The North Cascades Highway Opened Late This Year. Now the Methow Waits on the Gate.

On a weekday morning in early October, cars were already parked along the SR 20 shoulder at 7 a.m. for the Maple Pass and Blue Lake trails, three days after a backcountry wilderness ranger estimated that 6,000 people had visited the area's well-advertised larch trails on a single Sunday, Cascadia Daily News reported. The highway those cars lined had been fully open for less than four months.

At some point this fall, WSDOT will close the North Cascades Highway for the winter. This year's closure falls on a road that reopened later than at any time in 50 years, so whatever date WSDOT picks, the 2026 season through the pass will come in shorter than 2023's, 2024's or 2025's.

A season that started in mid-June

The damage happened over two storms. On December 12, 2025, atmospheric-river rains plugged a culvert near milepost 145. The water that went around it undermined the shoulder and part of the eastbound lane, and WSDOT found damage spread from milepost 142 to milepost 148. On March 17, another atmospheric river brought down a rockslide about 200 feet wide near Diablo Lake at milepost 131, leaving roughly 4,000 cubic yards of material to remove.

The Methow side opened first. At 2 p.m. on April 30, WSDOT opened SR 20 from the east as far as Porcupine Creek at milepost 156.8. Everything west of that point to milepost 130 stayed closed, recreation included. That spring, people coming from the valley could drive to the Washington Pass Overlook and to the Blue Lake, Rainy Pass, Maple Pass and Cutthroat Lake trailheads. Easy Pass Trailhead was on the closed side, Methow Valley News reported. You couldn't drive through to Skagit County until Sunday, June 14, when the washout repairs were finished and the highway fully reopened.

Set that June date against WSDOT's own record of opening and closing dates and the size of the gap shows. The day counts below run from opening day to closing day.

From 2009 through 2025, the fall closure came as early as November 3 and as late as December 11. If the 2026 road stayed open until December 11, the latest date in that stretch, it would get about 180 days of through-traffic. That's still more than six weeks short of what 2025 had.

What the closure decision depends on

As of October 26, WSDOT hadn't announced a 2026 closure date. Its historical table shows the April 30 partial reopening and leaves this year's "Closed" field blank. The North Cascade Hwy pass page says reports have ended for the season. It also says WSDOT traditionally posts conditions there from November 1 to April 1 and will post updates if adverse weather affects travel.

There's no fixed calendar date. The decision depends on the snow. WSDOT's December 2025 closure notice named two triggers: snow already loading the avalanche paths and more snow showers in the forecast. It gave the safety of travelers and crews as the reason. Last winter's gates were at Ross Dam Trailhead, milepost 134, on the west side and at Silver Star gate, milepost 171, on the east. WSDOT said that depending on conditions it typically moves the closure points later to Newhalem gate at milepost 120 and Early Winters gate at milepost 178. Those are the 2025 locations. The 2026 notice will set this year's.

Why the fall weeks counted for more this year

The late reopening came after a hard winter for the valley. Cascadia Daily News reported that Loup Loup Ski Bowl outside Twisp didn't open last winter, the first time since it began operating in 1976. The trail network that bills itself as North America's largest cross-country ski area wasn't groomed until December 19, 2025, its latest start in a decade.

In May, with the west side still closed, Methow Valley News talked with valley businesses about the cost. Lance Rider of The Outdoorsman said a typical spring day was bringing in $300 when he'd expect $1,000. Rick Coursey said Lost River Winery's Winthrop tasting room sales were down 57%. Coursey said about half the winery's sales come through that tasting room, and he called the slow winter followed by the closure a "double whammy." In Twisp, Nicky Krost told the paper that 1908 BBQ & Bourbon was down $1,500 a day on the first Friday and Saturday of May compared with the same weekend a year earlier. Penni Egger and Michael Kennedy of River Run Inn & Cabins reported fewer bookings over Winthrop '49er Days weekend and several June cancellations.

October went differently. Cascadia Daily News described Methow hotels booked in advance and restaurants with lines in the middle of the week. Most of the larch-hunting traffic was headed for the trails near Washington Pass. "It was a shock," Hannah Weymuller, interim marketing director for the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, told the paper. "Restaurants ran out of food; not good, but it's showing there is a second season." Egger, coming off what she called "a really hard summer," said on October 7 that reservations were still arriving. The same article pointed out that the valley used to go quiet after summer and wait for Nordic season to start.

That second season runs on the highway. The trailheads that filled in October are the same ones the April 30 reopening put back within reach from the east, and the winter gates sit between the valley floor and the pass.

What's open on the valley side after the gate closes

For Methow residents, the closure shortens the road rather than shutting off the high country. Silver Star gate, last winter's east-side closure point, is at milepost 171. Washington State Parks lists Silver Star Sno-Park 15 miles northwest of Winthrop at the end of the plowed road, with 100 miles of motorized snowmobile trails.

People do go up the closed road past the gate on foot, skis and snowmobiles. In 2020, Methow Valley News quoted WSDOT saying that hikers, skiers, snowmobilers and other recreationists could use the seasonally closed highway, and asking them to park in designated areas away from plows and gates. That was guidance for an earlier winter. Check WSDOT's 2026 closure notice for this year's terms before heading past the gate.

The calendar between the closure and the groomers

The gap between the highway closing and the snow arriving is when the valley's winter organizations hold their kickoff events. These are on the November calendar:

1. Saturday, November 7, 9 a.m. to noon: the ski swap at the Red Barn, listed on Methow Valley Nordic's events page.
2. Saturday, November 7: Loup Loup Ski Bowl's 2026 Fall Fling fundraiser, which supports affordable community skiing, according to the ski bowl's site.
3. Friday, November 13, 5 to 8 p.m.: the Avant Ski season-kickoff party, also on the Methow Valley Nordic calendar.

Methow Trails is selling 2026–27 passes and taking registrations for its December Ski Camp, but its pages don't list a start date for grooming. The Loup's site still shows an operating-schedule section headed 2025/2026 that reads "Opening to be announced," with no 2026–27 opening date posted. Last season, grooming didn't start until December 19 and the Loup never opened. Between the highway closing and the trails opening, the valley has no tourism draw from either.

Once WSDOT posts the 2026 closure, its pass page and news releases will have the date and the gate locations. Until then, check the pass page before planning a trip west over Washington Pass.

If you're a Methow Valley homeowner thinking about how the pass calendar affects a second home, a rental, or the timing of a sale, Find Your Chelan can walk through those seasonal patterns with you. Start Your Lake Chelan Search, and ask Lukas what a short highway season like this one means for your plans in the valley.