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Day Hike - Skyline Divide

Rough road. Panoramic views of the North Cascades from the ridge!

Eric Henry Eric Henry
August 31, 2021
  • Road rough but passable

  • The trail has had maintenance within the past year or so. It's moderately steep through the woods, then rolling along the ridgeline. About a mile from where the trail tops out on the ridge, the trail forks. The right fork immediately requires easy scrambling, while the left fork leads down into the Deadhorse Creek valley and camps.

    The road from Hwy 542 to the trailhead is heavily potholed and rocky. Most vehicles can make it, but high clearance is recommended and the going is slow.

Overall, an excellent hike with wonderful people on a beautiful day!

Travel time from Bellingham was about 2 hours. One hour of this was on the gravel road from Mt. Baker Highway (Hwy 542) to the trail head. It's only 12 miles, but the road is full of potholes and rocks and the going is slow.

Once at the trailhead, we hikes at a leisurely pace through the woods to the meadows at the top of Skyline Divide. Here we admired the incredible views of Mt. Baker, Shuksan, the Nooksack valley, Larabee, American Boarder, Tomyhoi, Excelsior Ridge, Church Mt and more. 

We hiked for a mile or so South toward Mt. Baker, stopping for lunch, flowers, views, photos, conversation and blueberries. Even at the end of August, there were still a few flowers out.

This was an excellent hike in perfect weather. Several of us topped it off with a stop at Mallard Ice Cream in Bellingham before heading home.