Northwest Cascades

Northwest Cascades is in the North Cascades region of Washington.

Cities

 * - gateway to the San Juan Islands
 * - county seat of Whatcom County and last US city before Canada on I-5
 * - major border crossing with Canada
 * - a small coastal village at south end of Chuckanut Drive, near Burlington
 * , famous for the local tulips and historic district
 * , Dutch heritage and farming center
 * - county seat of Skagit County a major tulip growing area.
 * - American enclaved community that you have to travel through Canada to reach by land
 * , border town
 * , Dutch heritage and farming center
 * - county seat of Skagit County a major tulip growing area.
 * - American enclaved community that you have to travel through Canada to reach by land
 * , border town
 * , border town
 * , border town

Other destinations

 * Birch Bay State Park, on the coast 20 miles north of Bellingham and 10 miles south of Blaine
 * Bay View State Park, on Padilla Bay, 7 miles west of Burlington and 14 miles east of Anacortes
 * Larrabee State Park, six miles south of Bellingham on SR 11/Chuckanut Drive
 * Mount Baker ski resort, on a mountain of the same name
 * Artist Point on Mount Baker, a stiff hike to 5140', with a grand view at the top.
 * Mt Baker Vista at the end of Glacier Creek Road (Forest Road 39)


 * North Cascades National Park - Jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 300 glaciers adorn the North Cascades National Park
 * Peace Arch State Park (at the Canadian border in Blaine)
 * Rasar State Park, on the Skagit River, 14 miles east of Burlington
 * Rockport State Park, in an old-growth forest 8 miles east of Concrete

Commercial establishments

 * Lake Whatcom Railway, on Highway 9 east of Lake Whatcom and Bellingham
 * Skagit Speedway, Burlington
 * Deming Speedway, a 1/6 mile clay oval auto racing track, 12 miles east of I-5 (Bellingham) on the Mount Baker Highway
 * Skagit Valley Casino, Burlington
 * Swinomish Casino & Lodge, Anacortes

Understand
This subregion consists of Whatcom County and Skagit County

By plane
is the primary airport serving the region., while located a way to the south of Seattle, is the closest national-grade airport in the USA. , while across the border in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, is sometimes convenient.

From British Columbia
To cross this international border, you need an international travel document: a passport, a NEXUS card (see below), a US Passport Card, or certain US and Canadian "Enhanced ID" Drivers Licences. Most of these cards have Radio-Frequency ID (RFID) chips, which detectors can read when you wave the card in front of them. Some US-bound lanes are marked "Ready Lane" or "RFID". In these lanes you may use either a NEXUS card or another kind of RFID card. In the table below, some of the NEXUS hours actually NEXUS and Ready Lane hours.

There are five land border crossing points, between the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada and the Northwest Cascades region of Washington state, USA. They are referred to by different terms in Canada and the US.

Visitors travelling to Vancouver by car across the U.S. border should be aware that there are often lengthy lineups at the border, in either direction. During summer, waits at the border can exceed three hours during peak times.

Inform yourself about the waits, and you can either delay your crossing until the lines subside, or choose the quickest crossing, or at least set your expectations. You can see current wait time forecasts for both directions on the Canada Border Services Agency website, and for US-bound traffic on the US Customs and Border Protection website. Washington State also maintains charts of estimated times towards Canada. It can be helpful to view webcams of the border lineups; Canada-bound and US-bound. Two AM stations give regular updates on border lineups in both directions: News 1130 (1130 on the AM dial) every 10 minutes beginning at one minute past the hour, and AM 730 every 10-15 minutes. Electronic signs near the border on I-5, BC 99, #1 BC-11 and BC 15 give the current wait times at both the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway crossings, allowing you to choose the shorter option.

The NEXUS program lets travellers who fill out an application and pass a security check use express lanes through US-Canada land borders by presenting a NEXUS card. When regular lanes have backups, NEXUS lanes usually have much shorter waits. However, the NEXUS lanes impose many restrictions which regular lanes do not; e.g. everyone in your car must have a NEXUS card.

From Seattle and Puget Sound
Head north on Interstate 5 from Seattle. Mount Vernon, Burlington, Bellingham, Blaine and Ferndale are directly on the highway. Other towns are usually a short drive away on local highways: see the individual Get in sections of the towns.

From Eastern Washington
The North Cascades Highway (SR-20) runs from the Okanogan valley area across the Cascades to Burlington and Sedro-Woolley; it is always closed in winter. Two passes across the Cascades further south are usually open all year (except in storms): US-2 over Stevens Pass from Wenatchee and I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass from Ellensburg: when you reach I-5 you will have to turn north to reach this region.

By boat

 * Several towns in the region, including Bellingham, Blaine and Anacortes, have marinas for private boats.
 * Several towns in the region, including Bellingham, Blaine and Anacortes, have marinas for private boats.
 * Several towns in the region, including Bellingham, Blaine and Anacortes, have marinas for private boats.