In 1890, Stevens conducted a thorough survey for the Great Northern, located the pass, and determined it to be the best suited for a railway crossing of the North Cascades.

He wrote that there was no indication that the pass was used — there was no sign of any trails, blazes, campsites, or old campfires, for at least ten miles (16 km) in either direction and that the area was thickly forested and covered with almost impenetrable brush.

[5] Over a century later, an avalanche occurred on February 19, 2012 near Tunnel Creek Canyon Road, killing three of four experienced backcountry skiers, including the Stevens Pass Ski Area's marketing director.

[6] Stevens Pass experiences a maritime-influenced alpine subarctic climate (Köppen Dsc), with short, mild, dry summers and extremely heavy winter snowfall.

The following chart includes climate data for the Stevens Pass (SNOTEL) weather station from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2020.