Kayak Camping in North Cascades National Park

I finally have the time to look back at all my photos and decided to finally get this post out of the way because I feel like a lot of people could benefit from getting tips on how to plan for your first kayak camping trip. This was the first and only kayak camping trip I’ve done so far and I did this back in August of 2022. I felt lucky that I did because due to a fierce wildfire season last year, most of the boat-in campsites remained close in the summer last year.

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Distance:
2.2 miles one way (varies)

Elevation Gain:
0 feet

Area:
North Cascades National Park

Pass:
America the Beautiful

I don’t know about you but kayak camping was something I’ve always wanted to try out. As cliche as it sounds, once I purchased my second inflatable kayak from Kokopelli, my first one being the small and mighty Intex Challenger, I soon realized that I really needed to try out kayak camping. I’ve watched numerous videos of how to do so and follow a few folks on Instagram that had recently done it prior to heading out on my own. I’d say kayak camping is doable for most people. There are definitely more things to keep in mind. However, I find this guide from REI extremely helpful, especially when it comes to figuring out what to bring and pack. More importantly, it also provides some crucial information on how to stay safe on the water.

I decided to pick Diablo Lake to do my first kayak camping trip because it somehow felt safer that I was within national park boundaries and at least the rangers would know where my whereabouts are in case something bad would have happened. Additionally, dogs are generally not allowed on the trails in the park so I thought, how can I get my dog Tex to enjoy this park without stepping foot in the trails?

Overview

North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20) is often closed until late June or early July.

The North Cascades National Park Complex, which comprises North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan Recreation Area was first settled by early Native Americans before European explorers came. The park was officially established on October 2, 1968 to protect the wilderness.

Diablo Lake is located in the North Cascades mountains in Washington state. It is a picturesque reservoir created by Diablo Dam. Situated between Ross Lake and Gorge Lake on the Skagit River, this lake rests at an elevation of 1,201 feet (366 m) above sea level. In the summertime, crowds run to the Diablo Lake Overlook to enjoy this turquoise lake. The lake looks turquoise due to suspended fine rock particles in the water from melted ice refracting sunlight. The color is brightest on sunny days in the months of July, August and September.

This land is home to to the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla, Nlaka’pamux, Okanagan, Sauk Suiattle and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Source: Native Land Digital.

How to plan for kayak camping

Diablo Lake Viewpoint at sunset at North Cascades National Park

What to pack

This list is just for reference, definitely make a list of all the items you think you need to bring with you.

I like to think of planning a kayak camping trip similar to planning a backpacking trip. For the most part, you are going to be taking the same type of gear because depending on the type of kayak, paddle board or canoe you have, there might be a weight limit as to how much you can carry.

For a first-timer like myself, I packed all my essential gear like I would for a backpacking trip. I know some folks also end up hauling an additional boat tied to their kayak to allow themselves additional gear that might be larger and heavier and don’t necessarily fit inside or outside of the kayak. I didn’t do this at all because again, I was treating this like backpacking trip so all I brought was my JetBoil and some dehydrated meals. The only ‘luxury’ item that I packed was a soft cooler - however, the cooler really didn’t live up to its hype, everything ended up getting warm even though I left it inside the bear box provided at the campsite.

I always refer to this checklist for all my trips.

Getting a permit

Wilderness Information Center coordinates: 48.53854205988449, -121.44748494103868

Getting a permit is similar to getting any other backcountry permit in the North Cascades.

Since 2023, North Cascade National Park has opted for a lottery system as well. Meaning if you didn’t win the lottery, you don’t get first picks on backcountry campsites. However, a lot of the times, permits will still be available, whether it’s through a walk-up at the Wilderness Information Center in Marblemount or someone decided to give up their permit. I haven’t tried to obtain a backcountry permit in the North Cascades since they implemented this so I can’t really tell you how easy it is to get a permit.

Didn’t get an early access permit? You can keep checking recreation.gov to see if campsites you want are available. Or you could try the walk-up option meant you do need to show up at the WIC early in the morning and sometimes the night before so you could be the first person let into the center. In short, just plan accordingly and keep checking recreation.gov to see if any of the campsites you want are still available.

Got a permit online already? Don’t forget to pick it up at the Marblemount Wilderness Information Center. This is also a great opportunity for you to ask questions, learn about fire bans etc. I arrived at the WIC at 7:00am and there was already a line of folks waiting to pick up their permits.

