Accessibility

North Cascades National Park Service Complex has been working hard to make recreational facilities available for everyone. Please see the Accessibility Index for specifics about each park facility.

Accessible restrooms are available at all visitor information stations and most campgrounds. The North Cascades Visitor Center, Sedro-Woolley information station, and Wilderness Information Center are fully accessible. The approach to the Golden West Visitor Center is an unpaved, sloping path which can be negotiated with assistance. There is a ramp into the center and an elevator inside.

The Sterling Munro Trail at the North Cascades Visitor Center and the Happy Creek Forest Walk at milepost 135 on State Route 20 are fully accessible boardwalk paths. Happy Creek is a 1/3 mile (1/2 kilometer) loop through ancient forest. The River Loop Trail (the section at the campground is lower grade than near the visitor center), Linking Trail and Newhalem Creek Rockshelter Trail, all in the vicinity of the North Cascades Visitor Center, are accessible trails with good surfaces and less than 10% grade throughout. Rockshelter Trail ends in a boardwalk providing a view and interpretation of an archeological site.

East of Newhalem along State Route 20, the Gorge Overlook Trail is partially paved. There are accessible campsites and restrooms in the park's campgrounds and accessible picnic shelters at Newhalem and Goodell Creek Campgrounds.

 

The US Architectural & Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Recreational Facilities & Outdoor Developed Areas universal accessibility standards have been used to rate trails. These rated trails are designated with a star. Buildings and facilities that comply with the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards are designated with two stars.

 

Service Animals

Service animals may accompany service animal users in information and visitor centers of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. A service animal is a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability. The task(s) performed by the animal must be directly related to the person’s disability. Service dogs are subject to the same vaccination rules that are applied to all dogs.