Norse Peak Wilderness is a designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

located in central

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It protects the portion of the Cascade Range north of Chinook Pass ( Highway 410), south of

Naches Pass Naches Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Cascade Range in the state of Washington. It is located about east of Tacoma and about northwest of Yakima, near the headwaters of tributary streams of the Naches River on the east and the ...

(Naches Trail), and east of

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservi ...

. It is bordered by the William O. Douglas Wilderness to the south. The wilderness is named for a prominent peak which overlooks Crystal Mountain Ski Area. Roughly triangular, it is about 10 miles (16 km) across and contains no roads.

History

The Norse Peak Wilderness was established by the 1984 Washington State Wilderness bill and is managed by the

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

. This area was heavily grazed by domestic sheep between 1890 and 1950. The area south of Norse Peak Wilderness within Morse Creek drainage was once known as the Summit Mining District and was a popular mineral activity area between 1885 and 1920. The placer mineral content in this area was poor but historic remains of this earlier mining activity are still evident. A 2017 wildfire blackened more than 50,000 acres, closing several forest roads and popular camp sites in the area.

Geographic features

Norse Peak Wilderness is characterized by forested slopes and jutting volcanic peaks. The local streams flow through narrow valleys into lower elevation meadows. The topography includes broad open park-like basins at higher elevations. Elevations range from 3,000 feet (900 m) at the

Greenwater River The Greenwater River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. Its watershed drains a portion of the Cascade Range east and northeast of Mount Rainier, including parts of the Norse Peak Wilderness. It flows into the White River at Greenwat ...

in the north to 6,856 foot (2090 m) Norse Peak in the west and 6900 foot (2100 m) Fifes Peaks, a prominent remnant volcanic cone in the east. The eastern portion is drained by tributaries of the

Naches River The Naches River is a tributary of the Yakima River in central Washington in the United States. Beginning as the Little Naches River, it is about 75 miles (121 km) long. After the confluence of the Little Naches and Bumping River the name b ...

. The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail follows closely the Cascade divide in the Norse Peak Wilderness. The historic Naches Pass Trail runs east and west just outside its northern boundary. Several additional trails provide access to other portions of the wilderness

Flora and fauna

The wilderness hosts

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

and elk in the basins and meadows, and a herd of

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s range over the upper alpine peaks. The area is also home to cougar, coyote and

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

. It is also rumored to be home to

grey wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

, though this has yet to be confirmed. Douglas fir,

western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

fill the forests, and the meadows are full of a variety of lesser growth. The undergrowth of the forest is dense and also varied.

References

External links

Norse Peak Wilderness (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest)
U.S. Forest Service
Norse Peak Wilderness (Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest)
U.S. Forest Service
Norse Peak Wilderness
Wilderness.net (The University of Montana) {{Authority control Cascade Range Protected areas of Pierce County, Washington Wilderness areas of Washington (state) Protected areas of Yakima County, Washington Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest