Mountain Hikes in the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest, sometimes referred to as Cascadia, is a geographic region in western North America bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and by the Rocky Mountains on the east.

The Northwest Coast is the coastal region of the Pacific Northwest, and the Northwest Plateau (also commonly known as “the Interior” in British Columbia and the Inland Northwest in the United States) is the inland region. The term “Pacific Northwest” should not be confused with the Northwest Territory (also known as the Great Northwest, a historical term in the United States) or the Northwest Territories of Canada.

The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades. The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The latter term is also sometimes used by Washington residents to refer to the Washington section of the Cascades in addition to North Cascades, the more usual U.S. term, as in North Cascades National Park. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m).

The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the eruptions in the contiguous United States over the last 200 years have been from Cascade volcanoes. The two most recent were Lassen Peak from 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

The amount of great hikes and places you can explore around Pacific Northwest are never ending, from south Cascades to Three Sisters Wilderness, peaks like Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams stretch near the Columbia River Gorge. In the north, Mount Rainier National Park and North Cascades National Park stretch for miles and eventually meet Mt. Baker Wilderness and the great Olympic peninsula to the west.

In the recent years, I have spent countless hours, days and months exploring this beautiful region and created several lists of hikes, backpacking routes and mountaineering trip logs for reference.

Granite Mountain is a tall peak in the Cascade Range, just east of Seattle. Beautiful medium hard hike to the top of the mountain with a fire lookout. This fire lookout that was first constructed in 1924 and was then rebuilt 31 years later. Sweeping views of the surrounding peaks and Mount Rainier.

In winter the trail up Granite Mountain crosses a large avalanche chute early in the hike. It is recommended to have experience navigating avalanche terrain and the proper equipment when hiking this trail in the winter.

 

 

Lake Chelan Butte

8 miles, roundtrip

Gain: 2500 ft.

A moderate hike up the side of Chelan Butte and across the top of the ridge promises outstanding views of the Columbia Plateau, Columbia River and Lake Chelan.

 

Mount St. Helens

10.0 miles, roundtrip

Gain: 4500 ft.

Highest Point: 8365 ft.

Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon and 96 miles south of Seattle, Washington. The hike or more climb to the summit of this mountain has two starting trailheads, one for summer routes – Climbers’ Bivouac, and winter route which is knows as Worm Flows. The trail intersects famous Loowit Trail which is a trail that circumnavigates the whole mountain and is a strenuous 2-3 day backpacking trip. No permits needed for the backpack or winter route, permit to climb Mt. St. Helens is only needed April – October.

Several easy hikes starts from Johnston Ridge Observatory near the blast zone.