July 21, 2025. Tacoma, Washington. Day 61 of 170
Today, we hiked on the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier National Park. The Sunrise area, located at the end of Sunrise Park Road, is Mount Rainier’s highest point reachable by vehicle, offering breathtaking panoramic views of the mountain and surrounding Cascade Range. It’s a hugely popular destination, especially in summer.
Because of congestion, you must obtain a timed-entry reservation online the night before your visit to access the park during peak season. Once these logistics were in place, we headed to the park, arriving at the Sunrise Visitor Center and Lodge by 11:00 AM.
The Sunrise area boasts a variety of trails suitable for nearly everyone, and they are all in excellent condition. We decided on the hike to Frozen Lake. There were engaging park volunteers at the trailhead and at every fork, providing excellent information on what to look out for during our hike.
The views all along the trail were spectacular, and we saw much wildlife. The highlight was a herd of mountain goats near Frozen Lake. We also spotted other mountain goats, marmots, deer, and many pikas. We decided to loop towards Shadow Lake and back to Sunrise. By the time we returned, it had started to rain, so we felt very fortunate to have had such good weather during our hike.
Mount Rainier never disappoints, and it was a great treat to see it from Sunrise, offering a different perspective than the one from Paradise. The Sunrise area has so much to offer that one could easily spend a week there and never hike the same trail twice. With its subalpine meadows, diverse wildlife, and stunning vistas, it’s a must-visit when coming to Mount Rainier.
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