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Clickable map of Washington, USA: banner_mtmapfhv.jpg (3527 bytes)Cascade Mountains, Washington, USA
Mount Baker (area)

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"Mt. Baker" refers to a:
Community  
Mountain  

National Forest
Recreation Area
Scenic Highway
Ski Area
Volcano
Wilderness Area

Communities Serving the Mt. Baker area
Bellingham
Chelan
Concrete
Glacier
Mazama
Sedro Woolley
Winthrop

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Name 
In 1792 an English lieutenant by the name of Joseph Baker sighted the mountain from the deck of Captain George Vancouver’s sloop Discovery in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Captain Vancouver named the mountain in Lt. Baker’s honor.


Movies filmed at Mt Baker
The Call of the Wild (1935)
Also filmed along the banks of the North Fork Nooksack River. Starring Clark Gable and Loretta Young.

 

Mount Baker the Volcano

Elevation
10,778 feet (3,285 meters)

Getting to Mt Baker
Road
The best view of the mountain is from the Glacier Creek Road off of Highway 542.  A 10-kilometer hike, taking off from Dead Horse Road (No.3907) affords closer views of Baker's north side.   On the south side of the mountain Forest Service Road 372, taking off from Baker Lake Road, ends near the Schreibers Meadow cinder cone.

Description
Mount Baker is the most isolated of the Cascade volcanoes in the USA.  It rests on a foundation of non-volcanic rocks in a region that is largely non-volcanic in origin.  Since the last Ice Age, the area around the mountain has been largely ice free, but the mountain itself remains heavily mantled with snow and ice.  After Mount Rainier, it is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes, the volume of snow and ice being greater than that of all the other Cascades volcanoes (except Rainier) combined.  Due to its many glaciers, local Native Americans gave Mt. Baker a name meaning "White Steep Mountain." The present-day cone sits atop a similar older volcanic cone called Black Buttes volcano which was active between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago.

During the last 10,000 years there have been at least two or more lava flows, at least eight mudflows and a pyroclastic flow.  Mount Baker erupted on several occasions during the 19th century, and its most prominent crater, Sherman Crater, may have formed in the 18th or early 19th century.  Most hydrothermal activity at Mount Baker is concentrated within Sherman Crater. This activity, in the form of steam and flows of hot rock and gas, increased significantly in March 1975 and caused concern that an eruption might be imminent.  The activity diminished somewhat by 1978.  Mudflows remain the most likely hazard from the volcano.  Avalanches of snow and rock debris from the rim of Sherman Crater have swept down Boulder Glacier at least six times since 1958.

Mount Baker, Washington
Index page for Mount Baker, on the official web site of the USGS, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington.  Has many related links, graphics, maps, images and other items of interest.

Featured Places and Web Sites

Visitor Information 

Mt Baker
Details of area attractions.  (Part of the Lynden Tribune web site.)

Mt-Baker.Com
Offers information and services about the Mt. Baker area.

Mount Baker Experience.  225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230.  Phone: (Business/Editorial Office): 360-332-1777; Fax: 360-332-2777.  E-mail

National Forest

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
This US Department of Agriculture's page on the Forest includes information on recreation, weather and wilderness areas in the Washington Cascades.  The northwestern tip of the vast Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is comprised of Mt Baker Wilderness, and the Mt Baker National Recreation Area.

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Description and transportation. (On  GORP.)

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest - An Overview
This site was created as a project for a Washington History class at Sehome High School in Bellingham, Washington to inform people about the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest.

Ski Area

A world record in snowfall was measured at Mt. Baker Ski Area in the winter of 1998-99.

Mount Baker Ski Conditions

Mt. Baker Ski Area
Mt. Baker Ski Area sits at the edge of the wilderness in the heart of the North Cascade Mountains, located 56 miles east of Bellingham on State Hwy 542.  It has become one of Washington's premier ski resorts. According to a Powder Magazine study, Mt. Baker Ski Area receives the highest amount of average snowfall of any ski area in North America, with more than 615 inches falling each year.

Scenic Highway

The upper 24 miles of Mount Baker Highway, (WA 542), from the town of Glacier to Artist Point (elev. 5.140 feet), was designated a National Forest Scenic Byway in 1989.  This section of the highway winds along the North Fork Nooksack River, and at road's end, trail systems lead into the Mt. Baker Wilderness.

The entire highway, from its juncture with I-5 in Bellingham to Artist Point, has been designated a Washington State Scenic and Recreation Highway. 

Mount Baker Highway
Where to find a stand of old growth Douglas firs.  (Part of the Old Growth web site.)

North Fork of the Nooksack River
Click on the map to go to any of the highlights or side-trips of this Mount Baker Highway tour.  (Part of the NPS Park Geology web site.)

Scenic Byway - Mount Baker Highway
Details on byway attractions.  (On the Bellingham/Whatcom County Convention and Visitors Bureau web site.)

Wilderness Area 

Mount Baker Wilderness
Description and photo.  (On the Wilderness.net web site.)

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