{"id":11409,"date":"2022-07-11T22:43:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T22:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluesboots.com\/?p=11409"},"modified":"2022-07-18T22:44:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T22:44:28","slug":"diablo-lake-north-cascades-national-park-wa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluesboots.com\/?p=11409","title":{"rendered":"Diablo Lake, North Cascades National Park, WA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

North Cascades National Park is rugged, raw, and gorgeous. There are very few roads that access the park, and the Highway 20 corridor is one of the only ways through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stayed at Colonial Creek Campground because there’s a boat ramp into Diablo Lake for easy kayak access, which is what we came for. The color of the water on Diablo is truly that amazing turquoise blue, no photo filters needed! Weather was perfect, and I only came home with 4 mosquito bites, which is a record for me – I usually contribute much more blood to the feeding-fest than that on summer trips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thunder Creek Trail<\/strong>: Our first evening we hiked about 4 miles on the Thunder Creek Trail, which starts within the campground. It’s through a beautiful old-growth forest. I’m not sure about the title “creek” since it was a full-on river, definitely not a creek. The bridge where we turned around is a work of art. What a perfect way to take an evening stroll, with Mother Nature, massive trees and the sound of running water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thunder Creek Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Old growth trees on Thunder Creek Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Old growth on Thunder Creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Creek Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thunder Arm\/Diablo Lake Kayak #1<\/strong>: On our first morning we kayaked up Thunder Arm toward where Thunder Creek empties into Diablo Lake. We had this section of the lake to ourselves, and spent time exploring a gravel bar and going upstream as much as possible, until the current turned us back toward the lake. It was a perfect, lazy paddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Diablo Lake toward Thunder Creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Creek outlet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thunder Knob Trail<\/strong>: The second evening we crossed Highway 20 to the other section of Colonial Creek Campground to hike up to Thunder Knob. Part of this campground was wiped out by rains in 2003 when Colonial Creek changed course. It’s a stark reminder of what the power of water can do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trail is beautiful and climbs via well-made switchbacks up to the point of Thunder Knob, with views down to Diablo Lake and north into the Park. We had the top to ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Use to be Colonial Creek campground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Knob Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Knob Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thunder Knob Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thunder Arm\/Diablo Lake Kayak #2<\/strong>: The next morning we kayaked in the other direction toward the main body of Diablo Lake, toward Thunder Point campground that is accessible only by boat\/kayak. There is a beautiful dock and stunning views from the campground, this might have to happen sometime in my future! By the time we got there wind was picking up, which makes kayaking not nearly as much fun, so after snacks we headed back to Colonial Creek. Three miles paddling meant rest that afternoon in the hammock with a good book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Kayaking Thunder Arm of Diablo Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kayaking Thunder Arm of Diablo Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dock at Thunder Point campground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Diablo Lake Overlook<\/strong>: On our final evening we drove a bit further on Highway 20 to the Diablo Lake Overlook. It’s hard to describe what it feels like looking down on this place. The water truly is that color, combined with the colors of the sky and the forest makes for a beautiful setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from Diablo Overlook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I must do much more exploring at North Cascades National Park in the coming years. It’s truly a beautiful place. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Cascades National Park is rugged, raw, and gorgeous. There are very few roads that access the park, and the Highway 20 corridor is one of the only ways through. We stayed at Colonial Creek Campground because there’s a boat ramp into Diablo Lake for easy kayak access, which is what we came for. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-day-hikes","category-kayak","post-preview"],"yoast_head":"\nDiablo Lake, North Cascades National Park, WA - Blue's Boots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bluesboots.com\/?p=11409\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Diablo Lake, North Cascades National Park, WA - Blue's Boots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Cascades National Park is rugged, raw, and gorgeous. 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