This was an absolutely breathtaking hike with stunning views no matter where you looked!!! I was in heaven the entire time. We were beyond lucky with the weather. The days leading up to this hike were rainy, windy, and chilly. But this day was perfect! Sunny, clear skies let you see for miles. From Panorama Point you can see Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, and many others in the surrounding mountain ranges. We got lucky and only needed to add a long sleeve layer when we reached our destination to sit and eat a snack comfortably. (Keeping in mind we all had packed extra layers, including raincoats and gloves just to be safe).
The trailhead for the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point starts at the Paradise Visitor Center in Rainer National Park. As I've mentioned in previous posts, you now are required to purchase timed vehicle entry passes for the park as well as a national park pass. I would advise (as I often do), getting to the trailhead early as this parking is large, but fills up very quickly since it the starting point for many trails. It is always a good idea to check in with the Ranger Station or Visitors Center information before heading out as they often have updated trail conditions, weather, etc. We stopped in at the Visitors Center the day before since we planned to head out before they were open on our hike day.
The trail that we decided to take was the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point. There is an option for a loop trail, however we decided to do an out and back instead since we ended up actually going further than Panorama Point. We also ended up talking to another group of hikers later that week in the park that had done the loop option, and they had stated that because of the snow they had to use their GPS and AllTrails navigation to keep them in the right area and going in the correct direction. It is very easy to get off trail with the snow cover. The start of the trail is paved and very easy to follow with the signs. Soon it turns to snow cover and packed monorails. We were able to complete this hike without crampons, spikes, or other traction, but I can see how it might be helpful. That being said, by the time we were heading down, some of the top layers of the snow were melting and just turning it to more slush, so crampons probably wouldn't have been much help anyways. Pros and Cons to wearing traction. I guess my point is, none of us in the group used them as we made good time up and down with very little difficulty.
I should not that we did this hike in late June, so if you want to avoid the snow you might want to plan to wait a few weeks for the snow to disappear. I have friends who have hiked in July and early August, and they said the wildflowers were great to look at, but the crowds were much heavier. So, pros and cons there as well.
(Mt. Rainier from our stopping point)
Anyways, I got a little off track, back to the trail. AllTrails has Panorama Point from the Paradise Visitors Center as approximately 4 miles out and back. It is a moderately inclined hike, with several steeper sections. As I mentioned at the start of this post, the views however are stunning!! You have wonderful views the entire time you are on the trail. Whether it is views of Mt. Rainier itself or of the surrounding mountain ranges. Just absolutely breathtaking!
Our group made good time and decided that we were going to hike a bit past Panorama Point as there are several rocky outcroppings further up that looked less crowded. The hike up to those areas was definitely steeper and harder to traverse. But in my mind, well worth it for the views and some space to ourselves.
I would 100% recommend this hike to anyone visiting the park and would do it again in a heartbeat, maybe going even further next time.
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