Explore the most popular walking trails near Packwood with hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you.
A nice trail to accommodate non hikers, beautiful veiws all along the trail.
I did this trail on Sept 9th (took about 3 hours), and it was breathtaking despite the cloud cover! Get there early to beat the crowds. I started at 8:30 am and took the little dirt path to Sunrise Rim trail towards Emmons Glacier overlook, inclined via Burroughs Mountain trail to 1st Burroughs Mountain, and came back down via Sourdough Ridge trail. The incline might be a small challenge for beginners since it's on a narrow trail at the edge of a cliff, but more experienced hikers would consider it a piece of cake. Nice weather, no bugs, and no ice on the trail. The scenery is diverse... forests, rivers, lakes, meadows, and at times barren, rocky alpine conditions. Coffee and a black bean burger at the lodge were much needed before the drive back to Seattle. Overall, worth it for the views!
left pre-dawn, complete down pour of rain!! Rain turned to snow just before Summerland shelter. Within the next 1/2 mile, trail turned into its own waterfall (water mixed with slush). turned around shy of Pan Handle, wet/slushy/freezing rocks way to slick (I was running). Beautiful day!! Snow mixed with fall color and hazy skies, awesome!!!
Hiked to Lost Lake via Packwood Lake Trail #78 Sunday of Labor Day Weekend for an overnighter. 20 miles RT (counting a 4 mile RT to the Old Lookout above Lost Lake), with 4216ft elevation gain including Old Lookout that took 5hrs to Lost Lake.
As expected, the parking lot was packed and started a second parking row. Arrived and on the trail by 9am. Arrived at the Packwood Lake in 1.5 hrs, had a snack and continued on Packwood Lake Trail #78 UP 4 miles to Lost Lake. This section is step climbing approx. 2500 ft. Mosquito Lake is overgrown by brush and not really suitable to stay, however there is a nice campsite next to it. Afterward there is a nice meadow with the first views of the Goat Rocks. From there the Junction of Coyote Trail #79 is just ½ mile and Lost Lake is another ½ mile after that. I arrived at Lost Lake at 2:15pm.
I made camp, had lunch and left for a 2 mile side trip up to the Old Lookout site above Lost Lake. Left at 3:30 and arrived at 5pm. Beautiful. There is a 360 degree view including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, The Goat Rocks, Old Snowy and the White Pass ski lifts. Spent 30 minutes up there and headed back. Made it back by 6:30pm.
From the Old Lookout, down to Lost Lake and to the Junction of Coyote Trail #79 is part of the detour of the PCT around the Miriam Fire near White Pass.
Lost Lake had a lot of people, and some sites were open. There are at least 6 sites with lake access, maybe more. 2 were open. The water level at Lost Lake was VERY LOW, about 12-15 ft below years past. There are more camp sites available, however they don’t have lake access, but a seasonal stream is nearby. They are about ½ mile past the lake.
Going down the next day was quick and took 3.5 hrs vs 5 hrs going in. Tough hike after Packwood Lake but easy starting and finishing. Lost Lake is beautiful and a peaceful place to camp with no bugs this trip anyway. Well worth the effort!
Great hike and way to get up close and personal with Rainier! Great photo ops at the top. Burroughs 1 &2 we’re moderate but by the time you get to the 3rd it felt a bit more strenuous. We took about 6.5 hours total with plenty of breaks, lunch at the top and lots of photo ops.
Great 2 night trip. Bugs were not a problem. Lots of other people around but there are plenty of campsites if you dont insist on being at the lake. Roads have a lot of washboard but if you drive a reasonable speed any car can handle them without issue.
Started at Longmire and ended at Madcap falls. Total distance is 7.2 miles out and back. Beautiful hike! When you get to Carter falls Madcap falls is only steps away. I thought Madcap was prettier than Carter. This is now one of my favorite Mount Rainier hikes!
Great hike!!!! you are screwed if you aren’t there by 10am. The line is over a mile long just to pay the park fee. Then you have 10 more mile drive up the mountain and there won’t be anymore parking spots. A bit many people for my liking but I’m glad I did it.
Brenda Z. on Sunrise Rim Trail
Beautiful hike! In my opinion, better to start from the point where the trail is closest to the service road. This way, you face Rainier for more than half of the hike. 5 miles took us 3 hours which included a lot of stopping for pictures.
This is my first hike at Mt. Rainer National Park since moving to Washington and let me say it was worth it. My boyfriend and I decided to hike this moderate hike about two weeks ago. The sunrise trails starts off a little steep but nothing too hard, and that leads you to the frozen lake. If you continue to the Burroughs that’s when the elevation gets a little harder, but not too hard if you’re an avid hiker. It’s steep for a good amount of the hike, then you hit flat land with Mt. Rainer in sight, then you hit the steepness again, and soon enough you’re at the Burroughs and it’s absolutely breathtaking. We went when it was a little cloudy and even then it was beautiful. However you can closer than the second Burroughs and hit the third Burroughs but that’s when it gets tough. The whole up to the third Burroughs is steep, so be prepared. The view is amazing and worth the struggle though, it’s like you can literally touch Mt. Rainer. I’ve done this hike twice now, definitely worth the struggle for the third Burrough!
