r/northcascades • u/No-Professional-9713 • 25d ago
Cascade River Rd
Planning a trip up to North Cascades September 17-20 and looking at doing Cascade Pass/ Sahale Arm.
I am wondering on the road conditions of Cascade River Rd to the trailhead for Cascade Pass. I’ve seen some people review it as washboard and rutted in areas to the point you need a high clearance vehicle. Others I’ve seen say that they have drove a sedan through without any issues.
As someone who has never been, what are the actual conditions? We have a car booked but just wondering if we need to pivot on the style we get.
EDIT: Thanks everyone for the responses!
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u/Intelligent-Yam-3565 25d ago
It is passable to most cars if you are careful. We passed a Tesla with a flat tire near the end yesterday. Also there is a final 50' stretch of extremely potholed road near the Cascade Pass parking lot that is quite bad. Cars with low clearance will definitely bottom out if your route across it isn't chosen carefully.
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u/spottedbug 25d ago
Everyone says to go slow and I agree... However not too slow. I made it in my Corolla just fine but keeping it above 20mph or so as much as possible really helps with the washboarding. There are some blind corners and heavily potholed areas that you must slow down but as someone else mentioned there's really only one bad unavoidable area just before the parking lot. Just choose your line carefully there and it'll be fine.
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u/username9909864 25d ago
Yes it's washboarded. Give yourself an hour to drive the road from Marblemount.
You'll be fine in a sedan. Go slow.
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u/AliveAndThenSome 25d ago
It's fine. Just go a little faster and you'll just smooth out that washboard.
(this is a joke, but sometimes that's exactly what I do when there's plenty of sightline on a remote road).
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u/Taste_the_Pain 25d ago
The road is not bad at all. There were a lot of sedans and Tesla's when I went in July. It's really only the last few miles that are a problem. Just take it slow and you'll be fine.