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Stephen Mather Wilderness
The Washington Park Wilderness Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-668) designated the Stephen Mather Wilderness within the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Signed on November 16, 1988, this act brought 93% of the park complex (634,614 acres), including North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas, under the provisions of the 1964 Wilderness Act. The same act designated similar percentages of Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks as wilderness. Stephen Mather was the first director of the National Park Service, serving in that capacity from 1917 to 1929. Although, the name Stephen Mather Wilderness was chosen in his honor, there is no specific connection between Mather and the North Cascades.
Activities in Stephen Mather Wilderness are limited to those that maintain the wilderness character of this landscape. You may plan a trip utilizing a detailed topographic map and the Wilderness Trip Planner to locate backcountry campsites. Leave No Trace ethics should be employed in all wilderness areas. In addition to trail hiking and boating to designated sites, visitors also enjoy climbing many of the remote peaks in the North Cascades. Condition reports are updated weekly in the summer months.
Annual statistical summaries are presented below along with hiker, climber, and packer insights into the challenges and complexities of preserving the resource and the wildlife therein for the enjoyment of future generations.
http://www.nps.gov/noca/wild.htm