Day Hike! Mount Rainier: The Best Trails You Can Hike in a Day

by Ron C. Judd

A guide written just for people who want to spend their days in the mountains and their nights back at home. Day Hike! uncovers the best trails for the day tripper, whether you’re a newbie hiker or a veteran with hundreds of miles on your boots. Northwest outdoors expert and Seattle Times's Trail Mix columnist Ron Judd reviews more than 50 of the best day hike trails in the Mount Rainier National Park, from Paradise and Sunrise to the lower foothills. Day Hike! Mount Rainier describes classic routes--from easy to moderate to extreme--giving hikers the choices they want. Entertaining, accurate, and contemporary writing make this guide the one to keep near the water bottles.

Genres: Travel, Reference, Nonfiction, Outdoors

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Todd Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author Ron C. Judd has put together what he feels are the best 51-day hikes in Mount Rainer National Park. These hikes go from short ones at a few miles to longer than ten miles. He rates them from worthwhile to spectacular. He also talks about the best season, permitting, parking fees, distance and elevation gains, estimated hiking times, and accessibility for kids and dogs. Topographical maps and elevation profiles are also included.

I enjoyed learning about the different trails at Mount Rainier. Although what is considered a day hike might be beyond what I might consider coming from the Midwest. I think the book is more geared toward a hiker that has a chance to return to the park many times as opposed to a tourist that might come there for a few days. Although, I did find a few trails that I would check out with my son when we go to the park in the future.

[Keya Chakraborty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the descriptions of the trails in this book and thought the descriptions were pretty accurate for the trails we went on. The preparations section was a bit overcautious for people that are going to stick with the easy trails. I called the Ranger's station at Paradise, and they gave me a more accurate description of what we needed to bring. I would have liked some more pictures and maybe a guide to the flora/fauna of what you may see, but they have a pamphlet for this at the Paradise visitor's center. All in all, I thought the book was helpful, in conjunction with talking to the Rangers.

[Patrick Lovell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Coho Cabin · Rating 3 out of 5]

We feel it's not as good as Dan Nelson's, but still a decent reference for Rainier day hiking.