The Sunrise area of Mt Rainier is the highest point accessible by car in the national park. From here, you are just about on the flank of the mountain! Incredibly, there are a number of easy to moderate hikes here that just about anyone can do. One of these is the trail to Frozen Lake.
Frozen Lake is a small body of water which provides drinking water for the sunrise area, but don’t let this lake’s small stature keep you away from this hike. With insane views of Mt Rainier starting from the parking lot, you’ll never lack for something to look at here!
Miles/Elevation:
2.9 miles
557 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 all the way up the flank of Mt Rainier until reaching the Sunrise Visitor Center. This is the highest point in the park accessible by car, and there is a large parking lot in front of the visitor center to park in.
Tips:
- On busy summer weekends, arrive early. Parking here does fill up by late morning on occasion.
- Continue on to the Mt Fremont Fire Lookout for a more challenging, but spectacular hike.
The Frozen Lake Trail:
To Frozen Lake:
From the Sunrise parking lot, head north to pick up the trail to Sourdough Ridge. You’ll immediately enter an alpine meadow adjacent to the visitor center, and the view here is already stunning. Directly ahead the gigantic frame of Mt Rainier dominates the skyline, giving you a taste of what’s to come!
After crossing the meadow and ascending a staircase or two, you’ll reach the base of Sourdough Ridge. You’ll have been climbing already, so while the incline may look steep peering up the trail onto the ridge, it’s actually hardly steeper than the first section of trail you’ve already done.
Begin hiking up the ridge. Fortunately, the trail doesn’t actually follow the crest of the ridge, it traverses along the southern side. This means that you won’t have to climb as high as you are probably thinking, though a ridge walk here would be pretty epic!
If you like this hike, definitely check out nearby Shriner Peak!
After somewhere between a quarter and half mile, you’ll emerge on the side of Sourdough Ridge along an exposed section of trail with dramatic drop offs to one side, and a steep hill going up to the other. And here, the trail really gets good!
Snow Lake is another stunning easy hike in Mt Rainier!
Ahead is a wide open, massive, stunning view of Mt Rainier! The mountain looked great from the parking lot, but here, up a little higher and with less in front of you, it’s even better! Adding to the splendor is a panorama that includes the entire southern horizon. Despite only climbing a few hundred feet, at this point you’re actually higher than most of the mountains in the region, so you’ll have panoramic views for miles ranging from the eastern horizon to Rainier itself!
This is an incredible section of trail, and it’s made even better by the fact that the incline totally disappears. You will even descend slightly on your way to Frozen Lake! The big climbing is done for the day, and you’re free to truly soak it all in!
After traversing across the face of Sourdough Ridge for about half a mile, you’ll come to the end of this section of incredible trail. Then, you’ll have one small final climb to reach Frozen Lake. When I say small, it’s only about 50 vertical feet, so really small; however, there are a pair of loose switchbacks!
Crystal Peak has more incredible views of Rainier, but you’ll have to work for them!
After about a mile and a half of hiking, you’ll arrive at Frozen Lake! This “lake” is a tiny body of water tucked into a hillside in stunning alpine terrain. When I visited in late July, the lake was still bounded by snow and ice across the backside, though I imagine the snow here usually melts away at some point.
The Naches Peak Loop is an incredible easy hike in Mt Rainier National Park!
Beyond the far shore, Mt Fremont looms in the background, but the best view doesn’t actually include the lake at all. To your left when looking at the lake, the giant form of Mt Rainier towers above, and the relatively diminutive First Burroughs Mountain lies below. Even behind you, the smaller peaks of Mt Rainier National Park are splayed out on the horizon!
Hiking Out:
Frozen Lake is a very pretty spot, but eventually it will be time to head back. Hike through the pair of switchbacks, and then enjoy an incredible half mile along Sourdough Ridge!
When hiking up Sourdough Ridge, Mt Rainier dominates the skyline and the views, but on the way down, the rest of Mt Rainier National Park is the highlight! The numerous fairly small, but photogenic and jagged peaks of the Cascades surrounded by the dense pine forest of the Pacific Northwest make for a fine alternative to the soaring Rainier.
After a half mile, you’ll drop off the ridge and descend down into the meadows above Sunrise. The views are still great, but by now the parking lot and visitor center will be in sight. It’s a short hike, but this one is great throughout!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 9/10
As far as short little 3 mile hikes go, this one is really good. The views are spectacular really from the first moment, the trail is well made and smooth. All around it’s very nice. However, Frozen Lake really isn’t anything spectacular, and this trail gets really really busy. There are better short hikes to be found, but this one is really really good.
Pros:
- Great views
- Relatively easy
Cons:
- Very busy
Alternative Hikes:
When To Hike To Frozen Lake:
The trail to Frozen Lake 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:
Frozen Lake via Sourdough Ridge Trail | Map, Guide – Washington | AllTrails
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