Alpine Lakes Wilderness is a vast protected mountain landscape in Washington’s central Cascades, extending between Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass and encompassing parts of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests. First given limited protection in 1946, it remained open to uses such as mining, logging, and road building until conservation groups pressed for stronger safeguards in the 1950s and 1960s. Congress established modern protections in 1976, and the wilderness was expanded in 2014. Known for its more than 700 mountain lakes, glacially carved valleys, rugged peaks, river headwaters, and wildlife habitat, it is also one of Washington’s most heavily used backcountry areas.