Spray Park — Oct. 5, 2025

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

2 photos

Aka Steve Vaschakas

25

Beware of: road conditions

Fall foliage

5 people found this report helpful

Spray Park always delivers even with the epic bike ride in with bears and everything.

Spray Park, Wonderland Trail, Northern Loop — Aug. 23, 2025

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

4 photos

Goforkayla

Ripe berries

4 people found this report helpful

Point to point trip from Sunrise to Longmire 8/23 - 8/28. The day before our trip we picked up our permit (very minimal line at Longmire; managed to find parking despite part of the lot being closed for paving) and dropped off our exit car. Rangers were super helpful with water sources, bridge crossings, and berry locations.

We took the Northern Trail (Fire Creek CG) to Spray Park (Cataract Valley CG), detoured for a dip at Mowich Lake (highly recommend), then stayed on the WT til Longmire (other sites being S Mowich, N Puyallup, and Devil’s Dream). Water was not an issue thanks to rain the prior week, with the exception of the long stretch north of South Mowich. We had close to zero bugs the entire time, Devil’s Dream included. No snow or need for spikes at all. Days were not too sweltering and nights were not cold. It sprinkled a bit but nothing torrential.

Trail is overall in fantastic condition and easy to follow. We likely had fortunate timing because we passed many freshly sawn blowdowns (thank you trail crew!!) and hardly had to deal with any. River crossings were, for the most part, navigable as long as you keep your eyes out for trail signs - boot path, flag tape, cairns, etc. We did no rock hopping but also had many crossings in the mornings. A footbridge on S Mowich was the only one that truly sketched us out.

The combined ascent and mileage of some days (5000’ gains and 14 miles) completely gassed us out with the heavy packs (37 and 41 lbs). Other days were great.

Despite the challenge, the views, wildlife, solitude, and geological history of the area all made it ridiculously worth it. Absolutely stunning area - even the forested parts are all so varied and beautiful. We were continually awe-struck.

Northern Loop, Spray Park, Wonderland Trail - Mowich Lake to Sunrise via Spray Park, Tolmie Peak Lookout - Eunice Lake, Knapsack Pass, Skyscraper Mountain, Fremont Lookout — Aug. 7, 2025

Mount Rainier Area > NE - Sunrise/White River

4 photos

Nowhereian

5

Beware of: road, trail conditions

Wildflowers blooming
Ripe berries

6 people found this report helpful

I was luckily able to get my first three nights reserved online, and was able to add the last night as a walkup at the WIC on Thursday morning at 8:30. There was no line to enter the park, I think mostly due to the weather, views were going to be minimal from Sunrise with cloudy and chilly conditions.

Day 1

Sunrise VC to James Camp

11.21 mi, 1949 ft gain, 3809 ft loss

I passed only a few people in the fog towards the five-way intersection, and then only 3 other people the whole way from there to James Camp. I stopped at the viewpoint just after Grand Park for lunch and waited to see if the mountain would come out. It did, partially. From the viewpoint down to the White River is all through the trees.

There were 15 blowdowns, all fairly simple to get over or around. The path to cross the log bridges over the White River isn't always clear, and if it feels like you're lost, you're probably going the right way.

Day 2

James Camp to Natural Bridge to the top of Yellowstone Cliffs near Tyee Peak to Cataract Valley

12.33 mi, 3300 ft gain, 3300 ft loss

There were 32 blowdowns in this section. The vast majority were very easy to step over or around. I had to take my pack off to get under one, and another a few miles later presented a challenge, but nothing too difficult.

Day 3

Cataract Valley through Spray Park to Mowich Lake

6.63 miles, 1947 ft gain, 1518 ft loss

Day 3 total w/ Tolmie Peak

13.3 mi, 2827 ft gain, 2395 ft loss

The snow at the top of the Spray Park trail is no problem to cross with just shoes and trekking poles. I made it to Mowich Lake around 1:30 and set up camp. Then headed up to Tolmie Peak for the afternoon. I sat in the shade at the fire lookout for a while, then went over to the true peak. The path looks pretty sketchy from the lookout, but it's not as bad as it looks. The views are better from the lookout though. Then I went back to the lookout and just basked in the solitude. I watched some deer splash in Eunice Lake and run back out before I could get my phone out and get a picture. I went back down to Mowich Lake after dinner.

Day 4

Mowich Lake through Knapsack Pass to Mt. Pleasant to Mystic Lake

12.16 Mi, 4290 ft gain, 3670 ft loss

The path up to Knapsack Pass is relatively nice in the morning, while it's still in the shade. It's definitely an unmaintained trail, and it's steep, but the view from up there is worth every step, even with camping gear. looking out into this basin or back out over Mowich Lake is incredible.

