Mt. Baker Places Hike Artist Point, WA

Ptarmigan Ridge

Holds snow late into the year

The hike people underestimate because it starts flat — 9 exposed ridge miles

Ptarmigan Ridge trail crossing alpine slopes and late-summer snowfields toward Mount Baker
Photo: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0. Edited.
Map Artist Point, WA · Open in Google Maps
From our cabins 45 min from the A-frame · 1 hr from the Red Cabin
Hours Days shift seasonally up here — check before you drive. Last verified August 17, 2026.

Ptarmigan Ridge runs 9 miles round trip from Artist Point, with 1,800 feet of gain and a 6,100-foot high point. It’s the hike people underestimate because it starts flat. It doesn’t stay flat, and it’s exposed the whole way — there’s nowhere on this route to hide from weather, so pick your day honestly.

This is the big Artist Point outing for hikers who found Chain Lakes easy and want more mountain. The other thing to respect is snow: the trail holds it on talus late into the year, well after the road opens, so recent trip reports matter more here than almost anywhere else on our best hikes near Mt. Baker list. Check them before you commit the day.

Know before you go

  • Round trip: 9.0 miles
  • Elevation gain: 1,800 feet; high point 6,100 feet
  • Trailhead: Artist Point lot at the end of SR 542 — road open roughly mid-June through October
  • Northwest Forest Pass ($5 day / $30 annual) or America the Beautiful pass required
  • Exposed the entire way; holds snow on talus late into the year

Nearby & similar

Mount Shuksan reflected in Picture Lake at Heather Meadows in autumn color

Picture Lake

The Mt. Shuksan reflection shot — a 0.6-mile paved loop, genuinely stroller-friendly

 Alpine tarns and rocky knolls in the Bagley Lakes basin at Heather Meadows with Mount Baker beyond

Bagley Lakes

An easy two-mile basin walk below the ski area, and a back door onto the Chain Lakes Loop

 The North Fork Nooksack River flowing through evergreen forest beside the Horseshoe Bend trail corridor

Horseshoe Bend

Mossy river miles along the North Fork Nooksack — the low hike that works all year

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