Frozen Lake and Shadow Lake

At Sunrise there are bathroom, trash, gift shop, and restaurant
Time on the trail 4 hours
Length of trail: About  3.5 Miles

Elevation 500 Gain
Animals Seen on the trail deer pikas and squirrels

Don't forget to bring 10 Essentials for Hiking and entrance fee for Mount Rainier for your trip.

After having ice cream at Sunrise Visitor Center we where ready for another adventure so we set off to do the Sunrise Nature Trail well as I was reading the signs to my little guy he decided to he wanted to see Frozen Lake so we changed our plans as we stood taking in all the view of Mount Rainier the Sourdough Range and all the wildflowers. 

Sunrise Area Trails

Lupine & Mount Rainier

Doe a deer a female deer

Red Paintbrush & Lupine 

Frozen Lake


We made it to frozen lake and instead of turning around we decided to go down to the Sunrise camp grounds and Shadow Lake. For this portion I would suggest that you make sure that the trail is free of snow before setting out. We had to cross 2 snow fields in July. The visitors center has some awesome rangers that are able to answer all kinds of questions about the trails.

Looking up at the ridge from Sunrise camp grounds

Shadow Lake

 Once we got down to Shadow Lake I noticed that the sun was getting low in the sky although we had head lamps and put them I also made the decision to put my Little Dude on my shoulders and pack him out the rest of the way.

A Beautiful Meadow

Mount Rainier

We made it off the trail before it was dark and back to sunrise point to take a peak of the sunset which is beautiful from that spot.





While hiking with my son I've learned some helpful trick to keep him happy.

Driving Directions

From Enumclaw, drive east 43 miles on State Route 410 to the Mount Rainier National Park White River Entrance. Veer right onto the Sunrise Road and follow it 17 miles west to the large parking lot and visitor center at the road's end. Note: Sunrise Road usually doesn't open until early July.