| Big Four Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Big Four Mountain with South Fork Stillaguamish River | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 6,160+ feet (1,880+ m)[1] |
| Prominence | 1,080 ft (330 m)[1] |
| Parent peak | Vesper Peak (6,214 ft)[2] |
| Isolation | 2.1 mi (3.4 km)[2] |
| Coordinates | 48°02′35″N 121°31′26″W / 48.0431619°N 121.524004°W[3] |
| Geography | |
  Big Four Mountain Location in Washington  Big Four Mountain Big Four Mountain (the United States) | |
| Location | Snohomish County, Washington, U.S. |
| Parent range | Cascade Range |
| Topo map | USGS Silverton |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | pre-Tertiary |
| Rock type | Metasedimentary rock[4] |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 1931 |
| Easiest route | class 3 scrambling East Face[4] |
Big Four is a 6,160+ feet (1,880+ m) mountain summit in the Cascade Range, located about 20 miles (32 km) east of Granite Falls, Washington. It is situated 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Barlow Pass along the Mountain Loop Highway, near the Monte Cristo area, on land administered by the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Debris piles on the mountain's northern flank form as a result of avalanche activity. These fields of disturbed snow are able to remain year round in the shadow of the mountain. During the summer months snow-melt streams flow beneath the debris piles and cause caves to form in the ice. The Big Four Ice Caves vary in size from season to season and are unpredictably dangerous. The mountain is open to the public and a large snowfield can be reached by a short trail, but the snowfield itself is off-limits due to cave-ins and slides which have killed hikers in incidents in 1998, 2010, and 2015.[5][6]
- ^ a b "Big Four Mountain, Washington". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ^ a b "Big Four Mountain - 6,180' WA". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Big Four Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Beckey, Fred W 2008was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Girl killed by falling ice at Big Four Ice Caves identified". The Seattle Times. August 2, 2010. Archived from the original on August 5, 2010.
- ^ Walters, Shamar; Johnson, Alex (July 7, 2015). "One Killed, Four Injured as Washington State Ice Caves Collapse Again". NBC News.