Mount Baker Highway

Route description

SR 542 begins as Sunset Drive and the Mount Baker Highway at a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-5 to the northeast of downtown Bellingham. The highway travels northeast through suburban neighborhoods along Squalicum Creek and passes Squalicum High School as it leaves the city of Bellingham. SR 542 continues northeast through rural Whatcom County, crossing the Nooksack River and intersecting SR 9 at a roundabout. The concurrent SR 9 and SR 542 travel southeast through the community of Deming along a BNSF rail line and passes Mount Baker Senior High School. SR 542 leaves SR 9 east of Deming and turns north along the North Fork of the Nooksack River and the eastern slope of Sumas Mountain to Kendall, where it serves as the southern terminus of SR 547. The Mount Baker Highway turns east and continues along the Nooksack River North Fork into the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest at Glacier in the foothills of Mount Baker. SR 542 turns south and serves the Mt. Baker Ski Area on the northeast side of the mountain before splitting into a one-way pair around Picture Lake. The Mount Baker Highway continues through Austin Pass and ends at Artist Point, located at 5,210 feet (1,588.01 m) above sea level on Kulshan Ridge.