Mount Baker, WA simplified hazards map (usgs.gov)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 Mount Baker Highway was constructed by Whatcom County in 1893 as a wagon road traveling northeast from Bellingham along the Nooksack River through Deming and Kendall to Maple Falls. Washington State Route 542 (Wikipedia) State Route 542 (SR 542) is a 57.24-mile-long (92.12 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving Mount Baker in Whatcom County. SR 542 travels east as the Mount Baker Highway from an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Bellingham through the Nooksack River valley to the Mt. Baker Ski Area at Austin Pass. It serves as the main highway to Mount Baker and the communities of Deming, Kendall, and Maple Falls along the Nooksack River. The highway was constructed in 1893 by Whatcom County as a wagon road between Bellingham and Maple Falls and was added to the state highway system as a branch of State Road 1 in 1925. The branch was transferred to Primary State Highway 1 (PSH 1) during its creation in 1937 and became SR 542 during the 1964 highway renumbering.