Stevens Pass

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title: "Stevens Pass" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountain-passes-of-chelan-county,-washington", "transportation-in-king-county,-washington", "landforms-of-king-county,-washington", "mountain-passes-of-washington-(state)", "rail-mountain-passes-of-the-united-states", "mountain-passes-of-the-north-cascades", "transportation-in-chelan-county,-washington"] description: "Mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains, Washington, United States" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens_Pass" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains, Washington, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain pass"]

Field	Value
name	Stevens Pass
photo	Stevens Pass Signs 2700px.jpg
elevation_ft	4061
elevation_ref	{{cite map
publisher	United States Geological Survey
title	Snoqualmie Pass Quadrangle, Washington
year	1987
edition	1965 Photorevised 1987
scale	1 : 24,000
series	7,5 Minute Series (Topographic)
isbn	0-607-57715-0
traversed	U.S. Route 2
location	Chelan / King counties, Washington, United States
range	Cascades
coordinates
::

| name = Stevens Pass | photo = Stevens Pass Signs 2700px.jpg | photo_caption = | elevation_ft = 4061 | elevation_ref = {{cite map | publisher = United States Geological Survey | title = Snoqualmie Pass Quadrangle, Washington | year = 1987 | edition = 1965 Photorevised 1987 | scale = 1 : 24,000 | series = 7,5 Minute Series (Topographic) | isbn = 0-607-57715-0 | traversed = U.S. Route 2 | location = Chelan / King counties, Washington, United States | range = Cascades | coordinates = | topo =

Stevens Pass (elevation 4061 ft) is a mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County and Chelan County in Washington, United States. U.S. Route 2 travels over the pass, reaching a maximum elevation of 4061 ft. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway at Stevens Pass. The BNSF Railway's Cascade Tunnel lies 1180 ft below the pass summit.

The pass is near Stevens Pass Ski Area, which is on Cowboy Mountain and Big Chief Mountain.

History

Stevens Pass is named after John Frank Stevens, the first non-indigenous person to discover it.{{cite web | url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_stevens.html | title= People & Events: John Stevens, 1853–1943 | accessdate= 2007-05-18 | year= 1999–2000 | work= American Experience | Streamliners | People & Events | publisher= Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) | archive-date= 2009-12-27 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091227161303/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_stevens.html | url-status= dead

In 1890, Stevens conducted a thorough survey for the Great Northern, located the pass, and determined it to be the best suited for a railway crossing of the North Cascades. He wrote that there was no indication that the pass was used — there was no sign of any trails, blazes, campsites, or old campfires, for at least 10 mi in either direction and that the area was thickly forested and covered with almost impenetrable brush. Stevens wrote, "the region promised nothing to the prospector, while Indians and Whites crossing the mountains used either Snoqualmie on the south or the Indian Pass on the north."

Stevens had also charted Marias Pass in northwestern Montana, on the Continental Divide near Glacier National Park.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Wellington_Avalanche_Debris.jpg" caption="Debris — including wrecked train cars — resulting from the Wellington Avalanche."] ::

Notable avalanches

On February 23, 1910, the two Great Northern Railway trains, the "Seattle Express" local passenger train No. 25 and Fast Mail train No. 27, were stalled on the tracks at the Cascade Tunnel Station on Stevens Pass because of a heavy snow storm and avalanches. Then on March 1, six days later, another avalanche pushed both trains 150 ft down into the Tye River Valley, thus burying the train cars in snow and debris. The Wellington Disaster killed ninety-six people – thirty-five passengers and sixty-one railroad employees – which made the Wellington avalanche one of the worst train disasters in United States history.

Over a century later, an avalanche occurred on February 19, 2012 near Tunnel Creek Canyon Road, killing three of four experienced backcountry skiers, including the Stevens Pass Ski Area's marketing director. Professional skier Elyse Saugstad, who was wearing an avalanche airbag backpack, survived after tumbling down for more than 2,000 feet (600 m).

Climate

Stevens Pass experiences a maritime-influenced alpine subarctic climate (Köppen Dsc), with short, mild, dry summers and extremely heavy winter snowfall.

