Grand Park via Lake Eleanor Trail Run
One of the most underrated routes in Washington!
Monday, 9/30/24
STATS:
Mileage: 11 miles (it's ~9 miles baseline but we continued deeper into the meadows)
Elevation Gain: 1,446 ft
Alternatively, you can access Grand Park via Sunrise (14 miles, 3,700 ft gain). This is the "backdoor" approach.
MAP:
This is such an underrated run!! The terrain is runnable the entire time– a rare treat in Washington. The trails felt flowy, fast, and fun! We had an alpine start of 1:38pm.
The "trailhead" is a small dirt pulloff on FR 73. There’s probably a line of cars parked along the road on a nice summer weekend, but on this beautiful fall Monday, Clarisse and I only saw one other pair out there.
The trail starts in the forest and begins climbing gently toward Lake Eleanor. When we visited in fall, there were lots of mushrooms!!
Within 0.1 of a mile, the trail enters Mount Rainier National Park and in less than a mile, arrives at the bright blue waters of Lake Eleanor.
The trail climbs a bit more steeply after the lake, though it retains its moderate character.
There are some rolling hills that will make the run back down feel very flowy, before the route begins to periodically open up in patches of meadows (and the first glimpses of Mount Rainier!).
Continue onwards to Grand Park‘s plateau for the biggest meadows and mountain views.
During summer (~mid-July through mid-August), the meadows are full of wildflowers. A warning: I've heard the mosquitoes and flies are bad in early summer (I know... only in WA does mid-July to mid-August qualify as "early" summer– but that's when the snow finally melts... and it's also when the flowers are blooming). In mid to late September, the meadows turn vibrant red and the bugs are gone! Stay on trail to protect the fragile meadow vegetation and practice Leave No Trace.
This hidden gem was brimming with mountain magic—Clarisse and I spent the afternoon bounding through meadows, speaking Italian, flowing through shaded forests, and reveling in the quiet beauty of mushrooms and fiery leaves. The open skies of the meadows would make an incredible sunset or stargazing destination.