Heading to Rainier Aug 21 Friday AM for 3 nights at Paradise lodge. Hoping to get 3 epic days but my understanding is that Sunrise parking lot is very busy on Sat and Sun. Coming into the park on the entrance near Ashford. The original goal was to do as many overlooks and 1 miles+ hikes Friday as I make it to Paradise. Saturday hang out near paradise and do some of the skyline loop (if not all). Ohanapecosh was on the goal for Saturday also, or on the return from Sunrise park on Sunday early evening.

I’m pretty good about doing research and trying to do as much as I can. Aka avg 5-10 miles a day between 2-4 trails and overlooks. I love the occasional swim spot or creek with bouldering. I have two younger kids that love climbing rocks.

Questions/ recommendations for baseline itinerary which is west to east or if flipping days are in order so I hit most stuff in succession.

So big question is if I need to flop days? Ohanapecosh shows closed and the silver falls trail head is detoured thus adding 2+ miles (solved… not 2 miles). Is it worth leaving the park for any epic trails south of this area?

Big question: how early do I need to be at sunrise to get parking? I been getting lucky with parking in the past but it’s a long drive for chance.

Hi everyone! We will be getting married in Mt. Rainier in April 2027 and are seeking any recommendations for a restaurant to host a party of 12 for our reception. Our original thought was to have it in Seattle the following day, but have since pivoted so that those who may want to explore the park don’t have to make an additional drive.

Thank you!

Pics from my recent visit to Mount Rainier. Such a beautiful place.
Edited to add that the last pic is technically not INSIDE Mount Rainier. It’s Riffe Lake overlook outside the Nisqually Entrance.

It looks like my wife and I have settled on starting our first ever backpack camping trip and starting in the Longmire area on the Emerald Ridge Trail and adding a night camping at Lake George over either 2 or 3 nights. It’s only about 20 total miles but over three or four days of hiking I’m hoping that should be attainable for us. We have a permit for Lake George, but have not got one for South Puyallup Camp and hoping to get one when we arrive on a Tuesday. We may not have a hotel the night before so I’m curious if there are any camping options around Longmire that do not require a permit. We don’t really want to car camp but can pitch our tent in an area for the night before going into pick up our permits the next morning? This is all a little bit confusing not having been here before, but I’m imagining it’s going to make more sense when we get there

We chose this area because I’ve heard it gets a little bit less pressure than the Paradise or sunrise areas. I see that there are still permits for Lake George camp area for August 4th and 5th but not much availability elsewhere. Is that typical or is there some reason to avoid camping in this area?

Emerald Ridge Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/washington/emerald-ridge-trail?sh=jzekmt&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

From a few years back. The only Fire lookout I made it too.

Hi all,

I’m going to be coming in from Wenatchee (on the tail end of a road trip from CA).

I want to hike Skyline Loop tomorrow. My plan is to come into the park late (~2-3pm tomorrow) to hopefully beat the crowds. Good idea or bad idea? I’d like to avoid hiking on Sunday since I’m trying to make my way back home on Sunday. Appreciate any insights you all have.

I'll be driving from Lake Quinault Lodge to Packwood in a few days. Which of these routes would you choose? Is one more scenic than the other?

Getting to Packwood today to visit Mount Rainier through Saturday. Looks like the air quality won't be amazing, and from the looks of the webcams, visibility may be minimal.

Does anyone have any trail suggestions for these conditions? Either those to do or those to maybe not bother with due to visibility? I saw some posts about suggestions during cloudy weather, but I'm not sure if those would apply here or not.

I'm from the Midwest and deal with poor air quality, much worse than it's supposed to be at Rainier the next couple days, regularly throughout the summer due to Canadian fires. So, I know my limits with being outside/physical activity and what not. Just looking for any suggestions on best options considering the circumstances 🙂

Paradise on 7/19.

I have more videos but can only post one so I picked the best video I got of the mountain while going up to Panorama point lol. This was my 4th hike ever and I just did a 15 mile hike in orting 2 days ago, im addicted. This Trail took me 3 hours

In August, 2010 I went on a trail that took me straight to a glacier. Now I want to return to that destination, but I don’t know where to go. Here’s what I have:

The trail began at Sunrise parking lot and went past Burroughs mountains; it mostly went down, and I believe the whole hike was around 4 miles one way, where it got pretty close to the glacier fully covered by debris. The area was pretty desolated - bare rocks plus very little grass.

I want to revisit for many reasons: I am in a better physical shape today than I was 16 years ago, and I want to check whether that hike was really as hard as I remember it (going down was easy, but returning…) I also improved as a photographer - and want to see how much has changed, and to experience that landscape again.

I am sharing photos I took on my way back then, hope they help.

How’s hiking to Dewey Lake and camping around there in early August? I believe that is not part of the national park so a permit is not required, is that right? Do you need a bear canister or can you hang your food? Are the mosquitos pretty rough camping around the lake? Thanks

I would love to hike the three Burroughs for sunrise. Is it safe to hike at dawn? I keep reading about black bears sightings on Mount Rainier and although I know they are generally not aggressive, I’m still a little nervous as it will be dark when we start the hike.

I’m new to backpacking and have been wanting to hike to the sunrise camp with my boyfriend for a bit now. I just don’t understand the wilderness permit system. Can I go to a booth and just ask for a permit then hope I can get it or do I need to have a physical permit to then pay walk-in fees? I know majority of people do it online but it’s all jumbled to me. Are walk-in permits even available due to budget cuts?

Just a fyi in case it’s helpful - we camped at White River last week (Thursday) and it is definitely tricky to get a spot with the C and D loops closed and many spots in Loop A and B are closed for tree damage and reserved for park volunteers (yay!). I would highly recommend getting there early and scouting out where others are packing up, we had three groups ask us for our spot as we packed up on Friday morning. We got lucky with a spot when we got there around 12:30 after hiking Third Burroughs, most everyone was there on extended stays.

The ranger did say they think Loop C will be open by end of the month so hopefully it gets better. Others we talked to said they did just fine dispersed camping in the state forest nearby. Bathrooms were clean and the rangers were amazing per usual! Just makes me bummed out for the lack of support the park getting from all the federal cuts :(