Rampart Ridge Loop

Kathy and I intended to hike the Rampart Ridge Loop during our first visit three years ago, but didn’t due to heavy rain on the last day of our trip. Given that the hike offers great views of Mt. Rainier, and the fact that it was already snow free, it was near the top of our list of hikes for our mid-June visit this year.

The loop hike begins across the street from the National Park Inn at Longmire. Once on the other side of the road you’ll gain access to the Trail of the Shadows, a short loop trail that visits an old homestead cabin. Even though the arrow points to the right, you’ll want to turn left to proceed directly towards the Rampart Ridge Trail. You’ll reach the Rampart Ridge Trail junction in less than two-tenths of a mile.

Just past the junction we passed the 25-foot stump of a large dead tree that had several saplings growing out of the top. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything like this before:

From the junction the trail climbs moderately through a beautiful old-growth forest. For me, this was one of the most pleasant hikes one could take just about anywhere. Although this might be a bit of hyperbole, it seems that the trail is so well manicured that you could practically ride a road bike on it.

Rampart Ridge, also known as "The Ramparts," is the remnant of an ancient lava flow that originated from the summit of Mt. Rainier.

At just under 2 miles hikers will reach a side trail that leads to an overlook of the Nisqually River Valley. Look for a sign that reads “Viewpoint 200 feet”.

Just beyond the viewpoint the trail reaches its highest point, and at roughly 2.25 miles, will make a sharp bend towards the left. Peer through the trees at this bend and you’ll notice a rock outcropping not far off the trail. Although there are a few trees around, this vantage point still offers some outstanding views of Mt. Rainier. This is probably the best place for an extended break on this hike.

Roughly 50 yards beyond the rock outcropping, as the trail begins to make a sharp descent, you’ll enjoy some unobstructed views of Mt. Rainier. This will be your most scenic view on the hike. A short distance from here the trail heads back into the forest.

At 3.1 miles hikers will reach the Wonderland Trail, an epic 93-mile trail that circumnavigates Mt. Rainier. To complete this loop you’ll have to take a right here. From the junction the Wonderland Trail begins to descend fairly rapidly towards the Nisqually River.

As you descend you’ll travel along a stretch of trail that passes through some ancient trees, many of which appear to be several hundred years old.

At roughly 4.9 miles you’ll cross over to the south side of the main park road, and shortly thereafter, will return to the parking area at Longmire.


Trail: Rampart Ridge Loop
RT Distance: 5.0 Miles
Elevation Gain: 1340 feet
Max Elevation: 4050 feet
TH Location: Longmire
Map: Mt. Rainier National Park Trails Illustrated Map

Day Hike! Mount Rainier uncovers the best trails for the day tripper, whether you’re a newbie hiker or a veteran with hundreds of miles on your boots. Northwest outdoors expert and Seattle Times's Trail Mix columnist Ron Judd reviews more than 50 of the best day hike trails in Mt. Rainier National Park, from Paradise and Sunrise to the lower foothills. The book describes classic routes - from easy to moderate to extreme - giving hikers the choices they want.

Carter Falls

After completing our hike to Comet Falls, perhaps the most impressive waterfall we’ve ever seen, we decided to do another waterfall hike later that afternoon. Our choice was Carter Falls and Madcap Falls, a hike that received a fairly high user rating on the Washington Trails Association website.

This short hike begins just below the Cougar Rock Campground. Hikers will follow the Wonderland Trail to reach both waterfalls. The 93-mile Wonderland Trail is an epic backpacking route that circumnavigates Mt. Rainier.

From the trailhead hikers will pass through glacial debris littered along the Nisqually River. Although it appears to be a short distance, it does take a little bit of time to walk through the maze of rocks and boulders. You’ll have to do a little bit of route finding at times, but it’s pretty straight forward. On clear days you’ll enjoy spectacular views of Mt. Rainier from the river basin.

After crossing the Nisqually you’ll notice that the Paradise River feeds into the Nisqually just downstream from the footbridge. Once on the other side the trail begins to follow along the north bank of the Paradise River to reach both waterfalls.

During the first six-tenths of a mile the trail travels over mostly flat terrain, but then begins to climb a moderate grade towards the falls. As the trail proceeds higher you’ll pass through an old-growth forest where some of the trees appear to be several hundred years old.

At just 1.25 miles you’ll reach Carter Falls. Unfortunately, due to the trees, you won’t have a clear view of the 53-foot high waterfall. The waterfall was named for Henry Carter, a guide who built the first trail to Paradise.

Roughly 100 yards upstream from Carter Falls is the 34-foot high Madcap Falls:

If you’ve already done most of the hikes in the park, and are looking for something new, this is certainly a decent hike to consider. However, if you’re relatively new to the park, there are many other hikes that offer far more scenic destinations than this one.


Trail: Wonderland Trail
RT Distance: 2.6 Miles
Elevation Gain: 500 feet
Max Elevation: 3700 feet
TH Location: Cougar Rock
Map: Mt. Rainier National Park Trails Illustrated Map

Day Hike! Mount Rainier uncovers the best trails for the day tripper, whether you’re a newbie hiker or a veteran with hundreds of miles on your boots. Northwest outdoors expert and Seattle Times's Trail Mix columnist Ron Judd reviews more than 50 of the best day hike trails in Mt. Rainier National Park, from Paradise and Sunrise to the lower foothills. The book describes classic routes - from easy to moderate to extreme - giving hikers the choices they want.

Burroughs Mountain at Sunrise

While hiking the Skyline Trail in Paradise earlier in the day we heard from a backcountry ranger that heavy rain was moving into the area later that night, and would continue into the next day. As a result we made some changes to our plans and decided to hike the Burroughs Mountain loop that afternoon, instead of the next morning. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Sunrise roughly two hours later, Mt. Rainier was already socked-in with heavy clouds from about 11,000 feet and above.

