Easy Pass Trail

Easy Pass Trail is a 7-mile out-and-back from State Route 20 to Easy Pass and back, gaining about 2,800 feet to a 6,500-foot saddle. The name is misleading: this is strenuous, with nearly all the work on the climb up. Allow about six hours and time to linger at the pass. Do it for the shift from shaded forest to open alpine terrain and a view into a glacier-cut basin; skip it if a steep climb, loose rock or early-season snow is a poor fit. The route follows the same 3.5-mile corridor each way. Fisher Creek continues far beyond the pass as a separate backcountry route.

The signed trailhead is on SR 20's south side near milepost 151. Parking requires a Northwest Forest Pass or America the Beautiful pass; a vault toilet is at the trailhead.

About 300 yards from the trailhead, the trail crosses Granite Creek on a footlog, then climbs through western hemlock and Pacific silver fir. For roughly two miles, forest is the main setting, with some rolling ground along the climb. It then breaks out onto avalanche paths on Ragged Ridge, where Easy Pass comes into view above the slope. The route crosses Easy Pass Creek three times. One crossing uses several logs, and spring flow can run high enough to make turning back the sensible choice.

Past the creek crossings, shade becomes scarce. The trail briefly re-enters trees, then switchbacks up a steep talus slope and along a meadow and boulder field. Rock steps help on the final approach, but loose rock moves here and the footing takes attention. The pass lies on a fault, and trail crews shift rock back into place during the summer. The last dependable creek is before the final exposed mile; in late summer, there may be no water at the pass.

Easy Pass is a mountain saddle, not a summit. It separates Granite Creek Valley from the glacier-ringed Fisher Creek drainage. Look west over Fisher Basin toward Mounts Logan, Fisher and Arriva; to the east, the views reach Golden Horn and Mount Hardy. Meadows lie below the pass, with snowfields on the peaks around the basin. For a photo, frame the trail across the flowered slope with the valley and peaks beyond it; the tread gives the scene scale and shows how the route traverses the mountain.

This hike ends at Easy Pass and returns the way it came. The trail beyond drops into Fisher Basin and joins the much longer Fisher Creek route, which continues 14.8 miles one way to Thunder Creek. Camping is not allowed at the pass or in its meadows; overnight stays elsewhere in the backcountry require a limited permit.

Glacier lilies appear as snow melts in spring and early summer. In autumn, subalpine larches turn gold before losing their needles, making the basin a good fall objective too. The north side usually holds steep snow well into July. When snow covers the trail, the tread can be hard to follow; an ice axe is needed to cross steep snow safely, so check current snow and access reports before an early-season hike. The alpine vegetation is fragile, so stay on the trail, snow or rock.

Pika and hoary marmots live on the steep slopes; deer and smaller mammals use Fisher Basin, and black bears forage there for huckleberries. One of the last North Cascades grizzlies was killed in this area shortly before the park was protected in 1968.

The Fisher name comes from brothers who trapped in the drainage in the early 1900s. Their route continued west beyond this day hike. On that longer trail, Rock Cabin lies one mile from Junction Camp near the Thunder Creek junction. Built against a large boulder that forms one wall, the cabin has been stabilized as a reminder of that earlier use.