If you're exploring hikes off the Mount Baker Highway during the summer, Hannegan Pass and Peak is a great option. In July and August, wildflowers and butterflies are in abundance as well as waterfalls and glacier views.
If you're wanting to camp out before or after your hike, try reserving a spot at the nearby Silver Fir Campground. The campground is 12 miles past the town of Glacier and offers an excellent base camp for exploring Hannegan Pass as well as many other hikes in the Mount Baker Wilderness.
If you want to make the hike into a backpack, you can pitch a tent at Hannegan Camp. Look for a turn-off to the campsite half a mile below the pass.
Remember your Recreation Pass! You can get one online or at the Glacier Public Service Center
If you're doing a day hike, Hannegan Pass and Peak is a 10.4-mile out and back trail that rises up as it ascends into the Ruth Creek watershed. The hike is challenging, gaining a little over 3,000 feet of elevation total.
As you walk up the trail, it crosses several little streams and upland waterfalls. The views across the valley resound with cascading waterfalls across the landscape. On a warm summer day, the water will be rushing. Expect an abundance of butterflies and pollinators both in variety and quantities.
The beginning of the hike is relatively gradual, but if you're climbing all the way to the peak, prepare for a steep push to the top. The last stretch to the summit rises 1,000 feet, offering 360 degree views of Cascade peaks, including Goat Mountain, the High Divide, and the Nooksack Ridge to the west. To the north are the peaks of British Columbia and the remote Silesia Creek valley, and to the east, Copper Ridge is visible, as well as Mount Redoubt in the distance. But the southern view is by far the most commanding, with in-your-face vistas of Mount Baker and Ruth Mountain, as well as Mount Shuksan, the East Nooksack Glacier and the Nooksack Tower.
Directions: From Glacier, travel east on The Mt. Baker Highway SR 542 for 12.5 miles past the Glacier Public Service Center. Turn left on Hannegan Pass Road #32. Follow Road #32 for 5.3 miles to the Hannegan Trailhead parking at the end of the road.
