Originally Posted by
busygizmo
Typically we park just inside the White River entrance in the small parking lot. We ride out of the park and up Cayuse Pass. From there I’ve ridden part of the way or all the way to the Steven’s Canyon entrance, then back up Cayuse and up to Chinook Pass. Then back to the White River entrance and up to Sunrise. Then it’s mostly downhill back to the car. You can add or subtract miles. A friend used to include the climb up to Crystal and go all the way to Paradise when he was training for RAMROD.
We’ve also parked at the Steven’s Canyon entrance and done the out and back to Paradise. A couple of years ago we rented a cabin at the Copper Creek in Ashford to get an early start to ride up to Paradise from that side.
As long as you don’t mind out and back rides you can make the rides as long or short as you want and there’s climbing galore. The scenery is great and most of the roads are in good shape but traffic can be horrible if you pick the wrong day or time.
The Mt. Rainier area is a great place to ride and go hiking in as well. To enter Mt. Rainier National Park you will need to pay an entry fee. I usually get an annual park pass. It costs $55 but is good for a year. Actually 13 months if you get the pass on the 1st of the month as it is good until the end of the month of the next year. The pass card is punched by the month and not the day. If you get a single day pass for $30 it is good for seven consecutive days. Keep in mind that the road to Sunrise is only open from around July 1st until about October 15 or early November depending upon the weather. Sometimes you can ride in June on the weekends when the road crews aren't working doing road repair and snow removal. Car free is quite nice! Cayuse and Chinook Pass also close for the winter but are a little bit later and open earlier. Stevens Canyon road also ha opening and closing dates. It's best to check with the road status on the MRNP website.
Fees & Passes - Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Road Status - Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)