Although an important pass, providing the easiest connection from the Cascade River to the head of Lake Chelan, it is now inside North Cascades National Park, and crossed by only a hiking trail.

From the west, one reaches it by hiking an easy 3.5 mile trail from the end of the Cascade River Road (elev.

It is also a key departure point for mountaineering; to the north, the gentle ridge of the Sahale arm leads up Sahale Mountain to the summit, as well as to the meadows of Boston Basin and the summits above.

The pass was originally a major route for Native Americans trading between the coast and the interior.

Among the first white men to explore and map the Skagit Pass was New York newspaperman Frank Wilkeson.