Stevens–Van Trump Monument

Stevens–Van Trump Monument is a low, inscribed stone bench on Mount Rainier’s East Skyline Trail, where it meets the Paradise Glacier Trail. It marks the camp for the 1870 documented ascent and looks out toward Rainier. Make it a meaningful pause on the Skyline walk; reaching it takes a high-country hike.

The full Skyline Loop from Paradise is 5.5 miles round trip, gains about 1,700 feet and takes roughly 4.5 hours. Walking counterclockwise from Paradise, the monument is 1.74 miles in; clockwise, it is 0.75 mile beyond Panorama Point. Panorama Point has a trail toilet; the memorial has no dedicated services. The bench is snow-covered in winter, so this is mainly a summer stop, and early-season route conditions can be hazardous. Pets aren’t allowed on park trails.

The stone’s four inscriptions connect the camp to the climbers and the monument’s own history. Stevens and Van Trump made the first documented successful ascent of Rainier on August 17, 1870. Sluiskin, an Indigenous guide who led them toward Paradise, waited for them here. Hazard Stevens identified the site in 1915, and the Mountaineers and Mazamas erected the memorial in 1924. Indigenous oral records describe summit visits before that 1870 climb, so “first documented” matters.

From this camp, the 1870 route climbed a steep, narrow ridge of crumbling basaltic conglomerate to Gibraltar Rock, then followed a ledge beside a glacier toward the summit. The account of the climb describes rockfall and crevasses. It was a serious mountaineering expedition, not the trail walk visitors make to see the memorial today.

Rainier is the reason to pause here, but include the carved stonework in a photo so the frame tells the story of this exact spot. The wider Skyline route crosses Paradise’s subalpine meadows and brings views of Nisqually Glacier; on a clear day, Mount Hood can appear far to the south. Chipmunks sometimes come close around the bench.