Less than three hours from Seattle is Mount Baker, a towering glacier-covered volcano. Mount Baker is a part of the Cascade Mountain and it is the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens.
Mount Baker is a part of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near the Canadian border. Because of the Cascade’s topography, it’s still about two hours from North Cascades National Park. Luckily, there’s still plenty of nature to explore near Mount Baker with its alpine blue rivers and the landscapes the Cascades are known for.
Mount Baker is one of the snowiest places on Earth, making it great for ski enthusiasts in the colder months. But, it’s just as beautiful in the summer when the lakes defrost and the meadows bloom with green grasses and purple flowers.
This guide will tell you everything you need to know to visit Mount Baker in the summer. So, let’s hit the road and get into it.
On the road to Mount Baker
To get to Mount Baker, you’ll need to rent a car to make the two-and-a-half-hour drive from downtown Seattle or the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
On the way, make a pit stop in Bellingham for lunch. I stopped at Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro for a beer flight and a clam chowder.
Bellingham is a coastal city loved by outdoor enthusiasts. It’s about an hour and a half from Seattle and about an hour from Mount Baker. You’ll want to stop to get groceries for your cabin in Bellingham because there are limited grocery store options near Mount Baker.
Where to stay
The closest town to Mount Baker is Glacier, Washington, right off Mount Baker Highway. You won’t find any big hotels here in Glacier but there are plenty of Airbnbs and vacation rentals to stay at.
I recommend booking through a local vacation rental company like Luxury Getaways to get a better rate than Airbnb. We stayed at Luxury Getaway’s Naturbyn Retreat for three nights, which was the perfect amount of time to explore the area. The house we rented was located in a small gated community of vacation homes. If you’re traveling in a large group, you can book multiple houses in the same community.
What to do in Mount Baker
If you’ve come to Mount Baker in the summertime, it’s because you love the outdoors. You’ll spend your time in Glacier going up and down Mount Baker Highway to see vistas and hike around alpine woods. This guide will take you up Mount Baker Highway in the order of appearance of what you’ll see along the way, starting with Horseshoe Bend Trail near Glacier and ending with Artist Point at the top of the highway. You won’t be able to hit all these spots in one day (unless you’re very ambitious), so spread these hikes out over the duration of your stay.
Mount Baker Highway
A drive up and down Mount Baker Highway will show you everything you need to see in the area. From the highway, you can get amazing views of Mount Baker. Because Mount Baker is so high up, it is often covered with clouds, but if you’re lucky you’ll get a glimpse of the glaciers on a clear day.
Mount Baker Highway will lead you to Heather Meadows, a protected area that costs $5 per day per car to enter. To get a day pass, you’ll need to hop out of your car at a kiosk and display your receipt on your dashboard.
Horseshoe Bend Trail
Stop at Horseshoe Bend Trail near the town of Glacier to see the bright blue alpine water of the Nooksack River. The Horseshoe Bend Trail follows the Nooksack River for 1.2 miles, making this hike 2.4 miles round-trip. You won’t find vistas at the end of the trail because the view is the river, so you can turn around at any point to make this hike as short as long as you’d like.
To reach the trailhead, put Douglas Fir Campground into your GPS to easily find it. It’ll be on your right-hand side as you head up toward Mount Baker.
Mount Baker Ski Area: Heather Meadows Cafe
In the Mount Baker Ski Area is the Heather Meadows Cafe, a small eatery located on the second floor of the ski lodge. The cafe and mountain store opens for the summer season on June 28th. It serves lunch staples like sandwiches and salads, and it sells local gear and merch. They have a terrace where you can see Mount Baker on a clear day.
Picture Lake
Picture Lake gets its name from the picture-perfect view you get when the mighty Mount Shuksan reflects onto the lake. The trail around Picture Lake is a short and easy half-mile loop with a well-maintained boardwalk and no incline, making it accessible to hikers of all levels.
Bagley Lakes Trail
The Bagley Lakes Trail is a 1.5-mile loop that leads you to Bagley Lakes where you can see a part of a glacier up close. And by up close, I still mean hundreds of feet away, but it’s the closest we could get on our trip during the summer.
Heather Meadows Visitors Center
The Heather Meadows Visitor Center welcomes you to the area with a little shop, maps, and a cozy wood-burning fireplace. In the summer months, it’s open from mid-July to late September from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fire and Ice Trail
Right next to the visitor center is the Fire and Ice Trail. It’s an easy half-mile trail that leads to an overlook of one of the Bagley Lakes.
Artist Point
Artist Point is by far the best place in the Heathers Meadows area to enjoy sweeping vistas of Mount Shuksan and (on a clear day) Mount Baker. It’s so beautiful that many people get married up here (like my friend did!)
You can take the Artist Ridge Trail, which is a 1-mile trail loop, but I recommend just exploring the area’s many meandering trails. Each little ridge has a new surprise.
Where to eat
The best food in Glacier is homemade in your cabin. There aren’t many restaurants in the area. In Glacier, there are only two restaurants to choose from: Chair 9 Woodstone Pizza & Sports Bar and Wake ’N Bakery. Although both restaurants claim to be open seven days a week, they were closed some days while we were there. I highly recommend getting groceries in Bellingham and cooking all your meals at the cabin.
If you want a bite to eat while exploring the Heather Meadows area, go to the Heather Meadows Cafe in the Ski Area. You can also pack some sandwiches on your hikes to enjoy our lunch with a view.
Other things to note
Due to global warming, forest fires have increasingly become a hazard in the Pacific Northwest. In 2023, much of North Cascades National was closed due to forest fires and the smoke blew over to Glacier, Washington. Be sure to check the local news to stay aware of any forest fires in the area and use basic fire safety when grilling at the cabin. Campfires are out of the question during the summer months.
Planning a trip to the Seattle area? Check out this 48 Hours in Seattle Itinerary.
Reply