Indian Bar Trail

Starting from the Ohanapecosh area, the Indian Bar Trail takes you on a serious seven-mile-plus journey deep into Rainier's backcountry, climbing through old-growth forest before breaking into the kind of subalpine meadows that make you forget you have a job to get back to. The trail follows the Ohanapecosh River valley upward, crossing several footbridges and passing through corridors of ancient cedar and fir before the tree line gives way to wildflower carpets and jaw-dropping views of Rainier's eastern flanks. Indian Bar itself is a broad alpine bench — a stone shelter built by the CCC in the 1940s sits at the edge of sweeping meadows framed by Ohanapecosh Park and the Cowlitz Chimneys. The nearly fifteen-mile round trip and relentless elevation make this one strictly for hikers who've earned their trail legs, but the reward is one of Rainier's most dramatic and least-crowded alpine destinations.