Mt. Rainier National Park was part of a larger trip/tour of Washington’s lovely national parks for us, which also included Olympic National Park and North Cascades. We are going to break this one up, so as to give you a feel for what three nights staying just outside the gates of Mt. Rainier can offer.
Snowcapped Mt. Rainier is the highest point in the Cascade Mountain Range and an active volcano, soaring to over 14,400 feet. The park itself is very large and will require a fair amount of driving, particularly if you are wanting to traverse the sprawling preserve in its entirety. As we had three nights and wanted to spend our time on the trails as opposed to the road, we decided to focus our sightseeing and hiking on the southern portion of the park. We made the Nisqually Lodge in Ashford, WA our convenient homebase around seven miles from the Nisqually Entrance to the park….easy enough to remember, right? Nisqually Lodge will allow you to store your luggage on sight before check-in, so that’s a nice perk. Additionally they offer guest laundry for a very nominal fee-$1 for a load of laundry and $1 to dry your clothes…can’t beat that (we took full advantage), ample parking and a comfortable place to retire after a long day on the trails.
Day 1:
We arrived in town around 11am and as we could not check in yet, dove right into the monstrous park. If you are seeing two or more parks, it makes sense to buy an annual national parks pass for $80 – good for one calendar year, which will grant you access to ALL national parks and, in the rare instance of trailhead fees, will cover your parking through a hanging mirror placard (came in handy at North Cascades later on). Alternatively, you can pay $30 for a single vehicle pass, good for seven consecutive days at Mt. Rainier alone.
Full speed ahead through the Nisqually Entrance! This was a Tuesday and the park was pretty quiet. We took the opportunity to hit the open road and find some nice overlooks and views. Our first stop was Inspiration Point, with a large pullout offering a great view of Mt. Rainier. We took the time to have a quick picnic lunch before getting back on the winding roads. It’s a convenient place to loop back around through the town of Paradise, which hosts a visitor’s center (Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center) and access to a number of trailheads. As it neared closer to check-in time, we cobbled together an impromptu itinerary of small hikes to check off before heading back to the hotel. The giant map you get at the ranger’s station will make more and more sense as you start to put some miles on around the park.
Our first hike, the Trail of Shadows, departed across the road from the Longmire Museum and Wilderness Information Center – another well-marked stop with accomodations and ample parking along the main drag of Paradise Road. This is a very easy 0.75 mile loop trail just across the road from the National Park Inn. It was a great little opportunity to get moving and start to appreciate some of the natural surroundings we’d encounter over the next few days. You’ll learn a bit about how glaciers shaped a great deal of this park. It’s also a jumping off point for a few of the larger hikes in this area, we would actually use it to hit our trailhead for Rampart Ridge in two days’ time. After we completed the loop, we hopped back in the car and continued heading back towards our hotel in Ashford.
We stopped by the compact Twin Firs Loop Trail offering nice soft ground and a peaceful hike. Peaceful until we stumbled upon two park employees hacking up some fallen tree trunks on the trail with chainsaws that is. It’s interesting to appreciate all of the work that needs to be done to maintain these trails, I think many assume they just stay nice and primped on their own. The trailhead is located on a little pullout just off the road, if you blink you’ll miss it. It’s nice to break up some of the more intense hikes with little, auto pilot hikes like these. This was our most “sedentary” day and we were happy to have at least one! With a bit of comfort established within the park, we headed back towards the hotel to check in, do laundry and have dinner.
There are a few general stores located along National Park Highway (State Route 706) to stock up on some necessities, albeit at an inflated price. Plan your gas fill ups accordingly (you can fill up in Ashford) as you’ll probably be doing more driving and be farther away from a gas station than you think after exploring the park. There are also a number of restaurants located along the highway. We got takeout from Wildberry Restaurant and were reasonably pleased with their offerings as we ate there two nights in a row. I have to mention that the owner is a Nepalese Sherpa who has summited Mount Everest over ten times…no big deal! Well, not just ascended, but held the speed record for a period of time. You can read about this iron man here, quite an interesting journey! If you go inside, you can see some of the equipment he wore to the top on display and do try the chicken thali, Sarah raves about it.
