Grand Park via Sunrise — Sunday, Jul. 5, 2026

This is my second favorite trail in the park, as the cross all but disappear as soon as you start descending into Berkeley Park. You get to enjoy its fantastic meadows, and the. In Grand Park you regain the stunning views of Rainier in relative solitude.

Expecting significant crowds at Sunrise on a holiday weekend, we arrived around 8 am and found plenty of parking still available (not the case when we left in the afternoon). Rangers and rovers were out in force though, and it was good to see them back there. It was also good to be out early, as wildlife was abundant. We saw mountain goats, elk, bear, and tons of marmots.

Wildflowers are in full bloom, with pasqueflowers starting seed pod phase. We saw tons of beard tongue, louse wort, lupine, paintbrush, aster, and more. It is not the best year I have seen there, and it is earlier than normal, but it is still stunning.

The trail was in great shape, with on a few minor blowdowns, and the conditions are more mid-summer than what I normally see in early July. Note - Mosquitoes were out in full force in Grand Park and while my arms and legs were relatively unscathed from using bug spray, I left with a dozen bites through my shirt. (Note to self - remember pyrethrin for clothes next time).