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
Issues:
Snow on trail | Avalanche danger
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What a glorious day for a stroll around Paradise! Pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/51278183@N05/...
What a glorious day for a stroll around Paradise! Pics at http://www.flickr.com/[…]/ (click on any thumbnail to see full pic).
As hikingqueen notes from same day at Mazama Ridge, the sun blazing from the sky and reflecting from icy snow made it feel like 70 degrees. I was still hot in only shorts and T-shirt much of the hike up, though donned my fleece again after cresting the ridge into a stiff wind. The trails were well blazed and it was fun watching and hearing skiers whizzing down the icy slopes. They were very motivational not to fall with a 2-3 inch hard ice crust!! The bridge over the falls is entirely under snow and Skyline Trail is finally the snowy wonderland you'd expect this time of year. There was a group camping for four days and headed up to Muir. We also saw several groups digging snow caves, though most did not plan to camp. Do beware of avalanche danger as winds and warming weather make spring-like conditions; it sounded like a river under our feet the whole time. Snowshoe/XC Ski
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Snow on trail
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From the Paradise parking lot, we headed up and to the right on a well-established (no new snow) tra...
From the Paradise parking lot, we headed up and to the right on a well-established (no new snow) trail up to the Skyline Trail. The area had seen heavy use on the weekend, but we were the first ones at the lot at 9 a.m. on that Monday and saw no one at all until 10:30. Though it began picking up on such a beautiful day, we had even the well-tracked trails mostly to ourselves. Avalanche danger was low, but check before you go. We saw (and heard!) one small avalanche high up on the mountain.
The Skyline Trail offers stunning views not only of Mt. Rainier and the Nisqually Glacier and River, but also of the Tatoosh Range and the larger South Cascades. We saw Adams and St. Helen's easily, Hood was often behind a Tatoosh but could be seen as well. This trail was used by skiers and snowshoers. I don't know how easy it would be to follow the best route with lots of fresh snow, but there are no dangerous spots and it logically follows up and along a ridgeline. More photos are at http://www.flickr.com/[…]/ Day hike
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Headed up to Paradise with two good friends. The roads were a little slick from the frost and recent...
Headed up to Paradise with two good friends. The roads were a little slick from the frost and recent dusting. We went slow and all was well. Got to the parking lot a bit before 10. Headed up to Mazama Ridge then up towards Panpoint but backtracked and went down golden gate trail. The snow over the fall color was good in some spots especially later in the day when the snow had melted off the leaves.
We saw a friendly grouse just past myrtle falls. Saw some other nwhikers in headed up the trail around 2. We got in the car and were headed out of the parking lot when out of the corner of my eye I see something big and black! I pull into the load/unload zone in front of visitor center and it's a bear! Right in the meadow above the steps. OMG! He was big and around and eating berries and so beautiful! Very young we thing too. We watched and took pictures here for an hour! What a good end to the day. Day hike
Features:
Fall foliage
Issues:
Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Enjoyed a very quiet, peaceful day at Paradise. I intended to take the Skyline Trail to Panorama Poi...
Enjoyed a very quiet, peaceful day at Paradise. I intended to take the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point, but the trail became increasingly muddy and snow-covered after about 1 hour, and a sun-covered rock beckoned me for lunch and a nap (hikers only came by about every 15 minutes or so, and the it was so quiet that I could head the glaciers settling and crashing on the mountain--it is NEVER that quiet on Paradise!) I could see a few people head up to P Point without boots or poles, so clearly the snow isn't too bad closer to the top.
Foliage was not as abundant as I thought it might be, but I did see two marmots and what I thought was a lone black wolf (black fur with a patch of gray on its back and a patch of white on the tip of its tail.) Day hike
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Beautiful day @ Paradise today, fall color has begun! I did part of skyline, lakes, & golden gate tr...
Beautiful day @ Paradise today, fall color has begun! I did part of skyline, lakes, & golden gate trails today. I saw 14 deer, 1 grouse, 1 bear & 4 marmots! Not a bad tally. Weather was perfect! Met another WTA hiker along the way, hi Tony, nice to meet you! There's still lupine blooming on lakes trail. Very few crowds today, most were in the parking lot.
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 Skyline meadow. Photo by jasonracey.
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