North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park, large wilderness area in northwestern Washington, U.S. The park was established in 1968 to preserve majestic mountain scenery, snowfields, glaciers, alpine meadows, cascading waterfalls, and other unique natural features in the North Cascade Range. The region is frequently called the North American Alps.

The park consists of two sections, called units. The north unit extends to the Canadian border, and the south unit stretches southeastward until it abuts Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, which includes the area surrounding the northernmost portion of the fjordlike Lake Chelan. Situated between the two park units is Ross Lake National Recreation Area, a roughly L-shaped region that encompasses Ross Lake (the impounded waters of the, at that point south-flowing, Skagit River) and adjacent lands that lie south of the Canadian border on the eastern side of the north unit and a further portion of the river valley (including the impounded Diablo and Gorge lakes) as the Skagit turns and flows southwestward between the two units.

The park and the two recreation areas are administered collectively by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) as the North Cascades National Park Service Complex (also called the North Cascades National Park Complex). The entire complex has an area of about 1,070 square miles (2,771 square km): the national park covers 789 square miles (2,043 square km), and the two recreation areas collectively occupy an additional 281 square miles (728 square km). Headquarters are in Sedro-Woolley, about 55 miles (90 km) west of the park complex’s visitor’s centre at Newhalem.