Diablo Lake North Cascades

About this spectacle

Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park is famous for its impossibly vivid turquoise-green color, produced by glacial rock flour suspended in the water — finely ground mineral particles that scatter light in a way that seems almost artificial. From the overlook on Highway 20, visitors gaze down at the lake cradled between steep forested ridges and jagged snow-capped peaks. The color shifts with light conditions: deepest jewel-green at midday sun, softer and more muted under cloud. The surrounding Cascade peaks reflect in calm sections of the water, and in autumn the hillsides blaze with gold and orange. The air carries the scent of fir and cedar, and the silence is broken mainly by wind and the occasional call of a raven. It is a landscape that rewards simply standing and looking.

When to go

May — Oct, peak Jun — Oct

Getting there

Nearest airport: BLI. Nearest city: Bellingham.

Booking options

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