Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books Skyline Trail Loop
This route loops around the broad Edith Creek basin, leading through alpine flower fields, past thundering waterfalls, and over high, craggy peaks. In this one loop, you'll experience the best the Paradise region has to offer in terms of scenic beauty, rugged hiking, and varied terrain and ecosystems. You'll also find a memorial marking an important event in park history!
Head northeast from the lodge, entering the lower reaches of Edith Creek basin on the Skyline Trail. At 0.6 mile, the trail crosses directly above the crashing cascade of Myrtle Falls. The best views are from the trail bridge, looking directly down the falls. Continuing past the falls, the trail splits almost immediately. Stay right; the left-hand trail heads steeply northeast toward Golden Gate, but you'll get there on a different route. Hike east on the trail that traverses out of the Edith Creek basin and loops around the headwall of the adjacent Paradise Valley. On the east side of the basin, reach another trail junction at 1.5 miles. Stay left; the right-hand trail heads south down to the Paradise Valley Road in the Paradise valley. Start the steep climb up the side of Mazama Ridge. You attain the ridge crest in 0.5 mile, where the trail forks once more. Again, stay left to continue moving north. At this junction at 2 miles, the trail passes the Stevens-Van Trump Historical Monument above Sluiskin Falls. The memorial is a stone and concrete bench placed to honor the first two climbers to ascend Mount Rainier. The placement of the memorial, above Sluiskin Falls, is said to be at the spot where Chief Sluiskin waited for the climbers to return from their summit bid. From this point, the trail angles northwest, climbing gradually to Golden Gate at 2.5 miles, where a trail leads left back to Myrtle Falls; stay straight ahead. Then climb more steeply, staying left at trail junctions, to Panorama Point (6800 feet) at 3.5 miles. From Panorama Point, descend past Glacier Vista, staying right at trail junctions above Alta Vista, then taking the east-bound trail below Alta Vista to return to the trailhead parking lot at 6 miles.
Driving Directions:
From Tacoma, drive east on State Route 7 to Elbe, then veer left onto SR 706 to enter the park at the Nisqually Entrance near Ashford. Continue east along the Nisqually Road to the Paradise Lodge parking area. Park in the large parking lot and find the trail near Paradise Lodge. Recent Trip Reports
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Snowshoe/XC Ski
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Snow on trail
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Glorious, spectacular, blue, white, and gold Paradise!!! The crowds (and there WERE) could not touch...
Glorious, spectacular, blue, white, and gold Paradise!!! The crowds (and there WERE) could not touch the grandeur of Mt. Rainier on a day like today. Pics are at http://www.flickr.com/[…]/. I couldn't get enough. I'm going back tomorrow (for real)!!!!!
We did not go to Panorama Point but to the lesser ridge closer to Nisqually Glacier. After the uphill past Myrtle Falls, there's a flat bit. The Panorama Point trail goes up the steep hill ahead - we went to the left, over the ridge there, then paralleled the Nisqually Valley, rejoining some approximation of the return loop for Skyline Trail. Honestly, it doesn't matter where you go. It is all so beautiful. Day hike
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I never would have thought that October would provide an ideal hiking day, but this was as close to ...
I never would have thought that October would provide an ideal hiking day, but this was as close to perfect as possible--no bugs, ideal temperature, and clear skies. We set out to do this hike for the Paradise Glacier but ended up hiking up to Panorama Point as well.
For the Paradise Glacier, we hiked until our GPS said we were past the end of the trail, and we had been hiking on glacial moraine for about 1/4 mile. The snow fields were becoming more common, so once we reached a downed sign warning of all the hazards ahead we turned around. Bottom line, unless you're willing to hike past the end of the maintained trail for a while you won't reach the glacier--just moraine and snowfields. You have two ways to get to Panorama Point from the east side: high or low. High is 0.8 miles and low is 0.3. However, the low route takes you over a very intimidating snow field replete with warning signs (see photo 2). Caution is advised. Getting there meant a 15 minute detour around Eatonville but otherwise we parked right next to the ranger station in the main parking lot and often went 10 minutes or more without seeing another hiking party. Although a note for tourists: dress shoes are not recommended and neither is singing at the top of your lungs. Just saying. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Fall foliage
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Bugs
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Nice family hiking day on one of our last beautiful weekends of the summer/fall. Road closures and c...
Nice family hiking day on one of our last beautiful weekends of the summer/fall. Road closures and closed trails forced us to focus our day in the Paradise area. Scenic hike as always, great mix of summer wildflowers and fall colors mixing to make a beautiful scenery.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Fall foliage
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Decided I needed a trip to Mt Rainier this year, and headed to Paradise with no particular trail des...
Decided I needed a trip to Mt Rainier this year, and headed to Paradise with no particular trail destination in mind. Ended up on the Skyline Loop trail. I’ve never been on this trail before, but now that I have I would highly recommend it. Arrived at the Paradise parking lot around 9:00am, still quite a few parking spots available. Two groups of hikers were heading towards Camp Muir or the summit. The smoke from Eastern Washington fires was pretty thick, a ranger I spoke to said it was the worst he had seen it so far. The trail starts directly from the parking lot, and climbs steeply upwards on paved surface for the first mile or so. The views start immediately with glaciers and waterfalls coming off Rainier very impressive sight. Saw 2 deer on the trail just as I left the parking lot, saw 3 marmots – not shy at all, and one very aggressive squirrel looking for food at Panorama Point. Heard a report from the ranger that a couple of bears were out eating blueberries that morning around 9:00am, but unfortunately I did not see them myself. As I started to back down to Paradise parking lot, there were two choices, one followed the trail through a snow field that looked slippery, so I decided to head to the Upper Skyline trail instead. Took the Golden Gate trail back down to Paradise. Lots of waterfalls, and a small stream babbling itself through the meadow. A few final wildflowers along the stream bed, but they are way past prime. I’ll have to come back and fight the crowds in the summer some day and see the flowers at their peak. The fall colors were just beginning to show, should get more colorful in the next couple of weeks I would guess. Made it back to the parking lot around 2:00, could have made it much quicker but took over a hundred photos which slowed me down somewhat. Hard to take a bad shot on this trail.
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I was up in the same area the day before and couldn't help myself but come back again the next day, ...
I was up in the same area the day before and couldn't help myself but come back again the next day, it was that good! Low line fog and smoke make for interesting photos. Fall color is just starting. Great day on the trail with my BFF Annie. We started out around 8 AM and in 10 mins we spotted the bear eating feasting on berries in the same spot he was in yesterday! YES!!! Great morning, crisp air and hardly anyone out for the first 3 hours. We went up mazama ridge and paradise glacier trail then looped back down golden gate trail at a nice slow pace taking in all the animals. The count today was 5 grouse, 1 falcon, 14 marmots and 1 bear! Not a bad day at all....
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 Skyline meadow. Photo by jasonracey.
2012
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