About 700 miles · WA, OR, CA · highest Mount Rainier, 14,411 ft · Mount St. Helens erupted 1980
Cascade Range map
The Cascades run about 700 miles from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Lassen Peak in northern California. The line of volcanoes includes Rainier, Shasta, Hood and St. Helens.
Where the Cascades are
The Cascade Range runs north–south about 100 miles inland from the Pacific, from the Fraser River in British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Lassen Peak in California, where the Sierra Nevada begins. The northern half in Washington is a jumble of jagged, glaciated peaks (the North Cascades); the southern half is a line of isolated volcanoes standing above a broad forested ridge. The Columbia River cuts straight through the range in the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington–Oregon line.
The volcanoes
| Peak | State | Elevation (ft) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Rainier | Washington | 14,411 | Highest in the range; state high point; 25 glaciers |
| Mount Shasta | California | 14,179 | Second highest; stands alone above the Sacramento Valley |
| Mount Adams | Washington | 12,281 | Second in Washington |
| Mount Hood | Oregon | about 11,240 | Oregon's highest point, 50 miles east of Portland |
| Mount Baker | Washington | 10,781 | Near the Canadian border; record snowfall |
| Glacier Peak | Washington | 10,541 | Most remote of the Washington volcanoes |
| Lassen Peak | California | 10,457 | Southern end of the range; erupted 1914–1917 |
| Mount Jefferson | Oregon | 10,497 | Second in Oregon |
| Three Sisters | Oregon | about 10,360 | Three peaks above Bend |
| Mount St. Helens | Washington | 8,363 | Lost 1,300 ft in the May 18, 1980 eruption |
Key measurements
- Length: about 700 miles; width 50 to 80 miles.
- Crater Lake, Oregon, fills the caldera of Mount Mazama; at 1,949 ft it is the deepest lake in the US.
- The range makes the Pacific Northwest's weather: the west side is one of the wettest places in the country, the east side (Yakima, Bend) is near-desert.
- Main passes: Snoqualmie (Interstate 90, 3,015 ft), Stevens, White and Chinook in Washington; Santiam and Willamette in Oregon; the Columbia Gorge is at sea level.
National parks
Four: North Cascades (1968), Mount Rainier (1899) and, in Oregon, Crater Lake (1902); Lassen Volcanic (1916) in California. Mount St. Helens is a National Volcanic Monument. See the national parks map.
Cities near the range
Seattle, Tacoma and Portland lie in the lowland between the Cascades and the coast; Rainier and Hood are visible from their downtowns on clear days. Yakima, Wenatchee and Bend sit on the dry east side. Eugene, Salem and Olympia are on the west. Redding, California, is at the southern end below Shasta and Lassen.
How the range shaped the map
The Cascades split both Washington and Oregon into a wet, populous west and a dry, empty east; the political divide follows the crest. The Columbia Gorge was the last leg of the Oregon Trail and is the route of the interstate and the railroads. The Washington–Oregon border follows the Columbia through the range rather than any ridge.
Related maps
- Columbia River · Sierra Nevada · US mountain ranges.
- Highest point in each state — Rainier and Hood.
- Pacific Northwest states · All geography maps.