Paradise Glacier Trail

This 5.1-mile out-and-back starts by the Jackson Visitor Center, follows the lower Skyline Trail to the Paradise Glacier branch, then continues to the signed end of the maintained trail. Allow about 3.5 hours. It suits hikers ready for a moderate, high-alpine walk with climbing, steps, rough moraine and possible summer snow. The reward is a real change of scene: Paradise’s flower meadows give way to an open basin beneath Paradise Glacier.

Follow Skyline toward Myrtle Falls. The opening is paved and steepens above Edith Creek; a short spur gives a close look at the falls. Cross Edith Creek on the bridge, then stay on Skyline at the Golden Gate junction. The broad path traverses steep slopes above Paradise Valley, with gravel, stone steps and drainage gullies. It drops about 150 feet to a snowmelt tributary that can wet your boots, then crosses a second tributary on a bridge. At the 4th Crossing junction, stay on the main Skyline route as it climbs by switchbacks toward open Mazama Ridge.

The Lakes Trail junction is about 1.4 miles from Paradise. Keep climbing to the Stevens–Van Trump Memorial, about 1.8 miles from the visitor center, then turn right onto the quieter glacier spur. It rises above Stevens Creek as grasses and sedges thin out into glacial till and polished rock. Meltwater runs across the route and collects in small tarns; a tarn below the rocky knob can reflect Rainier when the water is still. In summer, wildflowers brighten the open ridges, while snowfields can continue to cover parts of the upper trail.

The signed end of the maintained trail is the turnaround for this route. The path ends on a bare, rocky bench in the glacier basin, short of the current ice. The Paradise Ice Caves that once drew visitors here are gone as the glacier retreated. Some longer distance totals include a rough, informal continuation beyond the sign toward the former cave site. The mapped 5.1-mile walk stops at the maintained end; don’t follow old tracks onto glacier ice or unmarked rock in search of the caves or distant waterfalls.

The memorial marks the camp where Hazard Stevens and Philemon Van Trump spent the night before their 1870 ascent of Rainier, guided by Sluiskin. The Seattle Mountaineers and Portland Mazamas placed the memorial in 1921. The basin also shows what retreating ice leaves behind: scraped rock and sediment now being recolonized by small plants such as mosses and sedges.

Start from the Paradise parking lot by Jackson Visitor Center, at the Skyline trailhead near the visitor-center entrance. Restrooms and a cafeteria are at the visitor center; Paradise Inn has seasonal dining nearby. Pets and bicycles are not allowed on park trails. If the glacier basin is more hike than you want, the signed Skyline walk to Myrtle Falls is about 1 mile round trip, with roughly 100 feet of gain and a 35-minute average time.