Best Mount Rainier One Day Trip Guide

Mount Rainier National Park is one of Washington’s gems! It’s ~2 hours from Seattle and makes for a good one day trip or a longer weekend trip. See this Mount Rainier One Day Trip Guide for some of my favorite hikes.

LOGISTICS For Mount Rainier

If you only have one spare day like we did, I would recommend coming to Mount Rainier early, spending the day here and then heading back to Seattle! Here are a few important things to know for your Mount Rainier one day trip:

Car: You will need a car to get here and to get around! In good weather, you can get by in a normal sedan and don’t need an SUV or a 4 wheel drive. The roads at Rainier are pretty good.
National Park Pass: The entrance fee is $30, but you can also get an annual pass for $80. You do not need to buy this ahead of time and can pay at the entrance stations! There is not a “fast lane” if you buy the pass ahead of time so either way you will have to wait to get in 🙂
Sunrise Visitor Center: There are multiple entrances to get to Rainier but you will want head to Sunrise Visitor Center here.
COVID Safety: Good but not great. You can see in the photo above that the tower was pretty crowded, mask wearing is sparse. Some people hiking in groups of 8+. I actually never went to the tower and took this shot from 50 feet away. The bathrooms were also fairly crowded.
When go to: IMO Rainier is mostly only worth it if there are clear skies – because you want views of Rainier! It’s a little bit of a bummer when it’s cloudy out. Check the local weather before heading out

Now that we have your logistics sorted out, let’s check out the best views in Mount Rainier, including the best place to watch or photograph sunset!

BEST DAY HIKES IN MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK

There are a lot of hiking options in Rainier, but for one day I would optimize for the best views in Mount Rainier! Here are some of my favorite hikes:

Burroughs Mountain Trail: 4.7 miles to the 1st burrough, 7 miles to the 2nd. This hike actually follows along a lot of the same trail as the Mt Fremont Lookout, so it’s a perfect hike to group together! We were lucky with an inversion and it was super beautiful the whole way. Also great views of Rainier
Mount Fremont Lookout Trail: 5.6 miles RT, but again it will be shorter if you come from the Burroughs. The most popular time of day to go here is for sunset, which means you will be hiking down in the dark. Don’t forget to pack warm gear and a light! This is by far the best sunset in Mount Rainier!
Tipsoo Lake: More of a lookout point than a hike, this is a nice detour as you’re heading to Sunrise. You can walk around the lake, but the best view is if you continue on the road around the East side of the lake to 46.86828737063462, -121.51530421371298. For the little amount of effort to get here, this is definitely one of Mount Rainier’s best views.