{"id":482,"date":"2016-06-11T17:44:54","date_gmt":"2016-06-11T17:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/pinnacle-peak-trail-wa\/"},"modified":"2016-06-11T17:44:54","modified_gmt":"2016-06-11T17:44:54","slug":"pinnacle-peak-trail-wa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/pinnacle-peak-trail-wa\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinnacle Peak Trail, WA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_pdf\"PDF<\/span><\/a>\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Vicinity
\nLocation:<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>About
\n14 miles east of Ashford, WA in Mt. Rainier
\nNational Park.<\/p>\n

Directions: <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>The road to this trailhead is
\ngenerally closed from November to May. Check the Mt. Rainier National Park
\nwebsite for the Stevens Canyon Road opening and closing dates.<\/p>\n

\nFrom Portland<\/strong>, take I-5 North and
\ntake exit 68 to Hwy 12. Take Hwy 12 for about 30 miles to Morton. Turn
\nleft on Hwy 7 and drive about 17
\n miles to Hwy 706. Turn right on Hwy 706 and drive to the
\nNisqually entrance on the west side of Mt. Rainier
\n National Park. Continue several miles past Longmire Inn
\nturn right towards Stevens Canyon Road. Continue to Reflection Lakes and look
\nfor the Pinnacle Peak Trail sign on the right side of the road. Park in any
\nnearby parking area.<\/p>\n

From Seattle<\/strong>, take I-5 South to Hwy 512 East and go towards Puyallup (Exit 127).
\nFollow Hwy 512 East for about 2 miles. Turn south onto Hwy 7 towards Mt.
\nRainier. Follow Hwy 7 south to Elbe. At Elbe, turn left onto Hwy 706, travel
\nthrough Ashford, and then to the Nisqually entrance of Mt. Rainier National
\nPark. Continue several miles past Longmire Inn turn right towards Stevens
\nCanyon Road. Continue to Reflection Lakes and look for the Pinnacle Peak Trail
\nsign on the right side of the road. Park in any nearby parking area.<\/p>\n

There are no bathrooms at the trailhead. Flush toilets are available at Narada
\nFalls.<\/p>\n

Pets are not allowed on the trails in National Parks. <\/p>\n

A permit is needed to park in National Parks. <\/p>\n

Trail:<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Pinnacle Peak Trail, Plummer Peak with connections to Pinnacle Peak and The
\nCastle.<\/p>\n

Trail Maps:<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Topo
\nMap<\/a>, National Park Map<\/a>, Download Garmin .gpx file<\/a><\/p>\n

Length and Elevation:<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>3.2 miles round trip. Elevation gain of 1,510 feet and loss of 40 feet to
\nPlummer Peak. Elevation at the trailhead is 4,900 feet and the highest point is
\nat 6,370 feet. Lowest elevation is 4,900 feet.<\/p>\n

Review: July 14, 2013.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pinnacle Peak Trail is an out and back trail and is maintained to Pinnacle
\nSaddle.<\/p>\n

The trail leaves the parking area on a moderately uphill grade for a bit and
\nparallels a tumbling stream. Soon the trail climbs more steeply and it isn’t
\nlong before you see patches of snow even in mid-July. You will pass avalanche lilies
\nand other plants that bloom near patches of recently melted snow. <\/p>\n

As you climb higher the trail leaves the dark green Hemlock forest behind and
\nbegin to cross rocky slopes of Pinnacle Peak. You will probably cross other
\nsnow fields along the trail. Looking back, there are spectacular views of Mt.
\nRainier and some of the smaller peaks on the shoulders of Mt. Rainier.<\/p>\n

The trail crosses a couple of small streams that are easily stepped across and after
\nabout a mile comes to a couple of switchbacks on a slope of chattering rocks
\nbelow Pinnacle Peak. The trail is fairly wide through the rocks and the footing
\nis good. <\/p>\n

From the switchbacks the views extend into the Nisqually valley and towards Mt.
\nRainier and those views are spectacular on a clear day. You can now see the Stevens
\nCanyon road that goes around Reflection Lakes. <\/p>\n

If you plan to summit Plummer Peak, while on the switchbacks, look south to the
\nright side of the saddle and study the size of the snowfield. If there is a
\nsafe track across it then you could use that footpath. If there is no apparent path
\nacross the snowfield then plan to use the rocky slope on the other side of the
\nsaddle, which is detailed in this review. Trying to cross this steep snow slope
\ncould result in a most unfortunate slide into bone-breaking rocks that leads to
\nthe final slope of Plummer Peak.<\/p>\n

Continuing up the trail, you pass under a couple of small cliffs on the way to
\nthe saddle. At the saddle are great views into the Butter Creek drainage to the
\nsouth and Paradise River and the Nisqually River to the north. <\/p>\n

The saddle is the end of the maintained trail and this can be a good place to
\nturn around. If you decide to go off trail, be aware that the route to Plummer
\nPeak has poor footing and skirts steep cliffs. <\/p>\n

To continue up to Plummer Peak, walk through the saddle and turn to the right.
\nThese are the slopes of Plummer Peak. Follow the boot path that stays on the
\nsoutheast side of the slope. <\/p>\n

Pick your way up across the rocks, tracing the most used path. When you come up
\nthrough a little rocky area that opens onto a wide slope, look back to remember
\nyour path so you can find this spot on the way back and avoid the steep snow
\nslope above the saddle. <\/p>\n

From here, choose any easy way up to Plummer Peak. Near the top there are some
\nold trees that you need to squeeze past but patience will soon be rewarded with
\nspectacular 360 degree views. Plummer Peak has several small flat area to sit
\nand enjoy the sweet views of endless mountains. From the top you can see Mt.
\nSt. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and of course Mt. Rainier. <\/p>\n

On the way down, stay on the south side of the ridge until you can see the
\nfinal approach to Plummer Peak.<\/p>\n

This trail is safe for small children up to the saddle and is a short hike with
\ngreat views. Between the saddle and Plummer Peak the unmaintained boot path
\ncovers broken rock, steep slopes, and passes by cliffs. Other user trails in
\nthe area are very dangerous, passing beneath tall cliffs and having poor
\nfooting.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the Photos!<\/p>\n

Gallery
\nPics
\n<\/a>
\nSwitchback Steve<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spectacular mountain views, mountain meadows, and fields of wildflowers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[34,31,30,32,29],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dayhikes","tag-lake","tag-mt-adams","tag-mt-hood","tag-mt-rainier","tag-mt-st-helens"],"yoast_head":"\nPinnacle Peak Trail, WA - Eyehike - Your Guide to Hiking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pinnacle Peak Trail, WA - Eyehike - Your Guide to Hiking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spectacular mountain views, mountain meadows, and fields of wildflowers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/pinnacle-peak-trail-wa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eyehike - Your Guide to Hiking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-11T17:44:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/pinnacle-peak-trail-wa\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/pinnacle-peak-trail-wa\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/#\/schema\/person\/c1017e482f7908241b8e679dc0f446f4\"},\"headline\":\"Pinnacle Peak Trail, WA\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-11T17:44:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/pinnacle-peak-trail-wa\/\"},\"wordCount\":937,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eyehike.com\/2016\/#\/schema\/person\/45536f7e9c51638e7b280d79d7bb0eee\"},\"keywords\":[\"lake\",\"Mt. 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