West Side Road (Mount Rainier National Park)
Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 18, 2005
What: A great family hike – or mountain bike ride – along a closed road through old-growth forest, with peekaboo views of Mount Rainier.
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Where: Take I-5 south through Tacoma to Highway 512, Exit 127. Take the Steele Street Exit and follow Steele Street and Spanaway Loop Road to Highway 7, south of Spanaway. Follow Highways 7 and 706 to the Nisqually Entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. Drive 1 mile up the Longmire-Paradise Road from the entrance and turn left onto the West Side Road. The road may be gated here; if so, begin hiking at this point. If the gate is open, follow the West Side Road 3.3 miles to the spot where a locked cable gate closes the road to the public. A large parking area is just south of the gate.
Length: 6.6 or 7 miles, round trip
Beginning elevation: 2,145 feet or 2,875 feet
Highest elevation: 2,875 or 3,550 feet
Maps: Green Trails Mount Rainier West; USGS Quad Mount Wow
Notes: This hike has two trailheads, and with this year’s low snow pack, it’s possible the second trailhead may be open. If not, begin your hike at the junction of the West Side Road and Paradise-Longmire Road. You’ll climb along the closed road as it climbs gently through lowland forest above Tahoma Creek. The gravel road is free of snow and a good tune-up hike for longer treks later in the season. If the gate on West Side Road is open, you can drive 3.3 miles to a second gate and summer trailhead. From here, you’ll begin a 3.5-mile hike to Round Pass, with a spectacular view of Mount Rainier and the Sunset Amphitheater.
Permits: You’ll be asked to pay a $10 per carload fee when you arrive at Mount Rainier National Park at the Nisqually Entrance Station.
More information: Call (360) 569-2211 for recorded information on Mount Rainier trails and roads, or visit www.nps.gov/mora.
Seabury Blair Jr.
(For this hike and more in and around Mount Rainier National Park, check out Day Hike! Mount Rainier, by Ron C. Judd and Seabury Blair Jr., Sasquatch Books.)
