Parking
Park at the North Cascades Visitor Center and start at its northeast corner. For the shorter campground route, use the restroom area between loops A and B.
Overview
About River Loop Trail
Why go
- A mellow forest walk reaches an open gravel bar on the Skagit.
- The campground start offers a shorter 1-mile round trip.
Heads up
- The visitor-center access includes a grade as steep as 15%.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the North Cascades map
Full mapElevation459–584 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
7 active North Cascades alerts
- ClosureWildfire closures and Stehekin fire advisoryWildfire-related closures remain in effect; stay out of all closed trails, camps, and areas.Official details
- CautionCampfires banned across the park complexCampfires and other ash-producing fires are banned throughout the North Cascades National Park Service Complex.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
North Cascades Tour Guide
Your drive to River Loop Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
North Cascades Visitor Center and Picket Range View0:00 / 0:34
“Up ahead is the North Cascades Visitor Center, a useful stop for making sense of the mountains around you. Start with the large relief map, then ask at the information desk for help matching a walk to the time you have.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf North Cascades Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Newhalem Creek Campground and Rock Shelter
- Goodell Creek: Camping Beside the Skagit
- The Trout People Brought
- Historic Newhalem: Fudge, a Steam Engine and Cedars
- 83 audio storiesacross North Cascades’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Mountain Goat, Black Bear, Mule Deer, and 10 more
- Works offlinemaps, 88 trails, 76 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking River Loop Trail
What this loop isRiver Loop is a 1.
River Loop is a 1.8-mile loop from the northeast corner of the North Cascades Visitor Center through forest to a gravel bar on the Skagit River. It links with Newhalem Creek Campground and the amphitheater, making it a nice short walk when you want a quieter stretch away from State Route 20. Allow about 45 minutes, or closer to an hour if you linger by the water.
Through the forestThe route drops from the visitor center toward the campground, then circles through cedar and…
The route drops from the visitor center toward the campground, then circles through cedar and fir forest with ferns and salal underfoot. The walk is mostly gentle, but not level: the park lists about 100 feet of total elevation change, and the visitor-center access includes a short section graded as steep as 15%.
At the SkagitThe trail leads to a gravel bar with broad views along the Skagit River.
The trail leads to a gravel bar with broad views along the Skagit River. This is the open pause in an otherwise wooded walk; include the river and a strip of forested bank in a photo to show the width of the valley. The river access is the reason to choose this loop over a quick campground stroll.
Pick your starting pointStart at the visitor center’s northeast corner for the full 1.8-mile loop.
Start at the visitor center’s northeast corner for the full 1.8-mile loop. If the steeper connector is a concern, begin beside the restroom between campground loops A and B; the park lists that as a separate 1-mile round trip. Restrooms are available at the visitor center and campground. Dogs are not allowed on park trails.
Wildlife
Wildlife in North Cascades
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.
