Summerland Trailhead — Attraction in Washington

This was our favorite hike of the park. It is a showcase of all of the iconic things the park is known for outside of summiting. We started at the trailhead and went to Panhandle Gap, about 6 miles in.

The first few miles are in the treeline on a wide trail padded by pine needles.

At about 3.6 miles in you'll hit the first big log bridge. That's when the elevation starts getting steeper and you start leaving the safety of the treeline. There are a lot of switchbacks after this point.

At around 4.2 miles in the trail opens up into a beautiful green meadow with amazing views of the mountain to the west. There is also a campsite and bathroom here.

Not too far after that, at around 4.7 miles, the trail turns barren and rocky as you get up into some altitude. We hiked in July and there were still some snowy parts, including a very sketchy traverse at mile 5.8. Take the path to the lower right if you do not have traction. You'll have to do a rock scramble here, and then the finish at Panhandle gap is easy from there.

Parking was not a problem for us, but the area does fill up and get busy. The limited parking (maybe 20 spots) does limit the number of people on the trail, so it ends up being very quiet for the whole hike.

Our total distance was 12.2 miles with 3,000 ft of elevation gain. It took just under 8 hours, taking our time for a lot of...

The trail up to Summerland on the Wonderland Trail is popular, for good reasons. The well maintained trail to the meadow is 4.2 miles (each way) and 2,000 ft. There’s a shelter and backpackers camping spots. While the initial views across the meadow of Little Tahoma and Mt Rainier are spectacular, for the most amazing views you have to hike another 1/4 mile where snow fed streams tumble down the slopes through wildflower gardens. Bear and marmot sightings are common and the chipmunks will steal your lunch if you’re careless. The really adventurous will want to hike another 1.5 miles and 800 ft through rocks, streams and skree to Panhandle Gap. At 6,800 ft it’s the highest point on the Wonderland Trail. The day hikers that make it here usually have a lunch and enjoy the well earned views of Mt Rainier, Mt Adams and the Goat Peaks before hiking down. If you really want a workout swing left from the Gap and take the seldom hiked trail up to Banshee Peak for views of the Savant Glacier and Mt St Helens (another 1.1 miles and 800 ft).

Please note the hiking past Summerland can be snow covered into late June and last 100 yards up to the Gap a steep traverse across a snow field...

This was a pretty casual hike. I don't hike very much and it wasn't horrible feeling. It is a gradual hike up the mountain with the occasional switch back; until about the last half mile where it is about 10 switch backs. The last few switch backs aren't bad because the view is stunning everytime you stop to catch your breath.

There was a lot of flys that liked to bite so be aware of that. Not sure if bug spray helps with flys. We didn't have any to see if it did.

Parking is pretty terrible so try to get there early but we left Kirkland at 7:30 arrived there about 9:30ish and waited 45 mins to get into the park.

Costs 30 dollars I believe to enter. And we parked on the side of the road as best as we could.

I would recommend this hike if you like hiking with views. Some hikes we have done is just staring at dense forests while you hike with one or two amazing view.

This one was about 60% of beautiful views and 40%...