Miles: 3.2 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 370ft/2260ft
Map: Green Trails Mount Rainier East No 270, my GAIA
Favorite Eats After Hike: Farelli’s Wood Fire Grill, Alpine Inn, Cliff Droppers, White Pass Taqueria, Fargher Lakehouse, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
The Silver Falls Loop of Mount Rainier National Park encircles the Ohanapecosh River near its namesake campground and offers stunning views of Silver Falls as it cascades into the teal waters the river is famous for. With every little elevation gain, the wide trail is accessible for most. There are several other entrance points if you don’t want to do the entire loop, two trailheads just inside the Stevens Canyon Road park entrance will also connect you to the falls.
But the loop is worth the 3 mile of saunter and offers a quiet meditation along the Ohanapecosh, past a demure hot spring and fern laden cliff band. Common fauna is labeled at the beginning and boardwalks carry you over the mucky sections of trail.
My trip reports:
3/14/2021
I visited Silver Falls as part of a snowshoe loop to the Grove of The Patriarchs, you can visit that page for more details!
8/6/2020
Thursday promised overcast skies (and no mountain) so I opted for a stroll on the Silver Falls Loop from the campground, starting at the B loop by the visitor center around 9:30am.
The trail is wide, perfect for social distancing, but I had it to myself. First up were the hot springs and labeled foliage in the first .15 miles. The springs are not up there with Yellowstone or Goldmeyer, but a fun geological feature nonetheless. Kids would be impressed with running their hands under the warm drips next to the boardwalk section of the trail. I walked up the little side trail a short distance and there was a small pool but not worth taking the shoes off for.
At 1.1 miles the trail crosses Laughingwater Creek on a sturdy bridge and a family with littles was enjoying the large rock on one end. Continuing on, I turned down left at the junction with the Laughingwater Creek Trail at 1.35 miles and passed one couple.
It took less than .1 miles to reach the falls and the bridge over. The scene was idyllic: turquoise water, mustard colored moss on polished rock, and cascades as far as the eye could see. I had the bridge to myself for about half an hour before climbing up the trail on the other side to the overlook which I also had to myself for awhile. The water was tranquil in many places on top, but I could tell it had a strong undercurrent as it pushed through the canyon.
Turning up on the loop, there were a few more folks coming down from the parking up on Stevens Canyon but I quickly took the left back to the campground. The Cowlitz Divide Trail junction was at 1.9 miles
The loop on this side did not have as much of a view of Ohanapecosh until the end but was still peaceful and had a fun cliff band to walk under. The trail runs next to Loop E (where I was staying) and offered a short cut but I opted to finish the loop at 3.2 miles total. I saw only one other family on this side. Midweek hikes are the best!
Directions: The Ohanapecosh campground is along SR 123 north of the MRNP park boundary 11 miles from Packwood, WA. If you reach the Stevens Canyon Road entrance you have gone too far. The official trailhead is located at end of Loop “B” close to the Ohanapecosh Visitor Center.
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