At last, WA’s iconic North Cascades Highway reopens
by Aspen Ford, Washington State Standard
June 15, 2026
The North Cascades Highway reopened on Sunday, restoring an economic lifeline for small communities east of the Cascades.
The highway, State Route 20, is the northernmost route in Washington across the North Cascades. Known for its mountain scenery, it connects Skagit and Whatcom counties to Okanogan and Chelan counties.
The road closes on both sides of the Cascades each winter due to heavy snowfall and avalanche hazards and has been shut down through the mountains since December. But the roadwork needed to reopen the highway this year was substantial.
This year’s June 14 reopening matches 1974 for the latest day of the year the seasonal route has reopened. Last year, travel restarted on April 22.
The Washington state Department of Transportation completed two emergency projects repairing damage from heavy flooding last December and a March rockslide. In certain stretches, the department had to rebuild from the ground up because the road structure had collapsed.
Costs for the two emergency repairs have not been finalized yet, but are estimated to be between $9 million and $12 million, according to an agency spokesperson.
In early May, state transportation officials did not know how long repairs would take, but set a goal to fully reopen by July 4.
State Rep. Hunter Abell, R-Inchelium, put pressure on the agency to pick up the pace, stating small communities east of the Cascades are hurting because they rely on summer tourism to support the local economy.
“This is the best we could have hoped for in an otherwise bad situation,” Abell said Monday.
With the route reopening in time for Fourth of July tourism, “it will make the difference between some businesses having to close and some businesses being able to stay open,” he said.
In mid-May, Abell organized a community meeting in Winthrop with state transportation officials to give constituents a chance to voice their concerns.
Michael Kennedy, owner of River Run Inn & Cabins, recalled on Monday that there was a lot of frustration in the room. He and other residents of Okanogan County felt like the North Cascade Highway repairs weren’t a priority for the state and pointed out that the storm-damaged stretch of U.S. 2 going toward Leavenworth had already reopened months earlier.
The Department of Transportation told residents then that the extent of the damage on Highway 20 was much worse than U.S. 2 and the elevation of the road made repairs even more difficult.
When the North Cascades Highway is closed, visitors from Bellingham traveling to Winthrop can expect to add two to three hours to their trip, Kennedy said.
Bookings at River Run are down about 50%, said Penni Egger, Kennedy’s wife and a board member of the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce. “So many people canceled and made other arrangements.”
Emergency repairs
Trimaxx Construction Inc. and Interwest Construction Inc. worked seven days a week to complete the two emergency contracts, the department said
To repair the rockslide damage, workers removed more than 2,500 cubic yards of debris and stabilized a slope supporting the road with more than 1,000 feet of steel rock dowels. On May 30, the Department of Transportation reopened a four-mile stretch of the highway, restoring access to Diablo Lake Vista Point and the Ross Dam Trailhead.
Repairing flood damage between Canyon Creek Trailhead and the Granite Creek vicinity required more than a month. Those repairs included rebuilding the highway structure at three locations, repairing and repaving more than 1,000 feet of the road, restoring two miles of asphalt shoulder, replacing damaged guardrails and re-striping.
People traveling on the highway can expect to see workers removing construction equipment over the next few days, but this should not affect traffic, according to the agency.
“A lot of credit belongs to the contractors,” Abell said. “It was them and their teams that were out there working pretty much around the clock to get this highway reopened.”
Travelers are encouraged to be on the lookout for wildlife, which are not accustomed to vehicles traveling on the roadway. Construction crews reported sightings of bear and deer, many young, and on or near the road.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: [email protected]. Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook and X.