It’s a 40-minute drive from Alta Crystal Resort to the Sunrise Visitor Center, the jumping-off point for some of the most scenic hikes in Mount Rainier National Park. Trails here put hikers thisclose to Rainier’s northeast face, so that the glaciers appear to hover on the horizon, just beyond arm’s reach. The route to Burroughs Mountain provides the biggest reward-to-effort ratio. Starting from the trailhead on the southwest corner of the Sunrise parking area, hike west to the Emmons Glacier Overlook and admire the largest glacier in the lower 48. Continue west to tundra-topped First Burroughs Mountain and its IMAX-sized views of Mount Rainier, but don’t forget to look down: Tiny alpine blooms take cover among the tundra grasses in this treeless landscape. Continue to 7,402-foot-high Second Burroughs, then return via the Sourdough Ridge Trail to close the 6-mile loop.
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Hike the Burroughs Mountain Loop, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA
It’s a 40-minute drive from Alta Crystal Resort to the Sunrise Visitor Center, the jumping-off point for some of the most scenic hikes in Mount Rainier National Park. Trails here put hikers thisclose to Rainier’s northeast face, so that the glaciers appear to hover on the horizon, just beyond arm’s reach. The route to Burroughs Mountain provides the biggest reward-to-effort ratio. Starting from the trailhead on the southwest corner of the Sunrise parking area, hike west to the Emmons Glacier Overlook and admire the largest glacier in the lower 48. Continue west to tundra-topped First Burroughs Mountain and its IMAX-sized views of Mount Rainier, but don’t forget to look down: Tiny alpine blooms take cover among the tundra grasses in this treeless landscape. Continue to 7,402-foot-high Second Burroughs, then return via the Sourdough Ridge Trail to close the 6-mile loop.