Wonderland 100M
If the 93 mile Wonderland Trail that circles the mighty Mt Rainier is not on your bucket list you probably need to get a new bucket. To have the distance equal a full 100 miles we put the start/finish at the Henry M Jackson Visitor's Center at Paradise and do a loop on the Skyline Trail adding seven more spectacular miles to the adventure. This is a burly route with 25,000ft of elevation gain with numerous tough climbs.
Distance: 100M
Elevation Gain: 25,200FT
Start: Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise
Finsih: Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise
Register: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=78772
More details: The route starts and finishes at the Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise. The Wonderland Trail is about 93 miles long so to get the mileage to 100 miles we chose to start off the Wonderland Trail up at Paradise and start by running a short loop(4.8 miles) above Paradise, mostly but not entirely on the Skyline Trail. Then after that loop, you'll run about 1.5 miles down to the Wonderland Trail and do the 93-mile loop(counter-clockwise, heading first towards Reflection Lakes, is what I'd recommend as you will go up and over Panhandle Gap earlier in the run rather than later in the run. I suggest going this way so you go through Panhandle Gap in the daylight as it's an area that in the dark folks have had trouble staying on course in the past). And then after doing the Wonderland Trail you'll run the same 1.5 miles back up to Paradise and finish there WITHOUT doing the extra 4.8 mile loop above the parking lot that you did at the very beginning of the run.
Here are some turn by turn directions(mainly for the very beginning of the race):
Start: Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise and head north out of the parking lot with the goal of getting on the Skyline Trail.
There is a web of trails at Paradise so it might be hard to figure out which trail is Skyline. You can find it by standing at the flag pole in front of the visitor's center, standing there look to your right(towards Rainier) for a granite staircase. You'll know its the correct staircase because it has this quote from John Muir "...the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain top wanderings".
Going up the Skyline Trail you'll encounter many trail intersections be sure to always make sure you're staying on the Skyline Trail.
At about 1.9 miles you'll turn left unto Upper Skyline Trail(or is it called High Skyline? Something like that.) and head towards Panorama Point(you'll go past a couple of short side trails on your left as you go up that lead towards a bathroom building).
At about 2.7 miles you'll leave the Skyline Trail and turn right onto the Golden Gate Trail.
After about 0.9 mile on Golden Gate Trail you'll turn right onto Skyline Trail and go about another 1/2 mile on the Skyline Trail to the parking lot at Henry M Jackson Visitors Center where you started. You'll run through the parking lot area, turn left onto the main road, go about 300 or 400 feet and turn right onto Lower Lakes Trail.
Head down Lower Lakes Trail for about 0.6 miles and then turn right onto Narada Falls Trail and stay on it for about 0.7 miles to the Wonderland Trail.
Turn Left onto the Wonderland Trail and follow it for about 93 miles all the way around Mt Rainier.
After going all the way around the Wonderland turn left onto Narada Falls Trail and follow it uphill for about 0.7 mile.
Turn left onto Lower Lakes Trail and follow it uphill for about 0.6 mile to Paradise.
Turn Left onto the main road towards the Paradise parking lot and run back to where you started in the parking lot by the Henry M Jackson Visitor Center. (Don't run the 4.1 mile Skyline Trail loop that you did at the very start)
Distance: 100M
Elevation Gain: 25,200FT
Start: Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise
Finsih: Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise
Register: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=78772
More details: The route starts and finishes at the Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise. The Wonderland Trail is about 93 miles long so to get the mileage to 100 miles we chose to start off the Wonderland Trail up at Paradise and start by running a short loop(4.8 miles) above Paradise, mostly but not entirely on the Skyline Trail. Then after that loop, you'll run about 1.5 miles down to the Wonderland Trail and do the 93-mile loop(counter-clockwise, heading first towards Reflection Lakes, is what I'd recommend as you will go up and over Panhandle Gap earlier in the run rather than later in the run. I suggest going this way so you go through Panhandle Gap in the daylight as it's an area that in the dark folks have had trouble staying on course in the past). And then after doing the Wonderland Trail you'll run the same 1.5 miles back up to Paradise and finish there WITHOUT doing the extra 4.8 mile loop above the parking lot that you did at the very beginning of the run.
Here are some turn by turn directions(mainly for the very beginning of the race):
Start: Henry M Jackson Visitors Center Parking Lot at Paradise and head north out of the parking lot with the goal of getting on the Skyline Trail.
There is a web of trails at Paradise so it might be hard to figure out which trail is Skyline. You can find it by standing at the flag pole in front of the visitor's center, standing there look to your right(towards Rainier) for a granite staircase. You'll know its the correct staircase because it has this quote from John Muir "...the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain top wanderings".
Going up the Skyline Trail you'll encounter many trail intersections be sure to always make sure you're staying on the Skyline Trail.
At about 1.9 miles you'll turn left unto Upper Skyline Trail(or is it called High Skyline? Something like that.) and head towards Panorama Point(you'll go past a couple of short side trails on your left as you go up that lead towards a bathroom building).
At about 2.7 miles you'll leave the Skyline Trail and turn right onto the Golden Gate Trail.
After about 0.9 mile on Golden Gate Trail you'll turn right onto Skyline Trail and go about another 1/2 mile on the Skyline Trail to the parking lot at Henry M Jackson Visitors Center where you started. You'll run through the parking lot area, turn left onto the main road, go about 300 or 400 feet and turn right onto Lower Lakes Trail.
Head down Lower Lakes Trail for about 0.6 miles and then turn right onto Narada Falls Trail and stay on it for about 0.7 miles to the Wonderland Trail.
Turn Left onto the Wonderland Trail and follow it for about 93 miles all the way around Mt Rainier.
After going all the way around the Wonderland turn left onto Narada Falls Trail and follow it uphill for about 0.7 mile.
Turn left onto Lower Lakes Trail and follow it uphill for about 0.6 mile to Paradise.
Turn Left onto the main road towards the Paradise parking lot and run back to where you started in the parking lot by the Henry M Jackson Visitor Center. (Don't run the 4.1 mile Skyline Trail loop that you did at the very start)
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