Where to launch?

Launching from the Environmental Learning Center.

This was how my kayak looked like with all the gear packed - I used a backpack for all my essential sleeping gear and clothes but everything else went in the pack.

You generally launch your watercraft at Colonial Creek South Campground but in August 2022, the campground was mostly under construction so I had to head over to the Environmental Learning Center to launch. This spot was a little trickier to find and also less ideal for a launch. Nonetheless, we made it work. I believe when you book a boat-in campsite now, you will be directed to launch at Colonial Creek.

The space near the learning center wasn’t too bad - there was a huge beach area where you could easily double check that you have all your gear before bidding farewell to your car. I downloaded the Gaia GPS offline maps to help guide me to Thunder Point, which is the campsite I booked for the night. Each campground has a sign that clearly tells you which one it is.

More often than not, you should also see a small dock/boat ramp because all but a few are not equipped with one.

Paddling on Diablo Lake

Tex and I’s first time kayak camping - the weather was looking promising and the water was so pretty!

The boat ramp/dock you see at every campsite.

I checked in with the ranger station to ask about the best times to paddle. While there is no right answer - it is generally good to start paddling your day a little earlier. There seems to be a consensus that the water is the choppiest and the wind blowing the fiercest after that. You obviously want to check the weather forecasts too. I left the learning center at around 9:30am and got to Thunder Point a little before 11:00am. The entire paddle took about 1.5 hours when the waters were calm. I was in awe the entire time I was paddling on Diablo Lake. Dogs are generally not allowed on trails so I thought the only way to allow Tex to see this magnificent place with me was by water.

Thunder Point

Thunder Point is one of the 3 boat-in campsites on Diablo Lake. The other two being Buster Brown and Hidden Cove. I heard Hidden Cove is the best one on Diablo Lake but Thunder Point was the only one available even on a Thursday. If you want to go beyond Diablo Lake and get access to the other boat-in campsites on Ross Lake, you will have to portage your kayak, canoe or paddle board. More information on that can be found here.

Source: NPS

The campground has 3 sites and is first come first served. I pitched my tent right by the water because I wanted unobstructed views of Diablo Lake. There was another party that arrived a little later after me. She decided to pitch her tent in the tent pad right next to mine. While I understand we should be sharing this outdoor space, I found it a tiny bit odd since there were other available campsites on the island. Nonetheless, I tried to make conversation but because my dog was low key reactive, I spent most of the time just sitting by the water near my tent.

There is a bear box next to each site to store your food and scented items. I find this very helpful since you don’t necessarily need to carry a. bear can into the backcountry. I put away a lot of my food and set my clothes on top of the box to hang dry as well because I surprisingly still got wet despite a short paddle. There is also a pit toilet! This was great news since I prefer not to have to dig a hole if I don’t have to.

I didn’t do a whole lot of exploring once I got to Thunder Point - there was supposedly a trail but I opted for another paddling session towards Colonial Creek, where there would usually be crowds but since the campground was closed, I was able to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Final thoughts

The next day, I woke up bright and early to pack up. The skies weren’t looking too promising and I didn’t want to paddle in the rain in case it started pouring since I didn’t have a spray skirt with my kayak. It started drizzling a tiny bit but the waters remained calm.

I’ve never felt so accomplished in my life before. Being able to share this beautiful park with my dog Tex was definitely quite an experience. After camping at Thunder Point, I was feeling ambitious and wanted to hike up to Excelsior Peak to stay the night in the backcountry. Alas, I did the hike and decided to go home instead.

Lesson learned is that I probably would need a larger inflatable kayak if I were to do this trip again. While it fitted all of my gear and my 60 lbs dog just perfectly, I felt like whenever my dog decided to sit in a rather awkward position, it made me have to paddle in a really awkward position as well as I couldn’t fully extend my legs. Nonetheless, I highly recommend anyone that has not yet done a kayak camping trip to pick Diablo Lake as one of your first places to start that. The waters remained generally calm and the winds didn’t ever quite pick up. The process was easy - from planning to launching even though I haven’t been able to find much blog posts documenting people’s process.

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Backpacking, Hiking, Paddling, Summer, WashingtonCynthia Wongpaddling, washington, hiking, backpacking