The following chart includes climate data for the Stevens Pass (SNOTEL) weather station from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2020.

|single line = yes |location = Stevens Pass, Washington, 1991–2020 normals, 1939–1994 extremes: 3950ft (1204m) |Jan record high F = 53 |Feb record high F = 53 |Mar record high F = 70 |Apr record high F = 71 |May record high F = 83 |Jun record high F = 91 |Jul record high F = 95 |Aug record high F = 91 |Sep record high F = 85 |Oct record high F = 72 |Nov record high F = 56 |Dec record high F = 50 |year record high F=

|Jan high F = 29.2 |Feb high F = 32.3 |Mar high F = 36.8 |Apr high F = 41.5 |May high F = 50.0 |Jun high F = 57.6 |Jul high F = 67.6 |Aug high F = 66.2 |Sep high F = 59.8 |Oct high F = 48.9 |Nov high F = 35.8 |Dec high F = 29.7 |year high F =

|Jan mean F = 24.7 |Feb mean F = 27.0 |Mar mean F = 30.7 |Apr mean F = 35.2 |May mean F = 41.9 |Jun mean F = 48.0 |Jul mean F = 56.7 |Aug mean F = 56.7 |Sep mean F = 50.5 |Oct mean F = 41.5 |Nov mean F = 31.2 |Dec mean F = 24.8 |year mean F =

|Jan low F = 19.9 |Feb low F = 22.0 |Mar low F = 24.5 |Apr low F = 28.9 |May low F = 33.9 |Jun low F = 40.0 |Jul low F = 46.0 |Aug low F = 47.2 |Sep low F = 41.3 |Oct low F = 34.1 |Nov low F = 26.6 |Dec low F = 20.0 |year low F =

|Jan record low F = -22 |Feb record low F = -12 |Mar record low F = -3 |Apr record low F = 11 |May record low F = 17 |Jun record low F = 25 |Jul record low F = 32 |Aug record low F = 30 |Sep record low F = 28 |Oct record low F = 10 |Nov record low F = -2 |Dec record low F = -25 |year record low F=

|precipitation colour= green |Jan precipitation inch = 14.14 |Feb precipitation inch = 9.33 |Mar precipitation inch = 10.04 |Apr precipitation inch = 5.76 |May precipitation inch = 3.66 |Jun precipitation inch = 2.84 |Jul precipitation inch = 1.12 |Aug precipitation inch = 1.43 |Sep precipitation inch = 3.90 |Oct precipitation inch = 10.25 |Nov precipitation inch = 14.89 |Dec precipitation inch = 13.22 |year precipitation inch =

|Jan snow inch = 104.7 |Feb snow inch = 77.6 |Mar snow inch = 70.6 |Apr snow inch = 32.6 |May snow inch = 9.2 |Jun snow inch = 0.7 |Jul snow inch = 0.1 |Aug snow inch = 0.0 |Sep snow inch = 0.5 |Oct snow inch = 16.1 |Nov snow inch = 66.4 |Dec snow inch = 93.3 |year snow inch= 471.8

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in |Jan precipitation days = 20.3 |Feb precipitation days = 17.1 |Mar precipitation days = 19.9 |Apr precipitation days = 16.5 |May precipitation days = 12.7 |Jun precipitation days = 10.4 |Jul precipitation days = 4.5 |Aug precipitation days = 4.8 |Sep precipitation days = 8.4 |Oct precipitation days = 16.3 |Nov precipitation days = 20.9 |Dec precipitation days = 20.7 |year precipitation days =

|source 1 = XMACIS2 (temp normals) |url = https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/ |title = xmACIS2 |access-date = April 10, 2024 NOAA (precipitation) |url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USS0021B01S&format=pdf |title = Stevens Pass, Washington 1991-2020 Monthly Normals |access-date = April 10, 2024 |source 2 = WRCC (records & snowfall){{cite web |url= https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa8089 |title= STEVENS PASS, WASHINGTON (458089) |accessdate=April 10, 2024 |publisher=Western Regional Climate Center }}

References

References

1. Beckey, Fred W.. (2003). "Range of glaciers: the exploration and survey of the Northern Cascade range". Oregon Historical Society Press.
2. (June 30, 1925). "G.N. to erect Stevens statue". Spokesman-Review.
3. [http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv09594 NWDA Washington State University: Wellington Disaster]
4. (February 20, 2012). "Four dead in avalanches at Stevens and Snoqualmie passes". [[Seattle Times]].
5. "Station Details - STEVENS PASS, WA US". NOAA.

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