Day 2:
When entering the park, ask for some hiking/trail maps. Here’s the printout for Paradise Area Trails we received from park rangers. They are simple single sheets of paper, but offer a nice summary of a few major trails, including estimated hiking time and skill level. On the back you’ll find a simplified map, which never hurts to have as you venture down the oftentimes ambiguous signage on many national park trails (Mt. Rainier NP was pretty good with signage compared to others we’ve come across). I recommend supplementing this with the AllTrails app (pro edition if you want to pay the extra $15/year-really it’s a steal for the added security it provides). This was our first trip fully utilizing AllTrails Pro, which allowed us to download the map ahead of time and have GPS guidance even as we were in “no service” areas. You’ll go about as confidently as you ever have onto a trail and can measure your mile time and distance and plan for upcoming switchbacks, trail deviations and challenges. After a few (mis)adventures in our early hiking days years back, I can’t tell you how much this has improved our enjoyment and peace of mind as we tackle longer trails with less than clear signage!
Alright, back to the grind! Today we would be focusing on the Paradise Area Trails. First up, Bench and Snow Lakes (info here). This was an outstanding way to start the day as it was crisp and calm and just the right temperature and challenge to get our legs going.
The pay off at the end to get up close to the lakes was fantastic and winds you through meadows full of wildflowers. A few tips: apply bug spray and sunscreen, bring layers-comfortable hiking wear takes some trial and error, especially when there’s still snow on the ground in July, but the temperature says 75-80F with low humidity, and (optional) don’t be afraid to get a goofy boonie hat like me to really look the part!
After completing this two and half mile hike, we were only a short trip down the road from our second hike, The Lakes Trail Loop, via Reflection Lake.
Reflection Lake is on a large pullout and is a nice place to sit and gaze. The parking lot does fill up as the day goes on, so it’s ideal to start this hike by late morning if possible. We were in Mt. Rainier NP during midweek and had the luxury of moving at our own pace, but I’ve gathered that you need to be really early if you want to hike the popular trails in any amount of peace on the weekends, much less find parking! This goes for pretty much any national park, but you’ll probably be so tired after the day that you’ll (unintentionally) do the whole early to bed early to rise thing.
Okay, on to this lovely hike! Refer to the Paradise Area Trails printout for this one as the Lake Trails Loop seems to go by a few different names depending on where you look. It overlaps with other loop trails and can become a slight bit confusing as there are so many places you could begin. You might also see parts of it referred to as the Skyline Trail, which it does intersect on occasion and, if you’re looking at google maps, it is labeled as the “Mazama Ridge Trail” through a large part of it. This is one of those times when AllTrails Pro is your best friend! The hiking sheet is spot on in suggesting that you start and park at Reflection Lakes (especially if you’re coming from Bench and Snow Lakes), hike up to Paradise (you’ll be able to stop at the visitor’s center to use restrooms and take a break about halfway through as you go right by it), then return on a decline back to your car on the last leg. I think this route maximizes efficiency and enjoyment.
We faced A LOT of snow on this trail, sometimes having little more than dirty footprints in the white stuff to follow (insert plug for AllTrails again….disclaimer: I am not paid by them, just in love with their product!) as the thawing process is still in the works. This made for some amusing moments and provided a bit of respite on our knees, but challenged our balance a bit. The trail was a lot of fun and conjured up memories of playing king of the hill as a fourth grader on an Ohio snowdrift.
You’ll be able to snap some excellent photos of Reflection Lake at the end and will capture endless intriguing scenery throughout. Job done and feeling good about ourselves, we had one more hike in us! After another quick car picnic, we headed back towards the entrance to roll along the Kautz Creek Trail.
This trail is considered a Longmire/Cougar Rock Area Trail, which your ranger will have given you a copy of at the gate. You can find that sheet here. Tomorrow, we would really focus on the Longmire Area trails, but we’d do a quick runout at Kautz Creek for a decent cooldown. This trail was calm and tree lined, allowing for speed walking over mostly soft, flat ground (if you’re so inclined). It was roughly two miles out and back, pretty unremarkable really. If we had more time, we’d have considered pushing on to one of the more strenuous hikes it merges with, but being our third hike of the day and nearing dinner, we were satisfied with our step count from our efforts.
