Miles: 1.3 RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 300ft/5210ft
Map: Green Trails No Mount Rainier 269SX
Favorite Eats After Hike: Farelli’s Wood Fire Grill, Alpine Inn, Cliff Droppers, White Pass Taqueria, Fargher Lakehouse, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
The Faraway Rock Trail leads to an easily accessible viewpoint up from Stevens Canyon Road and Reflection Lakes along the Wonderland Trail showcasing views of glistening Lake Louise and the towering Tatoosh Ridge.
Parking at the east end of Reflection Lakes, take the trail marked for the Wonderland and Lakes Trails at 4880 feet. You will be greeted by brightly hued paintbrush and columbine as you descend slightly on a wide, well maintained path.
After .1 miles, keep left at a signed junction for Faraway Rock (Mazama Ridge Trail). Climb through evergreen forest and alpine meadows on gravel filled steps that help ease the gradual ascent.
There is an occasionally unbridged and seasonal stream that flows between Reflection Lakes and Lake Louise at .3 miles. From here, the trail continues on a series of check steps, some of them requiring high stepping.
At roughly 5100 feet, the trail levels out and approaches a rugged outcropping at 5220 feet and .65 miles from the road. Peer down at the arrow-shaped Lake Louise and across at Bench Lake nestled in the slope of the Tatoosh Ridge to the south.
Tatoosh, Stevens, Plummer, Unicorn, Foss and Pinnacle Peaks are the dominant summits that make up this commanding ridgeline, squint and you may see eager mountaineers traversing their slopes. The more austere Stevens Ridge lies to the east forcing Stevens Canyon Road to make its famous hairpin turn.
My trip report:
8/8/2020
Being that it was the weekend, I got up early to beat the crowds. Which I did but in exchange I did not get a view. And I am not too sad about that…
I parked in the pullout just east of the two Reflection Lakes where the Wonderland Trail leaves the pavement and moves towards Louise Lake. Everything was shrouded in grey, even the lineup of photographers at Reflection Lakes hoping in vain for Tahoma to make her arrival on the water’s surface. The parking lot over there was full at 6am but no one was over where I was.
The trail was not too tame that I didn’t get the heart pumping and there were tons of wildflowers in the meadows along the way, including some of my favorites like paintbrush and columbine. The creek was dry so just a walk over and I chuckled at the two attempts at footbridges laying discarded downstream.
I reached the jagged viewing point at .65 miles with a wall of low level cloud to greet me. I imagined Stevens Ridge on the horizon and Louise Lake below as I had a breakfast snack. There were only footprints to keep me company, the deer I had passed on the way up had decided to not stick around.
The small pond just up the Lakes Trail was tranquil and unassuming, softened by the early morning fog. I hung out for awhile but it was clear that it would be hours before a clearing so I headed back down the trail. Back on the road, the unlucky photographers had also given up, reluctantly putting away their tripods. The total distance was 1.3 miles and I spotted the geomarker for Reflection on the pavement which I missed last time I was by doing the Wonderland Trail.
Directions: From the Nisqually entrance into Mount Rainier National Park, drive 15 miles to a junction with the Stevens Canyon Road. Turn right and drive 1.5 miles to Reflection Lakes and park on the east end in parking along the road. From the southeast entrance, travel the Stevens Canyon Road west for 18 miles to the Reflection Lakes parking area. There are no facilities. You will need a National Parks Pass or America The Beautiful Pass.
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