Ricksecker Point

Ricksecker Point is a promontory ridge between Rampart Ridge and the Tatoosh Range, reached by a one-way scenic loop with two roadside pullouts. Both open onto views of Mount Rainier and the Nisqually and Paradise river valleys. It is a quick drive-up stop, not a hike; give yourself time to get out at both pullouts, where wayside panels explain how ice and lava shaped the mountain.

Each pullout gives a view across the ridge and valleys, with Rainier rising beyond the forest. Clouds can hide the mountain, so the exhibits still give the stop something to offer when the famous view is muted. For a photo, keep some of the dark forested ridge below the summit; that contrast makes the scale of the snowy slopes easier to read.

The ridge carries a lava flow about 40,000 years old. Glacial ice chilled the lava from below and helped leave flows perched high on the ridges as valley glaciers retreated. At the flow's edge, horizontal column-shaped joints preserve evidence of lava moving across glacial terrain; studying this site helped geologists understand how ice directed Rainier's lava flows.

The point takes its name from Eugene Ricksecker, an Army Corps of Engineers supervisor who surveyed the route to Paradise in 1904. Surveyors first called the feature Gap Point; the name changed after a road was built in 1909. This narrow, cliff-edged stretch was once part of the original Paradise road and was known for rockfall. A detour built in 1930 became the main route, leaving Ricksecker Point Road as a scenic loop. Its rough-cut native-stone guardwalls date from the 1930s, with some work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The loop is about one-third mile long and has two main parking pullouts, each with interpretive panels. It lies about 6.5 miles from Longmire and 5 miles from Paradise on the road between them. The road typically closes for winter from early November through mid-May, so check park road status when planning a seasonal visit.