For anyone looking for a beautiful destination to snowshoe, Nordic ski, or backpack in Washington, look no further than the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park.
After a very successful winter backpacking trip to Mazama Ridge, we decided to plan yet another backpacking trip through the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park. This trip explored not only the well-traveled snowshoe route to Reflection Lake and Louise Lake but also to Bench Lake, which is outside of the bounds maintained by the National Parks Services in winter. If you plan on extending your trip further to Bench Lake like we did, please proceed at your own risk.
Contents
Adventure Stats
Hiked on: January 7, 2023 - January 8, 2023
Hike Time: 3.5hrs Day 1 / 2.5hrs Day 2
Camped at: Bench Lake
Weather: Low 31F snowy
Popularity: Low
Route Finding: Moderate -- Off trail navigation may be necessary if you're setting first tracks. Difficult beyond Louise Lake.
Trail Hazards: Deep snow
Key Sights: Snow, mountains, forest, lakes
Gear Recommendations: Snowshoes required
The Route
Distance: 8.4mi total (out-and-back)
Elevation: +1556ft
Location: Mount Rainier National Park
Direct Link to Trailhead: Google Maps
Direct Link to Route: Caltopo
One thing to note from the terrain stats is that the start of the trail between the Narada Falls trailhead and Inspiration Saddle (the junction that turns to Reflection Lakes) is a relatively steep uphill section.
Trail Report
We ended up backpacking from Narada Falls to Reflection Lakes and beyond to Bench Lake on a relatively overcast and snowy weekend. Despite that, it ended up being a recharging adventure in the backcountry.
First things first, for anyone planning to visit the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park this winter in 2023, there are a couple things you must keep in mind. Due to staffing shortages at Mount Rainier National Park, the Paradise area is only available to visitors on weekends. The Paradise area of Mount Rainier is also one of the few places in Washington State where you are required to use bear canisters to store your food in winter. This is due to a recent uptick of foxes and birds getting into visitors' food.
Before heading up to Paradise, we stopped by the Longmire Museum to pick up our permits from the Visitor Center. The Park Ranger informed us that the route we were planning to take to Bench Lake was not maintained by park staff, and they had no information on the conditions in that area. He also mentioned that there was a possible creek crossing between Bench and Snow Lake, another lake further into the backcountry, and recommended that we avoid Snow Lake. We paid a small fee for our permit, ensured that we had our bear canister, and went on our way.
The time that roads open to Paradise can be variable. The last time we took the road up to Paradise, the road did not open until 10am. This time, it opened at 9am. The best place to find up-to-date information on road opening times is on the @MountRainierNPS Twitter.
In the mornings, road conditions can be slick and icy. Be sure to carry chains with you. We saw a Porsche Cayman spin out on the road to Paradise. There are plenty of spots along the road to Paradise to pull over and chain up as road conditions change.
The trailhead we took starts at Narada Falls. For any vehicle planning to park overnight, it is recommended that you park in the portion of the lot facing the road so that the rest of the parking lot can be plowed. If you need a bathroom break before embarking on your grand adventure, there's a fully-plumbed comfort station located a short walk from the parking lot.
The trailhead is a left turn almost immediately past the comfort station. The snow was deep enough that we had to put on our snowshoes immediately at the trailhead.
Since the Paradise Area of Mount Rainier is not open on the weekdays for other winter adventurers to keep existing tracks well-used, we've found that during the 2022/2023 season there's been an increased likelihood of us needing to lay fresh tracks. Luckily, the first section of the trail had first-tracks laid by others who had an earlier start than us.
The first section of the trail is an uphill ascent to Inspiration Saddle, which is relatively steep by snowshoe standards. Along the route, you can occasionally catch a glimpse of Paradise River beautifully covered in snow.
We had accidentally missed the turnoff to Reflection Lake since tracks were laid toward Mazama Ridge but not toward Reflection Lake. Using our off-trail navigation app, we were able to trace our way back to the Inspiration Saddle junction and begin breaking the trail to Reflection Lake. We were able to utilize markers left by the National Park Service, long black poles along the route, to guide us down to Reflection Lake.
As we approached Reflection Lake, we connected with a route broken by another group coming from a different direction.
Views of Reflection Lake and Louise Lake in winter were underwhelming to say the least. The views may have been especially poor due to low visibility on this overcast day. I had previously visited both lakes in early July when both lakes were crystal clear with a spectacular view of Mount Rainier standing boldly in the background. In January, both lakes just look like large snowfields.
Not all is lost -- there are still plenty of gorgeous winter views along this trail.
As we were breaking the trail on the road alongside Louise Lake, we caught views of Sunbeam Creek, still flowing. This was a good indicator that other creeks at this low of elevation may also still be flowing, which validated our decision not to explore beyond Bench Lake and attempt a possible snow-covered creek crossing to Snow Lake.
Just as we were approaching the turnoff towards Bench Lake, the clouds parted briefly to expose breathtaking views of the Central Cascades.
The turnoff to Bench Lake was ill-defined, and we did our best job using off-trail navigation to find our way to Bench Lake. It required a little bit of bush-whacking to keep us on track. The trail took us through a secluded snow-meadow as well as a couple of high ridges overlooking Bench Lake. The famous bench at Bench Lake had long since been covered by snow.
We found a nice flat spot near Bench Lake to set up camp for the night. It was a great spot to try out our new winter sleep system. Taking lessons we had learned from our previous backpacking trip, we also made sure to melt lots of snow before nightfall, and we slept with all our water bottles and our stove tucked at the foot of our sleeping bags.
A foot of snow fell overnight, but luckily, we were able to follow our tracks out the next morning. Day 2 was much stormier, but we didn't experience anything particularly different on the way out.
Closing Thoughts - 4/10
I wish that I could say that every adventure in the backcountry is more incredible than the last, but I didn't enjoy this backpacking trip very much. I think that weather plays a huge part in how enjoyable a backpacking trip in the winter can be. On a blue sky day, when you can see all the surrounding mountain ranges, the snow can feel absolutely magical, but on a stormy weekend, I'd rather pass. I was also disillusioned by Reflection, Louise, and Bench Lake. Ahead of the trip, I was envisioning crystal clear frozen lakes only to find that in January the lakes look like massive snowfields. It also didn't help that my shoes that day were ill fitting and left me with huge blisters, but that shouldn't impact your decision to try out this route.
For anyone interested in getting picture-perfect frozen lake views, it might be possible to catch both lakes frozen before they get buried in snow, maybe in early December or late November. Otherwise, I'd recommend that you check out other snowshoe routes in the Paradise Area of Mount Rainier, such as this backpacking route along Mazama Ridge, on a blue bird day instead.
Other Resources
Planning out your trip?
You can find more information on Mount Rainier's winter camping guidelines on the National Parks website.
You can find other trail reports on Washington Trails Association.
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