Wrapping its way around the entirety of Mt Rainier, the Wonderland Trail is Mt Rainier National Park’s greatest long distance trail. While many ambitious backpackers tackle the entire thing each summer, far more hike certain sections as day hikes. Possibly the most stunning of all these sections of the Wonderland Trail is the segment to Summerland and Panhandle Gap.
An alpine meadow set near the treeline on the lower slopes of Mt Rainier, the dayhike to Summerland is a relatively moderate 11 miles roundtrip. This hike isn’t easy per se, but for views and alpine terrain like this, you usually have to work much harder!
Miles/Elevation:
11 miles
2,562 feet vertical gain
About Mt Rainier National Park:
Established as a national park in 1899, Mt Rainier National Park has a long history of preservation. Centered around the iconic Mt Rainier, the park preserves about 236,000 acres of land, ranging in elevation from 1,600 feet to over 14,000. This massive elevation range makes for insane views and mountains that seemingly scrape the sky!
Mt Rainier itself is one of the most iconic mountains of America. The 14,411 foot high volcano is the highest peak in the Cascade Mountain Range, the highest peak in the Pacific-Northwest, and the fourth highest in the entire lower 48!
It may not be the tallest in the lower 48, but the heavily glaciated slopes of Rainier give a striking appearance compared to many of America’s other great mountains. The fact that it towers 8-10,000 feet above the surrounding terrain makes it all the more intimidating!
Mt Rainier National Park is an incredible destination for outdoor recreation. For the adventurous, a summit of Mt Rainier can be a once in a lifetime experience. The mountain’s glacier-covered slopes make for a serious mountaineering objective, and many train here to prepare for high peaks in the Himalaya, Karakorum, and Andes!
For the less ambitious, Rainier is an incredible place to hike! The Wonderland Trail, a 93 mile backpacking route around Mt Rainier, is one of the best backpacking routes in America. The park as a whole contains over 260 miles of maintained trails to choose from! Whether you want easy day hikes or huge backpacking trips, you’ll find it here!
Mt Rainier has a number of different locations to choose from when exploring. The most popular is Paradise, located on the south slopes of the mountain. Near Paradise to the west is Longmire, located at much lower elevation along the Nisqually River. The highest elevation area reachable by vehicles is Sunrise, located in the north east portion of the park.
Every part of this park has incredible views, you just have to choose which area to focus on!
Getting To The Trailhead:
Travel to the northeast corner of Mt Rainier National Park via Highway 410 from the north, east, and west, or follow Highways 12 and 123 until reaching 410. Continue on 410 until reaching the turnoff for the Sunrise Park Road.
Pass through the entrance station to the national park, and follow Sunrise Park Road for 3 miles until reaching the trailhead. There are numerous parking spots along the side of the road along a sweeping right hand turn just across Fryingpan Creek. The trailhead is not very well marked, but if you put Summerland Trail into Google Maps, it will pop up.
Tips:
- Parking is limited here. It’s not the most popular trailhead in the park, but I would arrive early to guarantee parking, especially on weekends.
- Continue on to Panhandle Gap if the snow is clear or you’re proficient at snow travel.
The Wonderland Trail:
Through The Woods:
Immediately after leaving the road and beginning on the Wonderland Trail, you will find yourself in dense Pacific Northwest Forest. The first 3 miles or so of the day will be in this forest, and while there are occasional peaks through the trees to the soaring summits above, you won’t have a ton for views.
The trail follows Fryingpan Creek for these first 3ish miles, and water will be a constant companion. Fryingpan Creek is the largest water feature encountered on these early miles, but it felt like I was constantly crossing small feeder streams coming down the hillsides flowing into the main creek!
The trail gets off to an easy start, only gaining about 200 vertical feet in the first mile. That incline will pick up to about 500 feet per mile over miles 2 and 3, but on the beautifully made smooth trails you’ll be using, progress will come quickly!
As you gain elevation, the forest will thin, and over time you will have more and more looks at the high mountains! The best of these is a stretch where the trees in front of you thin, and you gain clear views of Rainier itself directly ahead! It looks like the trail is headed right for the mountain!
Eventually, you will reach the end of this stretch of forest hiking where the trail crosses Fryingpan Creek. This crossing is a bit hazardous. There is a small footbridge across the deepest channel, but to reach the footbridge, you will have to cross the near half of the creek via rounded, potentially slippery, rocks. It’s not really that difficult, but be careful here not to turn an ankle!
Approaching Summerland:
Across the creek, the nature of the trail changes quite dramatically. For one, you will be climbing up a steep grade pretty consistently from here on out. Almost immediately after crossing Fryingpan Creek, you will turn and begin a climb straight up along the banks of the creek. Here, I hiked through beautiful wildflower filled meadows, a nice change from the dense pine forest!
After a bit over a quarter mile, the trail once again changes character. Here, it reenters pine forest and begins a steep series of switchbacks. This is a 400 foot climb up and out of the valley created by Fryingpan Creek which brings you to Summerland. The climb isn’t too crazy, but by now you might be feeling the elevation or a growing heaviness in your legs!
