TL;DR: Only 1 mile snow-free then a messy situation! Skiers- you can start skinning about 2.8 miles in but it’s kind of awful for a while until you get closer to the basin. Snow bridge over the Inter Fork of the White River is there but going fast if you want to ski the Inter Glacier. Nice corn around 10/11am today! You’ll see our long glissade track from Camp Curtis. 

We hiked the Glacier Basin Trail to climb Mount Rainier, entering 5/27/25 and exiting 5/30/25. The trail is snow-free for the first mile then intermittently snow-covered for a short stretch then continuously snow-covered to the Glacier Basin meadows area. The snow is covered with pine needles, branches, and other organic debris… plus lumpy with some cavities over hollow spaces to watch out for and some treacherous spots where you could punch through the snow. There are 2 spots where the trail’s bridges aren’t fully accessible due to snow so you have to cross running streams on tricky snow bridges- which will only get sketchier as the snow melts. As you approach the end of the trail there’s a set of footprints that wander off route so keep that in mind!

Easy to collect water from the river once you reach the Glacier Basin meadows area (totally under snow of course right now).

Camp Schurman- one bathroom open and you can drop off your human waste bags in the barrel by the bathrooms. Lots of snow still there - see pictures.

Route/Place Conditions

Trailhead Access:
Started at White River Campground. Overnight parking was allowed with a valid Glacier Basin camping permit.

Trail Conditions:
The trail was mostly dry until nearing Glacier Basin, where continuous snow began. In Glacier Basin, snow was already soft by 7:30 AM, making for slower travel. Firmer conditions earlier in the day would have improved both the ascent and descent.

Snow Conditions:
Full snow coverage from just before Glacier Basin onward. The skier’s route up the center of the glacier was straightforward with no avalanche or crevasse concerns. Avalanche debris was present on the climber’s route along the northwest slope.

Hazards:
Route-finding was difficult in snow-covered sections, with some bootpaths misleadingly heading toward the river. Stream crossings were manageable but required careful footing. Strong winds were present at higher elevations.

Trip Summary

Saturday, May 24:

• Departed White River Campground at 2:15 PM

• Reached Glacier Basin and set up camp in snow at 5:30 PM

• Camp area was fully snow-covered; pit toilet was buried—bring sufficient blue bags

Sunday, May 25:

• Departed camp at 7:10 AM

• Reached summit of Steamboat Prow at 12:00 PM (5-hour ascent)

• Descended in 2 hours via a 1.2-mile glissade straight into Glacier Basin

Water & Camping

Water Sources:
Multiple reliable streams were present along the trail. At Glacier Basin, the nearest access to running water was ~⅛ mile upriver from camp. Last reliable water on the route was around 6000 ft on the north side of the basin.

Campsites:
Glacier Basin provided solid snow camping. The pit toilet was not accessible—carry blue bags.

Gear Notes

Used:
Trekking poles, ice axe (for glissade), Scooty Bootie, sun hat, helmet, puffy, hard shell, fleece layer, Z-pad, stove, water filter, water bladder, InReach, walkie-talkies, sun gloves, Temres lined gloves.

Not Used:
Microspikes.

Wish We’d Had:
Gaiters (would have helped with postholing and wet snow).

Optional:
Snowshoes—might have helped, but probably not worth the effort given snow conditions.

Route Advice

Two options exist from Glacier Basin:

• The climber’s route along the northwest slope had significant avy debris and was not used.

• The skier’s route straight up the center of the glacier was more direct and posed no avy or crevasse concerns this weekend.

Start as early as possible—by 7:30 AM the snow in Glacier Basin was already soft and travel was slow. Glacier Basin is in sun from sunrise to sunset.

Side Trips

We did not attempt the ridge to Ruth, based on our personal risk tolerance and limited time, as winds were strong and conditions looked unfavorable.

Arrived at the White River day use parking area at 10:30 am.    Plenty of parking spots available.    The restrooms are closed - but there are vault toilets open in Loop B of the campground.

We always enjoy the Glacier Basin trail.   It's a wide trail with a gradual uphill.   There are small waterfalls along the way.    If you don't want to do the whole trail - just before the turn off for the Emmons Moraine trail, there is a great view of Mount Rainier.

The only wildflowers still blooming were pearly everlasting and some fireweed.   The fall colors are just beginning.   We saw 2 bucks on the trail and only a handful of other hikers.    At the Glacier Basin campsite, there are 2 toilets that are still open.

Great trail with spectacular views, incl the offshoot overlook of the Emmons Glacier. Parking was plenty on this day. Thank you to the volunteers who were brush-cutting the trail!

It had just rained and mushrooms were out in both quantity and variety. We had to wait for a deer to finish lunch and a little bear smelled our tuna salad at the camp but had to settle for a bath in the pond.

#gratitude

I saw a sign in the White River campground that tonight (9/22) was the last night of camping for the year. 

I've hiked all the Burroughses before, but not from this start and end point. It was a great balance of sun and shade, up and down. I'll say the "side" trip to Third Burroughs on this loop really adds some work. 

Started and finished early, before the overcast cloud cover came in. Although I got a lot of that traversing down to Glacier Basin. White River to Sunrise portion was a little steeper than I anticipated and made for an excellent primer for the day. 

Most foot traffic was on the Burroughs trail. Didn't see much in the way of animals, just a few baby squirrels. 

Tahoma had a massive lenticular cloud the entire time, and an oddly shaped cloud next to it that cast quite a large shadow while I was at Third Burroughs for my lunch break. 

Grateful to hike this loop in my favorite month of the year to get out. 

RT 12.0m/3900ft