Best time to visit North Cascades National Park
May, June and September are the best balance at North Cascades: mild and dry for the park (average highs 67° to 71°F), with crowds from quiet to busy. July is busiest, with about 12,000 visitors. May is the quietest. January, February, March, April, November and December see few or no visitors, so parts of the park may be closed: check nps.gov.
- Quiet
- Moderate
- Busy
- Very busy
- Few or no visits (may be closed)
- Best months
Month by month
- Station
- Newhalem, WA USC00455840
- Lat / lon
- 48.68, -121.24
- Elevation
- 525 ft
- From park center
- 11.6 mi
- Normals
- 1991–2020
- Visits
- 2023–2025
| Field | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Maybest | Junbest | Jul | Aug | Sepbest | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High, °F | 40° | 44° | 49° | 58° | 67° | 70° | 78° | 79° | 71° | 57° | 45° | 40° | 58° |
| Low, °F | 32° | 33° | 35° | 40° | 46° | 50° | 54° | 54° | 50° | 44° | 37° | 33° | 42° |
| Precipitation, in | 12.4 | 7.2 | 8.4 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 8.8 | 13.6 | 11.7 | 78.8 |
| Snow, in | 10.2 | 7.7 | 2.8 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 | 6.3 | 29.5 |
| Daylight, h:mm | 8:40 | 10:05 | 11:43 | 13:37 | 15:14 | 16:09 | 15:47 | 14:22 | 12:31 | 10:42 | 9:05 | 8:16 | |
| Visitors, thousands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| Crowds | Few or no visits | Few or no visits | Few or no visits | Few or no visits | Quiet | Quiet | Very busy | Busy | Busy | Quiet | Few or no visits | Few or no visits | |
| Weather | Cool | Cool | Cool | Mild | Mild | Mild | Mild | Mild | Mild | Mild, wet | Cool | Cold |
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip., in | Snow, in | Daylight | Visitors | Crowds | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 12.4 | 10.2 | 8:40 | 21 | Few or no visits | Cool |
| February | 44° | 33° | 7.2 | 7.7 | 10:05 | 24 | Few or no visits | Cool |
| March | 49° | 35° | 8.4 | 2.8 | 11:43 | 74 | Few or no visits | Cool |
| April | 58° | 40° | 4.7 | 0.1 | 13:37 | 655 | Few or no visits | Mild |
| Maybest | 67° | 46° | 3.0 | 0 | 15:14 | 1,100 | Quiet | Mild |
| Junebest | 70° | 50° | 2.6 | 0 | 16:09 | 3,000 | Quiet | Mild |
| July | 78° | 54° | 1.4 | 0 | 15:47 | 12,000 | Very busy | Mild |
| August | 79° | 54° | 1.7 | 0 | 14:22 | 8,700 | Busy | Mild |
| Septemberbest | 71° | 50° | 3.5 | 0 | 12:31 | 7,200 | Busy | Mild |
| October | 57° | 44° | 8.8 | 0 | 10:42 | 1,900 | Quiet | Mild, wet |
| November | 45° | 37° | 13.6 | 2.4 | 9:05 | 47 | Few or no visits | Cool |
| December | 40° | 33° | 11.7 | 6.3 | 8:16 | 22 | Few or no visits | Cold |
| Year | 58° | 42° | 78.8 | 29.5 | 35,000 | |||
Year: average high and low, total precipitation and snowfall, total visitors. T = trace (under 0.05 in). – = not measured at this station. Updated .
- Hottest August, average high 79°F
- Coldest nights January, average low 32°F
- Source NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information; National Park Service
- Visitors a year about 35,000 (2023–2025 average)
- State Washington
Closures, reservations and alerts: North Cascades National Park on nps.gov
Nearby
- Ross Lake National Recreation AreaBest: Apr, May and Aug · Washington
- San Juan Island National Historical ParkBest: Jun, Aug and Sep · Washington
- Olympic National ParkBest: Apr, May and Jun · Washington
- Mount Rainier National ParkBest: Jul, Aug and Sep · Washington