Continue through the switchbacks up 400 or so feet, and then you will arrive at Camp Summerland!
Summerland:
Camp Summerland is a backpacking campground, and while you could go explore the campground itself, the real prize is the entire area here, known as Summerland.
The Mt Fremont Lookout Trail is my favorite moderate hike in Mt Rainier!
There is still some climbing to do, but once you pass the campground, you are in Summerland! Summerland is primarily an area of alpine meadows with small stands of trees set just below the treeline along Mt Rainier. Looking away from Rainier, you will be high enough to have fantastic panoramic views over Mt Rainier National Park, and looking at the big mountain, all you’ll see is rocks and snow!
While you could stop in the meadows here, there is much more to explore in the area. Continue hiking along the obvious trail as it climbs up and away from the Summerland Campground.
Before long, you will leave the green, grassy meadows behind and will climb above the treeline. Up here, not much grows at all, and when I hiked here in late July, there was still significant snow on the ground I had to contend with!
Try the Sunrise Rim Trail for an easier hike in Mt Rainier that still has great views!
After climbing about 200 feet above Camp Summerland, the trail crosses another large creek. It looked like there used to be a bridge here, but there wasn’t as of July 2022. The options were either get wet fording the river, or walk over it via a large snow bridge. I opted for the snowbridge as it was still pretty sizable, but someone will always be the first to punch through a snowbridge! Making it a bit more stressful was the waterfall just a few yards downstream cascading hundreds of feet down a steep ravine! Not a good place to fall!
Across the creek, the snow became more or less constant as I continued hiking uphill. I had thought about hiking all the way to Panhandle Gap, a pass above Summerland, but with this snow depth I decided against it. However, there was a lake below Panhandle Gap I intended to make it to!
After climbing up a “trail” of footprints in snow interspersed with some boulder hopping, I finally made it up to the lake I was aiming for! I still haven’t been able to find a name for this lake, and when I visited it was still mostly frozen over, but this was a pretty sweet spot!
Crystal Peak has more incredible views of Rainier, but you’ll have to work for them!
Looking up the trail, hikers heading up towards Panhandle Gap were clearly visible, as was the giant snow slope they were crossing. Sitting in my comfy spot here, I felt pretty good about my decision not to chance it without any snow equipment!
If you like this hike, definitely check out nearby Shriner Peak!
Opposite Panhandle Gap, the views over the little lake towards the Meany Crest were also excellent. There was nothing other than rock, snow, and sky visible in the distance, and cascading down many of the cliffs were waterfalls carrying snowmelt down from above! It was a pretty sweet place to stop even if I had hoped to climb higher!
Hiking Out:
After relaxing at the lake, it was time to head back. If the conditions were better, or if I had brought snow equipment (microspikes, ice ax, etc) I would have hiked up to Panhandle Gap, but I was satisfied even without making it up there! This was also my 4th day in a row of strenuous hiking around Mt Rainier, so my legs definitely were not at 100%!
The initial descent back down through Summerland was slow due to all of the snow, but by taking it slow I never even fell, and that’s an accomplishment in my eyes!
Help keep this place beautiful. Follow Leave No Trace!
Beyond Summerland, the trail is largely beautifully smooth packed dirt, so progress was quick. The final 3 or so miles once across Fryingpan Creek flew by, and I was close to running on parts of the trail!
By the time I reached the trailhead, it had become a hot and humid afternoon, and I was very much ready to be done. But, this was an excellent hike to finish my time in Mt Rainier National Park!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 8/10
Summerland is a stunning place and a truly worthy location to hike to, and while the trail getting there is pleasant and well constructed, it’s not overly dramatic or exciting. This hike is a classic 8/10. It has a fantastic final destination reached via good but not special trails. If you’re a person that adores the forests of the Pacific Northwest, then maybe for you this is the best hike in the world. However, for me, the long stretches of uneventful hiking bring this trail’s rating down to an 8.
Pros:
- Stunning views
- Very nice trail quality
Cons:
- Long stretches of uneventful hiking
- Not much for views in the first 4 miles
Alternative Hikes:
When To Hike The Wonderland Trail To Summerland:
The Wonderland Trail is primarily a summer hiking trail. Mt Rainier National Park gets absolutely massive amounts of snowfall, and while the higher slopes of Rainier itself get the most, even the lower reaches of the park get huge quantities of snow.
Most of the roads through Mt Rainier close for the winter, so you won’t even be able to reach most of the park during winter and most of spring. This means that you must wait until the snow melts and the roads open to hike. Once the snow starts falling in the fall, the roads close again!
This all means that the hiking season in Mt Rainier is exceptionally short. Many roads here don’t actually open until July, so hiking season really is just July through September. You could chance it and try June or maybe October, but I wouldn’t count on the roads being clear. July and August are extremely busy, but those are the best times to hike in Mt Rainier!
Links For Further Reading:
Wonderland Trail to Camp Summerland and Lake | Map, Guide – Washington | AllTrails
Summerland Trail – Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
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