Big Four Ice Caves

If you hike out from the official trail end you can get views of some of the other caves. The hiking is much tougher and the footing is pretty lousy User submitted (Bill Allen)

Highly textured ice caves Sean MunsonFlickr (Creative Commons)

View of one cave from the trail end. Note the small people milling near the entrance, not smart. User submitted (Bill Allen)

Summer at the Big Four Ice Caves leeaison/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Big Four Mountain rises about 6000 ft. directly over the ice caves. An amazing setting. User submitted (Bill Allen)

A visitor in front of the ice caves Thomas_Combs/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Falls in the Ice nordkin (Atlas Obscura User)

Layers on layers on layers of ice. November 2014 funlaughlove84 (Atlas Obscura User)

Exit nordkin (Atlas Obscura User)

Looking out, from within. November 2014 funlaughlove84 (Atlas Obscura User)

Waterfall at the back of the cave. November 2014 funlaughlove84 (Atlas Obscura User)

Size of the ice cave in November 2014 funlaughlove84 (Atlas Obscura User)

Solitary chunk that broke off. November 2014 funlaughlove84 (Atlas Obscura User)

Update: One person was killed, and four were injured in a cave collapse in July 2015

In 1999, Mount Baker Ski Area set a world record for snowfall in the United States, totaling a massive 95 feet in one season.

Although the North Cascades rarely get that much fresh powder, their typical snowfall takes well into the summer months to melt away and sometimes lasts until the next winter.

As the summer months slowly eat away the snow around the glaciers, warm winds form deep ice caves, pushed right up to the mountains. The Big Four Ice Caves Trail start in Mt. Baker National Forest along US Route 92 and allow for a close-up of the ice fields and the immense north face of the 6,153 foot Big Four Mountain.

The caves usually begin to form during late July and August and remain visible until October when snowfall begins again. The ice formations dynamism can be both exciting and unfortunate. Their visibility is finite and ever changing, and ultimately they cannot fight their nature as a slowly melting but permanent ice field.

Getting close to and hiking in the caves is not advised. There have been several injuries and fatalities within and around the area from falling ice and collapsing portions of the caves.

Know Before You Go

Take State Route 92 to Granite Falls, then continue on the Mountain Loop Highway. It's about 26 miles out of Granite Falls. You pass through Silverton, before you get there and there is a sign that says Big Four on the right side of the road