Washington Pass Overlook
State Route 20, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Mazama, WA
A quarter-mile paved loop delivers one of the most staggering mountain views in the state, straight into the granite spires of Liberty Bell with the highway coiling in the valley below.
Washington Pass Overlook is the kind of view that makes people gasp out loud, and it asks almost nothing of you to earn it. From the parking area high on the North Cascades Highway, a paved loop of about a quarter mile leads to a railed viewpoint where the ground simply falls away. Straight across the valley stands Liberty Bell Mountain, a sheer granite tower whose north end really does echo the shape of the famous bell in Philadelphia, with the highway itself visible far below, doubling back on itself in a tight hairpin.
This is the roof of the North Cascades Highway, State Route 20, the highest point on the only paved road that crosses the range for a very long way in either direction. That the road exists at all is a small marvel. It was not completed until 1972, one of the last great mountain highways built in the country, and for half the year the snow reclaims it entirely.
What Guests Love
- A huge alpine payoff for an almost effortless quarter-mile paved loop
- The granite fang of Liberty Bell Mountain rising straight ahead across the valley
- Watching the highway switchback hundreds of feet below through the trees
- Golden larches lighting up the slopes in late September and October
Worth Knowing
- The North Cascades Highway closes over the pass in winter, usually from around November into spring, so check the road status before you go
- At over a mile high the air is cool and weather turns fast, even in summer; bring a layer
- The loop is short and mostly paved, but the drop-offs are real, so keep an eye on children
- It is a popular pull-off, so summer weekends fill the small lot; early or late is calmest
Details
Mazama, WA
Learn about Washington Pass Overlook
Liberty Bell and the granite spires
The wall of rock you are looking at is one of the most famous climbing playgrounds in the Cascades. Liberty Bell Mountain is the tallest of the group at about 7,720 feet, and it stands in a line of jagged towers that includes the Early Winters Spires and the ridge of Concord and Lexington. Its east face drops a clean 2,000 feet toward the highway, a sweep of pale granite that glows at sunset.
The stone itself is unusual. These peaks are part of the Golden Horn Batholith, a body of granite that cooled from molten rock roughly 49 million years ago. Geologists prize it for a rare speckled pattern called rapakivi texture, pink crystals of feldspar rimmed in white, and for the surprising mix of more than fifty minerals locked inside it. It is a mountain that rewards a long look.
The highway that took decades to build
For most of the twentieth century there was simply no road across this stretch of the North Cascades. Surveyors dreamed of a crossing for generations, but the terrain of avalanche chutes, cliff bands, and deep snow defeated every early attempt. Construction finally pushed through in stages, and the North Cascades Highway opened in 1972, linking the wet, forested west side of the range to the drier pine country of the Methow Valley on the east.
Even now the mountains only lend the road out for part of the year. Heavy snow and avalanche danger force the highway to close over Washington Pass and nearby Rainy Pass through the winter, typically from sometime in November until crews can clear and stabilize it in spring. The reopening each year is a small regional event, a sign that the high country is open again.
Seasons at the pass
Summer is the reliable window, when wildflowers bloom in the meadows near the overlook and the granite is warm and dry. The most magical time, though, is autumn. In late September and October the western larch on the surrounding slopes turn a brilliant gold before dropping their needles, a rare deciduous conifer that sets the whole basin alight and draws photographers from across the region.
Whenever you come, remember how high you are. At more than 5,400 feet the overlook can be cool and breezy even on a hot valley day, and mountain weather can close in quickly. A light jacket in the car is never a mistake.
Wildlife of the high country
The forest around the pass is subalpine, a mix of mountain hemlock, subalpine fir, and those signature larches, thinning toward meadow and bare rock above. Pikas and hoary marmots live in the talus slopes, whistling and squeaking among the boulders, and Clark's nutcrackers work the treetops for pine seeds.
Black bears range through the huckleberry patches in late summer, mule deer browse the edges, and the cliffs draw raptors riding the updrafts. This is also a corridor for some of the state's rarer wide-ranging animals, from mountain goats on the crags to the occasional wolverine passing through the wild country beyond the road.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Mazama
Winthrop
About 30 miles east
A frontier-themed town in the Methow Valley with wooden boardwalks and false-front storefronts, plus the open-air Shafer Museum of real pioneer buildings.
North Cascades National Park
West on Highway 20
The rugged core of the range, sometimes called the American Alps, with Diablo Lake's turquoise water and hundreds of glaciers.
Rainy Lake
About 5 miles west
An easy paved mile-long trail to a glacier-fed lake ringed by cliffs and waterfalls, just down the highway from the pass.