Wonderland Trail Circuit of Mount Rainier

Overview

For ten days you orbit a 4,392m volcano, and the mountain never once looks the same. The Wonderland Trail rings Mount Rainier in roughly 150km of relentless ups and downs — over 6,700m of climbing in total — swinging from old-growth river valleys to flower meadows at Spray Park and the black moraine world of Panhandle Gap, the trail's 2,073m high point. The evening that stays with people is Klapatche Park: sunset firing the glaciers orange above Aurora Lake while you eat dinner on the bluff. Permits are the battle. Almost all wilderness camps go through the recreation.gov early-access lottery in spring; the remainder are walk-up, which means queueing at a ranger station and taking whatever itinerary is left. Snow lingers on the high sections into late July, and the Panhandle Gap crossing is genuinely hazardous when it is icy. Most circuits start at Longmire or Sunrise, with food caches posted ahead to ranger stations to split the load. Nearest towns are Ashford and Enumclaw, a couple of hours from Seattle. Self-supported cost is low — think £250–350 for permits, fuel, food and shuttles — the currency here is fitness and planning.

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Prefilled for 1 July 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.