Chinook Scenic Byway
Norse Peak Wilderness Area, WA

Norse Peak Wilderness Area hosts both forested slopes and exposed volcanic peaks. Topography is generally high and steep with rocky terrain at the high elevations, along with narrow valleys, mountain lakes, and open, park-like basins.

Because this wilderness straddles the crest of the Cascades, it has collections of both eastside and westside species. Vegetation includes Douglas Fir, true firs, western and mountain hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, Englemann spruce, lodgepole pine, larch, and Alaska and red cedar.

Deposits of gold at the heads of Morse and Crow Creeks were of some interest to miners, but only recreationists pan for gold now.