Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a mountainous region famous for its chain of tall volcanoes called the High Cascades that run north-south along the west coast of North America from British Columbia to the Shasta Cascade area of northern California. The small part of the range in British Columbia is called the Cascade Mountains.

Protected areas

There are four U.S. National Parks in the Cascade Range and many U.S. National Monuments, U.S. Wilderness Areas, and U.S. National Forests. Each classification protects the various glaciers, volcanoes, geothermal fields, rivers, lakes, forests, and wildlife to varying degrees.

Related Topics:
U.S. National Park - U.S. National Monument - U.S. Wilderness Area - U.S. National Forest - Glacier - Geothermal

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National parks

• Lassen Volcanic National Park was established in 1916 while its namesake peak was erupting. The park includes the most extensive and active thermal areas in the United States outside Yellowstone National Park.
• Crater Lake National Park preserves the remains of Mount Mazama, a large volcano that imploded thousands of years ago, forming a caldera that was later filled with Crater Lake.
• Mount Rainier National Park surrounds the Cascades' tallest volcano, Mount Rainier, which in turn is shrouded in the largest glacier system in the United States south of Alaska.
• North Cascades National Park was carved out of a primitive part of the range composed of ancient metamorphic and sedimentary rock. Mount Baker and Glacier Peak are nearby.

National monuments

• Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was formed following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in order to preserve the devastated area and give scientists a chance to study its recovery.