Campground · North Cascades National Park
Two island campsites for a self-sufficient night on Ross Lake.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
North Cascades Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for North Cascades National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the North Cascades audio tourRecorded for this area
Ross Lake Overlook: A Quick View Through the Trees“Ross Lake Overlook is ahead, with a roadside glimpse of the long lake and the mountains beyond. Stop for a few minutes if you'd like a break, but trees screen much of the water.”
Plays on the road 1.8 mi from Cougar Island Camp in the Parkwolf North Cascades Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Cougar Island Camp is a primitive, two-site boat-in campground on an island in Ross Lake. It’s a proper overnight destination for boaters, not a roadside stop; the whole point is camping with the lake around you.
There’s no road to the island. NPS lists it 2.4 miles from Ross Dam; you can arrive in your own boat, a rental, or a reserved water taxi. From the south, reaching Ross Lake means crossing about five miles of Diablo Lake and portaging over a mile around Ross Dam. From the north, access follows a rough gravel road from Hope, British Columbia. All Ross Lake boat-in camps require a backcountry camping permit.
The island’s dock is usable only when the lake is at least 1,594 feet high, so check the current level before relying on it. Ross Lake can be calm in the morning and develop gusts and whitecaps later in the day. The water rarely gets above 50°F, even in summer.
The two sites have vault toilets, picnic tables, fire rings and bear-resistant food lockers. Bring your own food and a way to treat drinking water; lake water needs treatment. Pack out food and garbage. Gathering firewood on Cougar Island is prohibited, though driftwood may be used.
Ross Lake is a hydroelectric reservoir created by dams in the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. Cougar Island is one of 19 boat-in camps along the lake, where the water is both the way in and the setting for the stay.
Wildlife
101 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
70 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
20 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
77 sightingsSooty GrouseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
23 sightingsWhite-tailed PtarmiganMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
75 sightingsWestern ToadMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across North Cascades. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyHappy Creek Forest Walk0.3 mi · 15 min · 2.1 mi awayA short boardwalk loop beside Happy Creek and old-growth trees.
ModerateHappy Creek Falls Trail2.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayOld sawmill relics and stepped falls reward a steep creekside climb.
ChallengingBig Beaver Trail24.6 mi · 18 hr · 2.3 mi awayA long valley traverse past ancient cedars and beaver marshes.
ModerateRoss Dam Trail2.5 mi · 2 hr · 2.3 mi awayWalk through forest to Ross Dam, then climb back to SR 20.
ChallengingEast Bank Trail31 mi · 22 hr · 3.8 mi awayA 31-mile forest and lakeshore traverse to Hozomeen.
ChallengingWillow Lake Trail50.6 mi · 1.3 days · 3.9 mi awayA remote, roughly 51-mile out-and-back to a marshy lake.
ChallengingDevil's Dome Loop40.4 mi · 1.3 days · 3.9 mi awayFour or five days of open ridges and careful water planning.
ModerateHappy Panther Trail10 mi · 5 hr · 3.9 mi awayWaterfall bridges break up this long forest walk.
Campground · 1 mi awayRoland Point CampA remote boat-in camp tucked into a Ross Lake cove.
Campground · 1.4 mi awayMcMillan CampA three-site boat-in camp that takes planning to reach.
Campground · 1.5 mi awayGreen Point CampA small boat-in camp for a quiet Ross Lake night.
Campground · 1.7 mi awaySpencer’s CampTwo Ross Lake sites and a dock for a self-sufficient night.
Lodging · 1.7 mi awayRoss Lake ResortA floating Ross Lake resort reached by boat or a mile-long hike.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayRoss Lake OverlookA quick Ross Lake view from a wooded Highway 20 pullout.
Campground · 2.1 mi awayBig Beaver Boat CampBoat-in campsites with a gateway to Big Beaver Valley.
Sight · 2.3 mi awayRoss DamWalk a concrete dam between Ross Lake and the Skagit gorge.Parkwolf’s North Cascades ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