This is a beautiful hike, the kind you take out-of-town friends on. You have a well maintained trail that starts off in old growth forest that transitions to subalpine meadows and then to a glacial moraine. All of that in 6 miles (one way) and 3k elevation gain.
Trail is maintained well and we found lots of spots near the lake. Bugs weren’t much of a problem (August 19). Total burn ban is in effect so no camp fires. Great for a 1-night backpack.
Great hike! Awesome payoff! Went in using the actual hiking trail, easy and clear except for a few horse pies!
Only hiked up to the first set of falls. It's pretty chill the first half and steep the second, but there is neat scenery between the beginning and end, from the rocky river bed with a view if Rainier to the falls and the creek. It does get rather steep but we saw kids, elderly people and people with babies hiking it as well.
Easy enough to do, although some uphills in parts - about 1,000 feet increase in elevation. Great views of the mountains, lakes, valleys and some wildlife. Even saw a fox that was not at all afraid of us!
I did this hike with my kids and it was great. we stopped at the lake so the kids could dip their feet. A bit of an up hill at the end that they weren't thrilled about but they did it.
We hiked the first ~1.2 miles roundtrip of this trail in late July -- just far enough that, turning around, we could easily take pictures of us with a wonderful unobstructed view of Mt Rainier that included the pretty turquoise lake near White River. The wildflowers were pretty, but no where near as abundant as at Paradise or Lake Tipsoo. The biting insects were voracious; we unfortunately learned that Picardin was ineffective -- DEET is necessary throughout this park.
Great views of Rainier. Start early to beat crowds. Easy hike.
If you up close and personal views of Mt Rainier then this is the hike for you. From the top of each one of the Burroughs you are rewarded with fantastic views. The Second Burroughs is the jumping off point for the vast majority of tourist/hikers (not a bad place to turn around). Looking at the trail drop down into the saddle and up, up, up the other side to the Third Burroughs can be most intimidating but believe me when I say your efforts will be rewarded. If you go extra early you have a decent chance of up close encounters with the marmots and the mountain goats.
Super easy hike, very flat. Worth it for the viewing area.
Pretty hike. Connected to several other trails, easy to continue on.
The meadow views along the trail were great! Lake was a great lunch stop. Hiked this leg on a larger loop and going from the lake back to Sunrise was dusty and had few breaks from the blazing sun.
the trails and campsites are enjoyable, and the lake is beautiful.
The mosquitoes are out in full force right now, so be prepared for that. the minute you stop walking, they start to swarm.
if you go during the week you'll have your pick of the sites and plenty of solitude.
There's lots of trash at the campsites, though, so please remember to pack out whatever you bring, and any trash other people left behind.
Very easy hike with great views. Is great for small children and lowlanders. Like myself.
Great hike through the trees. Lake is beautiful. Plenty of places up around the lake to be secluded from others. My husband and son caught 4 trout. Hike is not strenuous, little elevation gain. Took about an hour and a half for our family of 4 to get there. Bugs weren't terrible, but we had bug spray. Would definitely hike again if in the area.
Several ways to do this hike. We went up to first Burroughs. That is the 5.3 hike. The lesser loop is like 3.3. Amazing views!! Go early. Waited in line for an hour to get in the park. Easy trail till you get to Shadow Lake then moderate to top of Burroughs. Don’t miss this one!! Worth the drive!
Hiked to Packwood Lake today with my son and grandson. Beautiful day. Sunny and warm with cool breeze every now and then.
The parking lot was full as you'd expect on a nice weekend day. We left in about 12:30pm. Round trip counting the time spent at the lake was 5hrs. The trail is mostly flat with one way elevation gain of 900ft. Easy. There were lots of people at the lake. Lots of tents and people overnighting. We found a nice spot by the water had snacks and had fun. The return trip always seems longer on the trail for some reason and saw about 5 horses total and a small group packing up their ATV's to come back.
This is a great hike and one for he whole family.
Fun Hike. Views of Mt. Rainier keep getting better and better, hike to third Burroughs if you can. No matter the temp in the valley bring a jacket and or a sweater, pretty chilly at top especially with the wind. Highly recommend.
What I expected in the Pacific NW!
Think of this trail as a trail with multiple options. The first part, up to Frozen Lake, was an easy hike, as long as you don't fear heights. From there, there are multiple options including Burroughs Mt. and a return loop to Sunrise. Then there are 3 peaks to Burroughs Mt. At the first peak you have an option to take another loop back to Sunrise, continue to peak 2 or turn around and return to Sunrise. The hike from Frozen Lake to Peak 1 is fairly steep and had some snow but nothing to worry about. Then you go down hill and back up to peak 2. The most difficult part of the hike was between peak 2 and 3. It was fairly steep and a couple of large snow fields. But the view at the top was worth the hike. Overall, I'm glad I did this hike and recommend it. But you should be in good shape. Some of the inclines are steep and challenging.