The Cascade Range

The Cascade Range runs about 700 miles from northern California through Oregon and Washington into Canada, forming the great wall that divides the wet Pacific Northwest from the dry interior. Unlike most ranges, the Cascades are studded with volcanoes — a line of towering, snow-capped cones rising above the forested ridges, including Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Mount Shasta, and Mount St. Helens. They are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

These volcanoes are fed by the slow dive of an ocean plate beneath the continent, and several remain active — Mount St. Helens erupted catastrophically in 1980, and others smolder quietly. The range catches the full force of Pacific storms, drenching its western slopes in rain and snow and casting a deep rain shadow over the deserts to the east. Mount Rainier, at 14,411 feet, is the highest and most heavily glaciated peak in the chain.

• Crater Lake
  The deepest lake in the United States contains
• Mount Rainier
  A glacier-clad volcano looming over Seattle includes
• Mount St. Helens
  The volcano that erupted catastrophically in 1980 includes
• Washington
  The Evergreen State, the wet and dry sides of the Cascades runs through