Sumas Mountain is a mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 located in Whatcom County, Washington, 15 miles northeast of Bellingham

Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

 and southwest of Vedder Mountain

Vedder Mountain

Vedder Mountain is a mountain located in the Fraser Valley between the village of Yarrow and the village of Cultus Lake. It stands 924 m high and is tree covered to its summit with some open areas. A hiking trail crosses the mountain. Old logging roads are also present....

. Located in the Skagit Range

Skagit Range

The Skagit Range is a subrange of the Cascade Range in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington, United States, which are known in Canada as the Canadian Cascades or, officially, the Cascade Mountains...

 the mountain is notable for its high biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

 and year-round hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 trails. It is sometimes referred to as American Sumas to distinguish it from an identically named mountain

Sumas Mountain (British Columbia)

Sumas Mountain, aka referred to as Canadian Sumas to distinguish it from an identically-named mountain just south in Washington state, is a relatively large mountain rising from the floodplain of the Fraser River in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada...

 just to the north in British Columbia. It is largely owned by the Washington Department of Natural Resources

Washington Department of Natural Resources

The Washington Department of Natural Resources manage over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands for the people of Washington State. DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands under Puget Sound and the coast, and navigable lakes and rivers...

, but some parcels are privately held. While the public land is open for recreation, it is managed primarily for timber harvest. Clearcuts

Clearcutting

Clearcutting, or clearfelling, is a controversial forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Clearcutting, along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that...

 mar many slopes and most all the remaining forest is in varying stages of recovery and regrowth.

Washington State Route 547

Washington State Route 547

State Route 547 is a Washington state highway located in Whatcom County, south of the Canadian border. The long route runs northwest from in Kendall to in Sumas. The highway was originally created in 1984, but a road extending from Kendall to Sumas has been on maps since 1966 along the...

, which traverses a low pass on the mountain's northern flank, runs northwest from the Mount Baker Highway, (SR 542) in Kendall

Kendall, Washington

Kendall is a census-designated place in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The population was 191 at the 2010 census.-History:Kendall was founded in 1887 by F.B. Hardmen...

 to SR 9 in Sumas, which is located on the Canadian border and south of Abbotsford

Abbotsford, British Columbia

Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...

 once traversed the same pass.

The controversial Swift Creek Landslide

Swift Creek Landslide

The Swift Creek Landslide is an active, slow moving landslide located in western Washington, USA, due east of Everson on Sumas Mountain. Asbestos laden sediment originating from the landslide has recently generated much interest in this area...

is located on the mountain's western slope.