TL;DR
Circumnavigate Mount Rainier over 93 miles and 26,000 ft of elevation gain and loss on the Wonderland Trail. Aptly named, the trails winds through flowery meadows and misty forests as it ungulates around the mountain. Either enter the permit lottery or roll the dice for a walk-up permit. This backcountry loop only allows camping is designated sites. We had to do an extra excursion off trail due to the campgrounds we were assigned. All campgrounds have a pit toilet as well as bear poles for hanging food. Check with the park rangers regarding water crossings and trail conditions before starting. Water sources are plentiful and the mosquitos mild. We started this hike from Longmire and left a car there for the duration of the hike. We lucked out with mild weather and no rain which is definitely not always the case. Be prepared for heavy rain and possibly snow even during the summer months. We did this hike at the end of July after a mild snow year for Washington. There was still snow on some parts when we did this hike.
Permits
The Wonderland Trail permits are awarded based on a lottery system run by Mount Rainier National Park. You can apply for sections of the trail as well as for the full loop. There are walk-up permits available as well.
From March 15 until March 31, you can apply for Wonderland permits here. Applications will be processed in a random order and you’ll be notified sometime toward the end of April to beginning of May. There is a nonrefundable 20$ to submit the application (even if you aren’t awarded a permit).
The trail does not allow dispersed camping. All camping is regulated to distinct sites along the trail. The permit will ask for your desired itinerary, including starting and ending dates, entry trailhead, exit trailhead, and nightly campsites.
The permit application also allows for some flexibility, if you want it. It will ask if you’ll accept alternate campsites, dates, starting trailhead, and hiking direction. In the notes box, we had also added that we could hike 16 mile days which is probably how we ended up with a campground not on the actual trail. These options are double edged swords. It does increase chances you’ll be awarded a permit but it opens the possibility to a sub-par itinerary. Not all campgrounds are equal IMO.
Note: These were the options when we applied in 2019.
Itinerary
We did a 7 day clockwise itinerary starting from Longmire and actually received most of the campgrounds we had requested. We were actually permitted an 8 day itinerary but the day 7 camp was Paradise River which ended up closed due to hazard trees. We were reassigned to Cougar Rock when we picked up the permit. Cougar Rock isn’t on the Wonderland trail and is roughly 1 mile from Longmire so we decided to just finish it in 7 days.
Thoughts
I had actually been pretty excited about this trip. There’s a lot of glamour to a trail with a name like Wonderland so the bar was set pretty high. The photos from guidebooks and trip reports are simply amazing. The hype from winning the permits really amps you up. And if you haven’t caught on yet, I’m not sure how much I really enjoyed the trip. Don’t get me wrong, there were absolutely stunning moments along the trail. But there were also a large amount of mundane moments that made up a large percentage of those 7 days. Let’s start from the beginning.
We knew going into this that day 1 was going to be rough. We were looking at a 17 mile day with roughly 6500ft of gain and 3700ft of loss according to CalTopo. Not exactly how you want to start a multi-day hike. We grabbed a high cost but conveniently located motel room at Gateway Inn and Cabins for the night before our start. It made picking up our permit the day before and getting an early start feasible as it was only 15-20 minutes from the Longmire trailhead and wilderness center.
Right from the start you notice just how vibrantly green everything is. Coming from California, lush vegetation is just not something you see unless you’re on the coast. The multitude of greens right next to the trail was astounding. We settled into our step as we took in the ups and downs of the trail. Hiking through dense forest can be beautiful and it was different from our typical high Sierra granite sprawls. Lots of shade, limited exposure except on the high points. It didn’t take long until we were treated with our first view of Mount Rainier. One minute we were in dense foliage, the next, the world opened up to this view.
In and out of the trees we weaved. Every once in a while we’d come across a meadow overrun with a variety of wildflowers and a spectacular view of the mountain. These were probably my favorite moments and the whole reason I had wanted to do this trail in the first place.
Each day we were presented with a similar schedule; a couple thousand feet of gain or descent, lunch, then a couple thousand feet of the opposite. A lot of switchbacks were done, most of them in dense forest. On this trip I discovered that I much prefer open expanses to hiking with limit sight of where the trail is going. The images often advertised of vast alpine meadows are from specific areas and not totally representative of the whole trail.
After doing the JMT last year I realized that I don’t really care to write play by plays. For the most part, you had to be there. There are high points or little points of interest that I enjoy writing about, but for the most part, I don’t think I could do these places justice and I much rather inspire people to go do it for themselves.
My favorite part of the trail was definitely day 6, White River to Olallie Creek. Olallie Creek in itself was moral destroying, I don’t recommend using that camp. However, the trail through Summerland and Indian Bar was everything I had wanted the Wonderland Trail to be. I love being above the tree line. I love alpine meadows and snow melt lakes. We could see the climbers descending after summiting the mountain. We could see Mt Adams and Mt Hood after we topped out from Indian Bar. That day was stunning.
Mount Rainier itself, almost as tall as Whitney, dominates the landscape in the area like surrounding peaks like Mt Adams. Its so tall compared to everything else that it really is quite a beautiful mountain. The Wonderland Trail was an adventure for sure and every excursion is a learning experience. I think I might take a break from the long hikes. I find I don’t have the time or energy to really appreciate just being there. I’m looking forward to a few relaxing overnighters now that I can better appreciate them. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to do the Wonderland Trail. Can’t beat those wildflowers, that’s for sure.
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