Festival 542

Washington State Route 542 and the Whatcom County Foothills is the home of FESTIVAL 542 - A Celebration of the Great Northwest's Recreation Corridor, produced by NorKa Recreation with numerous other partners, businesses, individuals and agencies.

Festival 542 and its legendary Mount Baker Hill Climb (RIDE 542 and RUN 542) annually bring thousands of healthy recreational and professional athletes to the great northwest to run, ride, be entertained...and enjoy the great outdoors and support some important organizations. Named after Washington State Route SR542, FESTIVAL 542 is an uphill ride and run with dozens of categories and rewards for every rider and runner...from themed tandems with kid trailers all the way up to current pros on feather-light bikes and day-glo spandex.

Festival 542 is a weekend long festival begins on Saturday, September 10th with CROSS 542 and RUN 542. Festival 542 is anchored by RIDE 542-The Mount Baker Hill Climb -happening on Sunday, September 11th. Ride 542 is a 24.5 mile, 4300 ft. paved road cycling climb along the beautiful State Route 542. RUN 542 is quickly becoming a legendary course, traversing 8.4 miles of incredible terrain and climbing over 3500 feet through the forests and alpine beauty of the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. FESTIVAL 542 is ambitiously expanding every year to include runs, cyclocross, family events, arts, and food.

Download Festival 542 Program Pdf

CROSS 542

Saturday, 9/10 at 9am, Cyclocross Race

This super cool cross course literally wraps around and through the Black Mountain Forestry museum at Silver Lake Park. You’ll ride by, and over, many of the tools of forestry past. CROSS 542 is produced in partnership with Cyclocrazed and we've established a great course at Silver Lake Park. This early season test will be fun, designed for all abilities and we encourage first time CROSS racers to give it a try. Pre-register on-line or mail-in. Day-of registration available on-site.

Register for the Run/Walk early. Limited Field Sizes.

This amazing 8.5 mile course rises and falls for a total of 3,500 feet of climbing. It follows Mt. Baker Ski Area access roads, some of your favorite ski runs, USFS trails and many random trails. The course contains very technical sections with loose shale, steep terrain, lung busting accents, knee pounding descents and amazing views.. The course goes from White Salmon Lodge (elevation 3500ft) to Artist Point (elevation 5140feet) over 6 separate ascents/descents. Recreational runners/walkers leave at 1pm, competitive runners depart at 2pm. You’ll see a side of the Mt. Baker Ski Area you’ve never seen before!!! This is a very challenging and rewarding course. Registration fee includes: socks, supported run, free EAT 542 meal in Glacier on Saturday at 5pm, participant medals, competitive cash purse and other goodies. This run is destined to be a classic!

Join us in Glacier for a chill evening of good tunes (band TBD) & food. RUN542 awards at 6pm. Join us for a warm ‘hello’ from the town of Glacier and the Foothills region. Stop by, pick up your numbers for tomorrows RIDE 542.

24.5, 50 or 100 mile options - Recreational or Competitive

The RIDE 542 course starts at MP33 and terminates at Artist Point, 24.5 miles and 4300 feet later. The Mt. Baker Highway, a.k.a State Route 542, is closed for this event. SR542 is a designated Scenic Route and one of the most amazing roads in the world. From Glacier, it winds up and along the Nooksack River, through giant old growth cedar groves dripping with vibrant moss, passes under calving glaciers and countless stunning peaks, past the famous Mt. Baker Ski Area to finish at the awe-inspiring Artist Point. 4,300+ ft. of climbing mark the course, with gradual grades dominating until the last 2.5 mi. when the road turns skyward. 23 miles are through undeveloped wilderness area managed by the USDA Forest Service and Washington Department of Transportation. Artist Point is the western most access to the North Cascades National Park and the view is truly awesome. RIDE 542 is a clean sponsor event and thus will post no sponsor signage beyond the start and finish areas; so it’s just you, the open road…and a few other cyclists.

RIDE 542 - MUST PRE-REGISTER. NO DAY-OF. STRICT FIELD LIMITS.

RIDE 542 follows the Mt. Baker Highway (SR542) from the town of Glacier (e. 955ft) 24.5 miles to its terminus at Artist Point (e. 5140 ft), on the border of North Cascades National Park. This is a state highway and will be closed for the ride!!! RIDE 542 has several categories to fit your ability and desire for competitiveness…or lack thereof.