Hiking is the ideal exercise to allow yourself the wiggle room to overindulge a bit on meals (note: I’m not a dietician). That’s a big pro in my book! We made sure to stretch plenty and hydrate as in our advancing age, an injury on the trail was not welcome. However, our legs were feeling pretty good so far and we were ready to keep clipping along the next day for a few more noteworthy hikes. Give yourself a pat on the back for your accomplishments!
Day 3:
Today we’d head back to the Longmire/Cougar Rock Area Trails. We kept our plans fluid and revised our desired hikes the night before and I believe it was a good modification. Initially we were going to do the Carter Falls/Madcap Falls out and back hike, but switched our focus to the Comet Falls/Van Trump Trail. We did this, in part, based on some recent AllTrails reviews and pictures that caught our attention. Per the printout, it’s listed as “strenuous,” but fortunately the strenuous portion seems to begin after you’ve completed your leg of the journey (heading towards Mildred Point and the Van Trump Trail-note you will stop short of these if following this itinerary). The hike out and back runs you roughly four miles. It’s a steady climb in most places, pretty rocky with plenty of footholds and roots and ends at the absolutely raging Comet Falls-it’s a pretty emphatic finale.You can also incorporate Christine Falls into this hike, just a short walk away from the parking area.
We loved this hike! We could not find a great deal of info on just the stretch that we wanted to do, so went in a bit tentative (at least I did anyway). You’ll definitely know when to turn back, as Comet Falls is unmistakable. Get within 50 feet of it and you’ll be peppered with water splashing off the rocky river bed. Just down the river, nearly everything surrounding the waterway was covered in (slowly thawing) snow. We read that many people were walking on and across this stretch to get closer to the falls and view from a different angle. Don’t do that! While still pretty thick, the snow is rapidly thawing and is far from a safe place to stand. Instead, stay on the wet, slippery rocks near the falls haha.
Comet Falls
You can get really close to them, just be mindful of your footing. We took some video at the bottom and backed right up the moment we were getting pelted with water. Note: we’re safe hikers and pretty risk averse so the prospect of falling through snow or breaking our necks on rocks lacks appeal to us! I had one close call slip/fall to the ground (luckily caught myself no worse for wear) on loose dirt early on at Olympic National Park and it reminded me not to die before the trip was over.
Comet Falls
Now, we would wind our way back towards the entrance a bit and head for the Rampart Ridge Trail. Rampart Ridge is a 4.6 mile loop that branches off from the Trail of Shadows just across the street from the Longmire Museum and large parking lot. There are bathrooms conveniently located here and parking was never an issue. It’s hard to pass up a loop trail, they are just so convenient and hard to find. Rampart Ridge offered a healthy challenge as it starts with about a mile of switchbacks as you ascend to the ridge. I consider it a good conditioning hike and was glad to be doing it after days of acclimating and building strength. It offered plenty of leg burning terrain to trod over, but was short on views. Most of what you can see, even at lookout areas, is very obstructed by tall trees. I was a bit disappointed with this hike, in truth, but I would list it as a nice hike to push yourself and go for a speed run if you’re competitive. I truly regret no hikes as it’s a passion of ours and we learn something about our abilities with each new venture out. We did it in just under two and a half hours, beating the estimated time provided by the printout. Pretty decent right? (pats self on back)
The days go by fast when you’re on a tight itinerary and trying to conserve just enough energy for a few hefty drives and yet to be attempted hikes. We wrapped up our day around dinnertime and picked up a seemingly too large pizza. By this time in the trip, we were very efficient and utilizing our leftovers well and would eat cold pizza out of a plastic sandwich bag for lunch the next day….we used to be college kids way back when. Tonight would be our last night in Ashford, just outside of sprawling Mount Rainier National Park. The park is ruggedly beautiful and has so much to offer. It is far more seasonal than we anticipated with snow still blanketing many heavily traveled trails. This turned out to be a good time to visit in order to have greater hiking options and safer passage through many areas. One could spend a week here fully exploring the entirety of the park, dabbling in more hikes, overlooks and hidden gems. We were pleased to have had three nights here and settle in for a bit. Tomorrow, we were off to North Cascades National Park and were taking the wonderful new memories with us.
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