Wonderland Trail closed at Mount Rainier this Memorial Day weekend: what hikers need to know

The Wonderland Trail, Mount Rainier's 93-mile circumnavigation route, is closed this Memorial Day weekend due to aggressive bear activity near Pyramid Creek. The National Park Service issued the closure May 21, citing multiple encounters between black bears and hikers in recent weeks. If you had permits for the northern segments between Ipsut Creek and Mystic Lake, you'll need to reroute or reschedule.

This isn't unusual for late May. Snow still chokes most of the trail above 5,000 feet, and bears emerging from winter dens congregate in the low-elevation corridors where Wonderland passes through old-growth forest. What makes this closure significant is timing: Memorial Day typically marks the unofficial start of permit season, when thru-hikers begin their clockwise loops from Longmire.

Mount Rainier National Park

93 miles circling an active volcano / Bear country from snowmelt through September

The Wonderland Trail is less a single hike than a negotiation with glacial melt, avalanche debris, and wildlife that doesn't care about your itinerary. Most thru-hikers attempt it between mid-July and late September, when snowfields retreat enough to reveal the tread and river crossings drop from thigh-deep to merely soaking. But permit demand pushes some hikers into June, when you're essentially postholing through corn snow and fording creeks swollen with afternoon meltwater. The Park Service allows it, but that doesn't mean conditions cooperate.

The Wonderland Trail doesn't close because it's dangerous — it closes because bears have decided the same campsites you wanted are now theirs.

This weekend's closure affects the Ipsut Creek, Carbon River, Mystic Lake, and Granite Creek camp zones. If your permit includes any of those sites, the park is offering full refunds or the option to shift your start date into late June, when the corridor typically reopens. The southern half of Wonderland remains open, though snow still covers segments near Panhandle Gap and Indian Bar. You'll punch through knee-deep drifts in shaded stretches, and stream crossings near the Cowlitz Divide require trekking poles and a tolerance for cold water.

Black bears at Rainier aren't grizzlies, but they're food-motivated and habituated enough to test bear canisters. The park requires approved canisters for all backcountry camping, and rangers check at trailheads. The closure near Pyramid Creek follows an incident where a bear spent 20 minutes working a canister outside a tent at Ipsut Creek Camp. The hiker followed protocol, the bear eventually left, but the Park Service doesn't wait for an escalation. One persistent bear shuts down a corridor until it moves on or gets hazed out of the area.

Wonderland thru-hikes take 10 to 14 days depending on your daily mileage and how much elevation gain you can stomach. The route climbs and descends more than 22,000 feet total, crossing every major drainage radiating from the mountain. You'll walk through temperate rainforest so dense the canopy blocks GPS signal, then climb into alpine bowls where wildflowers bloom against glacial moraines. The northern section, now closed, includes some of the least-visited stretches: the Carbon River valley's moss-draped old growth and the view from Tolmie Peak, where you can see Mount Rainier's entire northern face and the snout of the Carbon Glacier spilling into forest below.

If you're scrambling to salvage Memorial Day plans, consider the park's shorter backpacking loops. The Northern Loop Trail covers 34 miles and shares some DNA with Wonderland: big climbs, river crossings, and bear country. It's also closed right now. Your better bet is the Eastside Trail between White River and Box Canyon, a 17-mile segment that skirts Wonderland's eastern arc through Summerland and Indian Bar. You'll still need a permit, and campsites book weeks ahead, but it's open and navigable with microspikes and caution at stream crossings.

Day hikers have more options. Paradise remains the park's most accessible high-elevation zone, and the Skyline Trail loop delivers subalpine meadows and glacier views without the commitment of an overnight permit. Comet Falls, a 3.8-mile round trip from the Longmire area, climbs through old-growth forest to a 320-foot cascade. The trail gets muddy in late May, but it's snow-free and crowded only on weekends. If you want solitude, drive to the Mowich Lake area in the park's northwest corner. Trails around Eunice Lake and Tolmie Peak see a fraction of Paradise's traffic, though the road doesn't open until late June most years.