This Incredible Hike In Washington Will Literally Take You Above The Clouds

Thanks to the everchanging landscape, the Evergreen State is blessed with some pretty great trails. But what if we were to tell you that one of the best hikes in Washington will not only take you up close to the famous Mount Rainier but you'll also feel like you're floating in the clouds? Intrigued? We're here to set you up with all the details. 

Mount Fremont Lookout Trail is a 5.6-mile moderate hike that'll take you to one of the last fire lookouts in the Mount Rainier National Park.

You'll need a $30/vehicle National Park Pass to enter and begin your adventure at the Sunrise Visitor Center and head to the Sourdough Ridge Trail to access this spot. 

Thanks to a lofty elevation gain of 900 feet, you'll make your way up a 7,181-foot knoll on rocky Mount Fremont — with panoramic views every step of your way. 

You can feast your eyes on meadows of wildflowers that put up quite the show beginning in June. 

Views of Crystal Mountain, Cascades, Olympic ranges, and Rainier will accompany you along the way. 

You'll even come across the Frozen Lake filled with snow year-around, a herd of wild mountain goats, elk, plenty of squirrels, marmots, and deer that live there. Due to the presence of wildlife, dogs aren't allowed on this path. 

Once you summit the mountain, you won't be able to miss the 1934-built historic cabin that rangers sometimes still use. 

You can enter the lookout and peer through its glass windows and take in the vista around you or pack a lunch and enjoy a picnic too (don't forget to pack-out what you pack in.) 

You can reportedly even see the Space Needle in Seattle through binoculars from up here. 

If you set out on the journey early in the morning, you'll be cloaked in endless cloud cover.

While this might obstruct what you can see beneath you, how often can you say that you touched the puffy mist?

Either way, you'll be able to see the sunrise behind the majestic Rainier, up-close, and that in itself is bucket-list worthy. 

Mount Fremont Lookout Trail

Price: $30 per vehicle/7 days for the National Park Pass

Address: Sunrise Park Rd., Ashford, WA

Why You Need To Go: You'll get some of the best views in Washington from this historic lookout + you can feel like you're in the clouds. 

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