Highlights Of Backpacking Mt Rainier National Park:
Mt Rainier National Park is a backpacker’s dream with over 250miles surrounding the 14,411ft volcano. Backpacking through this beautiful wilderness will give you incredible views of glaciers, sub-alpine lakes, and rolling meadows. Although famously known for its 93mile Wonderland Trail trek, many backpacking trips can be taken in this amazing park. Some of the highlights include:
- Spray park
- Northern Loop Trail
- Glacier Basin Trail
- Tolmie Peak
- Mowich Lake
Backpacking Itineraries Mt Rainier National Park
Here are some pre-made backpacking itineraries to help you in planning your trip. I recommend taking a close look at the mileage and elevation gain to make sure the hike is doable for you and your group. If one of these hikes seems like it might be too much mileage or elevation gain look over it with a trail map to work out a variation that would work for you!
Backpack Through Spray Park
Backpack The Wonderland Trail
Backpack To Tolmie Peak
Backpack The Northern Loop Trail
Necessary Gear For Backpacking In Mt Rainier National Park:
As with all backpacking trips you want to develop a backpacking checklist for your trip to ensure you have all the necessary gear for your trip. In addition to standard backpacking gear(which you can find recommendations on our backpacking gear blog) you want to keep in mind what time of year you are hiking and that you are in bear country.
Mt Rainier experiences about 121 snowy days a year averaging to 670 inches of snow annually. With this in mind, you need to keep a close eye on trail conditions before heading out on your backpacking trip. Especially if you plan on hiking before mid-July, you should come prepared with winter mountaineering skills as well as crampons and ice-axes as you will need them to navigate snow-covered trails and passes.
Mt Rainier National park is also an area of the United States that is known to be inhabited by black bears and mountain lions so you want to bring the gear needed to make a bear hang, including a paracord and a dry bag whenever heading into the backcountry.
As always I would recommend going over your itineraries and necessary gear with the park rangers prior to going into the backcountry. Ranger station information can be found on the Mt Rainier National Park Website.
Are Backcountry Permits Required In Mt Rainier National Park?
Yes.
Backcountry permits are required for all overnight camping in the wilderness of Mt Rainier National Park. There are three different ways you can go about obtaining backcountry permits.
- Reservation: Mt Rainier National Park allocates two-thirds of their backcountry permits for reservations during the summer season. Reservations can be made on recreation.gov starting on April 27th, where you can make reservations from June 1st to September 30th. All reservations must be made two days before the start of your trip. Permits cost about $26.00 per a trip with a maximum of 13 days.
- Walk-Up Permits: Mt Rainier National Park allocates the remaining one of third of their backcountry permits to walk-ups. Walk-up permits can be obtained no earlier than one day before the start of your trip and are issued at the park’s wilderness information centers. There is a non-refundable $6.00 fee for walk-up backcountry permits.
- Early-Access Lottery(for the Wonderland Trail): Because the Wonderland Trail is such a popular attraction for the park permits are in extremely high demand which prompted the park to pilot a lottery system for those looking to backpack the Wonderland Trail. If you win the lottery, it is the BEST way to obtain permits for the Wonderland Trail because it allows you to make reservations before anyone else for the season. The lottery is typically open during the first couple of weeks in March, be sure to check the NPS website, for the latest lottery information.
***Keep in mind ALL permits must be activated at a ranger station to confirm your information, as well as go over safety, food storage, and route information. Your Permit must be with you at all times when hiking. If you run into a ranger, they will ask to see your permit information.
Check out our most important things to know about backcountry permits post to learn more about national park permit systems!
Can You Make Fires In The Backcountry In Mt Rainier National Park?
No.
It is prohibited to make a fire on any trails or backcountry campsites in Mt Rainier National Park other than using campfire stoves using white gas, iso-butane cartridge, alcohol.