No worries, though. The Burroughs Mountain loop still offers big expansive views in all directions throughout almost the entire route.

The hike begins near the Sunrise Visitor Center. It starts off with a relatively steep climb, but you’ll have an awesome view of Mt. Rainier off to your left, if the weather permits.

After ascending two short connector trails you’ll arrive at the Sourdough Ridge Trail junction. Turn left here and travel west for about a mile to Frozen Lake. Once the trail ascends Sourdough Ridge it flattens out for a fairly long stretch before reaching the lake. Burroughs Mountain will be the dominating feature just off to your left.

You may expect Frozen Lake to be a pretty scenic place to stop, but really it’s not. In fact it was kind of a disappointment. The lake is used as the water supply for the Sunrise Visitor Center, and is completely fenced-in.

After passing Frozen Lake you’ll reach a five-way trail junction. The Wonderland Trail crosses over on an east-west trajectory, while the Mt. Freemont Lookout Trail spurs off towards the north. The Burroughs Mountain Trail heads southwest, and almost immediately begins a fairly steep climb up the northeastern slopes of Burroughs Mountain.

At the top of the climb you’ll reach what is known as First Burroughs Mountain. The name is the result of there being three “summits” on the mountain. On this alpine tundra plateau, at roughly 7160 feet in elevation, you’ll have outstanding views of Emmons Glacier and Little Tahoma Peak. Also at the top is the Sunrise Rim Trail junction, a trail you’ll use to continue your loop hike on your return trip.

From First Burroughs Mountain the trail descends roughly 70 feet before it begins climbing back up to Second Burroughs. As we crossed the gap between the two summits a light fog drifted over us.

At roughly 2.9 miles hikers will reach the summit of Second Burroughs Mountain. The peak is marked by the Meany Memorial Seat, an interesting stone bench that was erected as a memorial to Edmond S. Meany, a long-time president of the Mountaineers. From this perch at 7402 feet you’ll have commanding views of 14,410-foot Mt. Rainier and the Emmons Glacier towards the south. To the west is Third Burroughs Mountain. You can continue hiking on an unmarked trail for another 1.5 miles to reach the highest point on the mountain, but you’ll have to descend roughly 400 feet first before climbing to the top of the 7828-foot summit. Based on what I’ve heard, however, it sounds like the effort is well worth it. The views of the Winthrop Glacier just beyond mountain are supposed to be spectacular.

Although we didn’t see any this day, mountain goats are frequently seen in this area of the park.

Mount Rainier has the distinction of being the most glaciated peak in the lower 48. With more than 35 square miles of glaciers radiating from its summit, almost 10% of the park is covered in ice. The mountain has 25 named glaciers and several dozen smaller unnamed glaciers and snowfields. Covering a total of 4.3 square miles, Emmons Glacier is the largest glacier on the mountain, while Winthrop Glacier ranks as the second largest. Rainier’s glaciers also spawn six major rivers, including the Carbon, Puyallup, Mowich, Nisqually, Cowlitz and White rivers.

From the summit of Second Burroughs Mountain the loop hike continues by turning around and returning to First Burroughs Mountain. While on the saddle between the two summits you may be able to spot the Mt. Freemont Lookout fire tower if you look towards the north. Once back at the Sunrise Rim Trail junction hikers should head east towards Shadow Lake to resume the loop hike and return back to the visitor center. As you head down the trail the views of Mt. Rainier are quite impressive. You’ll have a grand view of the west face of the peak, as well as Emmons Glacier.

As the trail descends you'll notice a beautiful emerald-colored lake in the valley below. This vantage point also provides a birds-eye view of the Inter Fork spilling off Inter Glacier and into the valley below, before eventually flowing into the White River.

As you continue downhill the trail hugs the southern slopes of Burroughs Mountain. Take note of the rock walls alongside the path throughout this section. The crews who built this did an excellent job of carving out the trail and building rock walls that retain the hillside from sliding over the pathway. We saw a couple examples of this workmanship throughout our hike.

At just over 4.5 miles you’ll reach the Emmons Glacier Overlook. Here you'll have an impressive view of Goat Island Mountain, and the White River valley more than two thousand feet below.

At 4.8 miles hikers will reach the Wonderland Trail. You’re also likely to notice the Sunrise Camp shelter, which was built for backpackers section-hiking or thru-hiking the entire 93-mile Wonderland Trail. Hikers should turn right here to continue on towards Sunrise. Just past the Wonderland Trail junction is another fork in the trail. The short side trail on the left leads to Shadow Lake, while the right fork continues on towards Sunrise.

Roughly a half-mile outside of Sunrise the clouds that were hanging over Rainier finally lifted and we were able to get one last full view of the mountain before leaving the park.

After completing the 6.2-mile loop the hike ends at the Sunrise parking area. Although the weather wasn't optimal that afternoon, I would still rate this as an outstanding hike.


Trail: Burroughs Mountain
RT Distance: 6.2 Miles
Elevation Gain: 1425 feet
Max Elevation: 7402 feet
TH Location: Sunrise
Map: Mt. Rainier National Park Trails Illustrated Map

Day Hike! Mount Rainier uncovers the best trails for the day tripper, whether you’re a newbie hiker or a veteran with hundreds of miles on your boots. Northwest outdoors expert and Seattle Times's Trail Mix columnist Ron Judd reviews more than 50 of the best day hike trails in Mt. Rainier National Park, from Paradise and Sunrise to the lower foothills. The book describes classic routes - from easy to moderate to extreme - giving hikers the choices they want.