4 Easy Hikes in Mount Rainier National Park
Our family enjoyed a drive through Mount Rainier National Park on our way to Seattle. We made it a point to explore some of the simple hikes for our family on our way through. We had a wonderful time driving up the scenic mountain road, hiking among wildflowers and over snow fields, and an uphill hike in the fog to see a magnificent waterfall.
Regardless of whether you’re passing through or taking a day trip to Mount Rainier National Park, here are four epic trails that will give you a taste of what this beautiful national park has to offer.
Overview of Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park is about 370-square miles with more than 50 dedicated trails. There are five entrance stations and four quadrants:
- Southeast Area (Ohanapecosh)
- Southwest Area (Longmire and Paradise)
- Northeast Area (Sunrise)
- Northwest Area (Carbon and Mowich)
Our trip took us along the southern road of the park. As a result, our hikes are in the Ohanapecosh and Paradise Areas. But keep in mind that there are more than 260 miles of hiking trails in the park. We took the easy hikes, not because they were easy, but because we were only passing through and had limited time. We would love to return and spend time camping and hiking more of the trails. But that’s for another time.
TRAVEL TIP: Visit Mount Rainier National Park in July-Sept to avoid hiking in too much snow.
Stevens Canyon Road, which is the road traveling through the south end of the park, is closed in the winter. I understand why, because even our visit in July had us hiking across snow fields.
Grove of the Patriarchs
There are two reasons I wanted to hike to the Grove of the Patriarchs. First, the trees at the end are huge. Not Redwood Forest huge, but still pretty big. The other is that there’s a suspension bridge you get to cross over the Ohanapecosh River. Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a trail fun. 😉
The 1.3 mile, round trip trail has very little elevation gain. From the parking lot, walk past the restrooms and follow the trail alongside the river. When you get to the suspension bridge, traffic may back up. Only one person is recommended on the bridge at a time, so you need to wait your turn as you alternate between hikers going to and coming from the Grove. It slowed us down as we waited in line for about 10-15 minutes each way.
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Once you cross the bridge, the Grove is pretty close. The dirt trail becomes a boardwalk. There are trees growing on trees, and massive trunks towering into the sky. Some of the trees at 300 feet tall and more than 1,000 years old. Learn more about the ecosystem by reading the small signs along the Grove’s path.
Once you return to the parking area, don’t drive away just yet. There’s another hike that starts from here – Silver Falls Loop.
DISTANCE: 1.3 miles round trip
ELEVATION GAIN: 100 feet
CATEGORY: Easy
Silver Falls Loop
Directly across the road from the Grove of the Patriarchs Trailhead is a trail to Silver Falls. This route is 1 mile roundtrip, so it’s pretty easy. However, the elevation change of 300′ is probably what makes it a moderate difficulty. The trail crosses two small creeks on the way to the waterfall. There are small bridges in place, so you shouldn’t have to worry about getting your feet wet.
The trail runs parallel to the Ohanapecosh River. At one point, there’s a small offshoot that takes you above Silver Falls. It’s a great viewpoint for a closeup look of the falls. As you continue downstream, you’ll cross a larger bridge over the river and you’ll have a beautiful view of the falls, river and forest (see photo above). If you’re done hiking, you can head back up the trail the way you came. But if you want to continue down the trail to the Ohanapecosh Campground, you can.
RELATED INFO: Check out Visit Seattle’s “Things to do in Seattle” page
Fatalities have occurred at Silver Falls. People have climbed over the fences and off the trail for one reason or another. There are slippery rock and a fast moving river – which isn’t a good combination.
DISTANCE: 1 mile round trip (from Stevens Road/Grove of the Patriarchs Trailhead)
CATEGORY: Moderate
There are three trailheads to Silver Falls. I’ve already shared info on the one from Grove of the Patriarchs, but here are the two others:
- Ohanapecosh Campground: 2.7-mile loop trail with 300′ elevation gain.
- From Route 123: The shortest of the routes starts at a pullout on Route 123. The .6 mile trail also has an elevation gain of 300′, so it’s a lot steeper than the other two options.
Bench and Snow Lakes
The trail to Bench and Snow Lakes is quite a bit further up the mountain along along Stevens Canyon Road. You’ll want to keep an eye out for the sign marking the pullout for Snow Lake. If you reach Reflection Lake, then you’ll want to turn around. The Snow Lake Trailhead is 1.5 miles below Reflection Lake.
Once parked, the trailhead begins downhill of the parking lot. Although the trail is only 2.5 miles round trip, there are rolling hills – meaning a lot of ups and downs. If you time your visit just right, you’ll be hiking through meadows filled with wildflowers (probably lake July). We found snowfields along the way, and it became really white the closer we got to Snow Lake.
We continued past the turnout to Bench Lake and figured we would hit it up on our way back. We had to be careful on the snowfields we were walking across because there were pockets beneath the snow you could easily fall through if the snow didn’t hold. Not a fall to your death, but you may get a wet foot or twist something in the fall. We didn’t have any issues.
At Snow Lake, the snow remains until late July. There was still a lot of it there during our visit. And once again, be careful walking on the snow near the lake. A chunk may break off and send you into the cold water.
On your way back, you can take the off shoot trail to Bench Lake, but the views are actually better from the main trail. The foliage got pretty think and we weren’t able to even enjoy a hike around the lake. But it was beautiful.
DISTANCE: 2.5 miles round trip
ELEVATION GAIN: 700′
CATEGORY: Moderate
Skyline Trail to Myrtle Falls
The final trail of our visit was to Myrtle Falls. As you can tell from the photo above, we had our heads in the clouds. The Skyline Trail is a 5.5 mile loop, departing from the Paradise Ranger Station. Myrtle Falls is a short 1-mile round trip hike along the Skyline Trail. The parking area can fill up fast, so be patient as people are constantly coming and going. A spot will open up eventually.
If we thought the snow was bad along the Snow Lake Trail, it was worse along the Skyline Trail. Hiking uphill in the snow was easy for some – but not for others. Especially when the clouds we were walking through were dropping small raindrops. But once we arrived at the falls, we enjoyed the beauty of them before heading back. I later learned that when it’s not cloudy, Mount Rainier towers in the background, above the falls.
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On the way back to the Paradise Ranger Station, be careful if snow’s still there. My son was slipping around and needed an extra hand to help keep him steady. He wasn’t the only kid facing that problem.
If you want to stop by the Paradise Inn and visit the gift shop or grab some food at the restaurant, it’s not a bad way to wrap up your day before hitting the road to Seattle or your final destination.
DISTANCE: 1 mile round trip
CATEGORY: Easy
The Details
Address: Located roughly 2.5 hours southeast of Seattle, Washington.
Cost: $30 for a single vehicle. $25 for motorcycles and $15 for walk-ups or cyclists. The entrance fee gives you seven consecutive days to explore the national park. You can also purchase an annual parks pass and gain unlimited access to all of the national parks.
Hours: Mount Rainier National Park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, during the winter season, areas of the park may close due to heavy snowfall. Stevens Canyon Road (the road along the south end of the park) is closed in the winter. The most popular time of year is July/August. But you may encounter snow fields at the higher elevations into July.
Website: https://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm
Phone: (360) 569-2211
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