Next was several hours of picking my way across the rocks. There was a well-defined trail for the majority of the way between Knapsack Pass Mt. Pleasant, but it was broken up by many sections of pick-your-own-way across the boulders. Sometimes there were great cairns, sometimes there were difficult to spot cairns, and often there were none. It's not too difficult if you just keep your destination in sight. I wouldn't recommend this to someone without experience in this kind of environment, simply due to the current remoteness, but this is a phenomenal experience if you do this kind of travel regularly. The views in this basin are unreal. My only regret here is having to bring my heavy bag and not being able to do it as a day hike.

Then I went up to Mt. Pleasant from the intersection without my pack. Ants were swarming up there, not very pleasant. And I accidentally left my bug net down in my bag, so I took a few pictures and kept going. The way back down to the Carbon River was very nice, the bridge was fun again, then the period of absolute misery began.

The climb up out of the Carbon River Valley in the full afternoon sun was brutal. I was carrying 2.5L of water up this stretch, and while I was cursing the weight, it was absolutely necessary in the heat. Mystic Lake is lovely, but I was exhausted. I set up camp and passed right out.

Day 5

Mystic Lake to Skyscraper Mountain to Fremont Lookout to Shadow Lake to Sunrise VC

12.95 mi 3498 ft gain 2677 ft loss

I made it down to Garda Falls, filled up my water, and started the climb up to Skyscraper Mountain. This was a much nicer climb, mostly in the morning shade. Got some more water at Granite Creek, then proceeded to the top. Excellent views up here, and this time I remembered my bug net! Then back down and over towards the 5-way again. I arrived there at 1:30, with tons of time to spare and some gas left in the tank, so I went up to the Fremont Lookout. I'm really glad I did! It was awesome to cap off this hike by looking at almost the whole route from above.

Then, leaving most of the tourists behind again, I took the Wonderland back down to Sunrise VC, past Shadow Lake.

Spray Park, Summit Lake, Tolmie Peak Lookout - Eunice Lake, Wonderland Trail - Mowich Lake to Sunrise via Spray Park — Apr. 22, 2025

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

2 photos

DK1998

200

Beware of: road conditions

47 people found this report helpful

SR165/FAIRFAX BRIDGE OVER CARBON RIVER IS NOW PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

Unfortunately WSDOT's worst fears were realized as the support columns for the bridge are actually starting to buckle, forcing a permanent closure of the bridge along SR165. Just announced today.

So no more road access to the NW side of Mount Rainier National Park until the bridge is physically replaced or the road re-routed, which could possibly take years.

More info:

https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/news/2025/103-year-old-sr-165-carbon-river-fairfax-bridge-permanently-closed

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/community/puyallup-herald/ph-news/article304983576.html

https://komonews.com/news/local/fairfax-bridge-mount-rainier-national-park-permanently-closes-carbon-river-safety-concerns-inspections

https://www.king5.com/article/traffic/traffic-news/fairfax-bridge-mount-rainier-national-park-closed-safety/281-d67d2c1e-e563-4b08-93ef-bf08db16218a

Yearly traffic stats:

https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Traffic%20Counts?Park=MORA

Spray Park — Oct. 12, 2024

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

4 photos

doristheexplorist

WTA Member

100

Beware of: road conditions

Fall foliage

5 people found this report helpful

As I write this, the road to Mowich Lake is closing for the winter season - Monday 10/14/2024 @ 9:00 AM, meaning you cannot drive up to this trailhead until next year (around July 2025)

Getting to the Spray Park trailhead you have to go by the Tolmie Lookout trailhead, and that parking area was packed. We pulled into the Spray Park TH shortly after 9 am Saturday and we easily found parking not far from the toilets. Saw a handful of tents and ppl camping at the campground, which was at the trailhead.

We chatted with a few hikers saying they were going the backway up to Spray Park, through Knapsack Pass. We considered going this route, but since none of us have hiked Spray Park prior, we opted to go the more traditional way. Next time though, I would love to try the "backway", which on Gaia looks to be an unmaintained trail, but from the sounds of it, is pretty well traveled, and you can make this a small loop hike.

Trail: we saw minimal ppl on trail. Which was snow free, not muddy, and easy to navigate. We stopped at Eagle Cliff, which has an amazing view of Mt Rainier, and also stopped at Spray Falls, which was worth the off shoot. We took the junction up to the saddle between Mt Pleasant and Hessong Rock. The trail up to the saddle is steep, maybe 1/2 mile 400 ft gain. We had the saddle to ourselves for a while, and ate lunch up their with a grand view of Mt Rainier. we saw some pikas.

The hike back was way faster than the hike out. We hiked out and back. My Garmin watch clocked 3 hours 40 min moving time, and about 7.5 miles 2k+ ft gain.

Beautiful hike!