Burroughs Mountain Trail

Wanna see some terrific up close and personal views of Mount Rainier, sprinkled with river valleys. mountain goats, and climbers on glaciers? Check out the Burroughs Mountain Trail on Mount Rainier’s east side. Open expanses provide views of high lakes, close-up wildlife, distant mountain peaks, and acres of wildflowers.

The starting point at Sunrise Visitor Center was the end of the road on the east side, and many trails sprouted out from there. We did a 7.5 mile route from Sunrise at 6400 foot elevation, up to Second Burroughs Mountain at 7400 feet, and then took a quick steep thigh burn down through the valley below to our White River Campground spot at 4232 feet. A car shuttle back up to the top completed the loop.

Heading out from the masochistic group of hill climbing bicyclists resting at Sunrise, we first went up the north ridge and headed east over to snowfield-rimmed Frozen Lake. All shapes and colors of small mountain wildflowers covered the ground as we then headed up to the two Burroughs Mountains, with the insightful names First Burroughs and Second Burroughs. Views were great. We saw mountain goats nibbling nearby, and there were interesting details to search out across the face of Mount Rainier. Lines of climber ants were descending from their hopefully successful summit attempts earlier in the morning, and we could see some hanging out by their tents at Camp Schurman while others glissaded on their butts down Inter Glacier for fun.

Although our original plan was to hike out-and-back, the beautiful river valley below beckoned to me and everyone else agreed, so we turned it into a longer U-shaped route. Past Second Burroughs, another trail descended steeply into the valley which grew increasingly green with grass meadows and forest stands not seen on the higher Burroughs Mountains. We connected up with Glacier Basin Trail at the bottom, which was an entry route for climbers heading to the two glacier camps on Mount Rainier’s east side. The trail meandered along the White River, though the last mile or so was a jungle gym of fallen trees, rock hopping, and wash-outs still left over from the freak floods at the park two years ago. At the end: our waiting campsite and chocolate treats!