Two Baker Mountain Day Drives

At 10781 feet, Baker Mountain is the 3rd highest mountain in Washington. With 13 active glaciers, Baker Mountain is a snowcapped beauty year round.

On our first day of exploring the mountain, we took Hwy 20 to Baker Lake Rd. We took NF Rd 1112 which changes to NF 1106 as you cross the dam. After crossing the dam, we took the gravel NF 1107 road up to the Watson-Anderson Lakes Trailhead. From here we were able to get magnificent views of Baker Mountain and Baker Lake.

From there we took Baker Lake Road around the lake to where it ends at Baker River Trail, stopping for views of the lake as we drove. Next we took NF 1130 to a hike to Rainbow Falls and up to the top to the Mt. Baker Park Cliffs Viewpoint.

For our second day exploring Mt. Baker, we took Hwy 20 to North on Hwy 9 to 542. We stopped and hiked at Nooksack Falls, an easy walk to a spectacular waterfall right off of the road. From there we continued to the end of Hwy 542. We stopped and walked around the Picture Lakes, wandered the Heather Meadows area and hiked the Artist Point Trail. From here we had spectacular (albeit cloudy) views of Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker.

On our way back out we decided to drive to Twin Lakes. This is accessed by turning on to NF 3065. The drive 7 mile drive is steep with sharp switchbacks. It is all gravel and dirt and the last 3.5 miles are basically rock climbing with the truck. We would only suggest this road in a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle.

The reward for the drive is an amazing campground for tent campers as well as beautiful views of the lake and some great hiking trails.