Location: In the summer, you can drive all the way up the road to Artist Point. In the winter, this road closes very early. When there is enough snow you can snowshoe up the road to Artist Point.
Miles/ Elevation Gain: 4 miles/ 1000 elevation gain
Pass Required: None
Road Conditions: There had been no new snow in the last week so the roads were clear. This road can be really bad with fresh snow/ ice so carrying chains would be best.
The drive from Seattle
Gear used: snowshoes, gaiters, trekking poles w/ snow basket, many layers, sit pad for taking in the view at the top!
I actually went to Artist Point two weekends in a row. The first weekend was predicted to be all clear, but ended up getting super socked in. It still was a beautiful day though.
The following weekend I had the determination to go back and actually see the views from the top! We had discussed snow camping, but opted out of it for this time. We snowshoed to the top again and the views were amazing of Mt. Baker, Shuksan and so much of the North Cascades viewable. This is probably my favorite snowshoeing spot to date. The dogs had a blast running around in the snow as well!
After snowshoeing, we made plans to car camp in the area since it is such a long drive. We ended up researching and finding Silver Lake Park campground in Maple Falls. It is 45 minutes down the road from Baker. They have cabins you can rent and also plenty of tent sites. We didn't see anyone else car camping. It was nice to be able to have a fire, but it did get dark so early. Some of the woes of winter camping. I'll take what I can get to get outside in the winter though!