Trip Report
Backcountry Trail Run - Northern Loop
Great trail run with considerable elevation changes.
Ryan Mansfield
- Sat, Aug 16, 2025
- Backcountry Trail Run - Northern Loop
- Northern Loop (Mount Rainier)
- Trail Running
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Route is in great shape and all river crossings are easily found. Even if we had full overnight packs, I'd still feel great about the river crossings.
Cloudy cool day for August, but great temps for running. A few logs still on the trail but we ran into two NPS crews clearing the way and there will likely be none left by next weekend. River crossings were pretty straight forward. The west side of the lower West Fork crossing requires either a shallow wade or log crossing and short bushwhack back to the trail. Nothing horrible by any means and with the recent rain, this may be just a swollen river effect. Total mileage ~34-35 with ~9.8-10.1K elevation depending on whose watch you believe. Recommend being full on water prior to descending from Grand Park, next easy water source is James Lake. CW or CCW would both be great directions.