, several major mountain ranges, and two border-to border national scenic trails. One day it will also be a key link in the coast-to-coast pathway that trail developers have been dreaming about.

With a move of political sleight of hand that remains to be explained, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee quickly saw Thursday that legislation authorizing the National Park Service to move wilderness boundaries in North Cascades National Park for a new road to the Upper Stehekin Valley was passed on to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

There are some roads in the National Park System that just shouldn't be maintained. The "road to nowhere" in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one. The current path of the Carbon River Road in Mount Rainier National Park is another. But what about the Upper Stehekin Valley Road in North Cascades National Park? At least one congressman believes wilderness boundaries should be bent to reroute this deadend route.

Slipping from the top of the arch into the abyss below was a difficult move that rattled my psyche. Even though the sandstone band I was perched on was not much more than 4 feet wide, it was stable. Putting my faith into the rope cinched to my climbing harness and dropping into the 100-foot void went completely against my desire for self-preservation.

Planning to use the Cascade River Road in North Cascades National Park during the upcoming holiday weekend? No problem, but don't extend your stay. The road will close for bridge work on September 8th and any vehicles left up the valley from the work site will be there for the duration.

A climbing accident at North Cascades has claimed the life of internationally renowned climber Craig Luebben.

A recent mountaineering accident at North Cascades National Park left one climber seriously injured and a second one stranded on a remote, rugged peak. The location of the incident was certainly appropriate: Mount Terror.

With the U.S. Senate's inaction on a measure that would direct the National Park Service to allow stocking of non-native fish in North Cascades National Park, that practice has come to an end. But park biologists are working with Washington state fisheries experts to improve fishing elsewhere in the park.

North Cascades National Park is one of those places that many folks often don't think about, and fewer manage to actually reach. It's not as remote as many other national parks, but its location in northern Washington state perhaps keeps folks away. This short video might convince you to make the trip.

They're big, they're red, and they're heading back to North Cascades National Park this summer.