Dalles Ridge Snowshoe — Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

We found this route via the Visit Rainier website (http://visitrainier.com/dalles-ridge/). It is just a few miles past Greenwater--only about an hour away from the South Sound area. FS Road 72 is a bit icy and rutted to the gate. There are not a lot of places to park or turn around. We didn't have any trouble, but there was another truck that had gotten into the soft snow on the edge and was having a bit of trouble getting out. There is a lot of garbage and ammo in the parking area. But once you get past the gate, the route is beautiful. There is a nice packed down snowshoe path, which made it easy on our kids. But there is nice powder on the edges for both cross country skiing as well as more challenging snowshoeing. At about .5 miles, there is a little spur trail to the right. It is short and you get a nice view of Mount Rainier and the surrounding peaks. This route is so nice. It is quiet and peaceful. The snow-covered trees, especially the blown down ones, looked magical. The snow was glittery and amazing. We only saw one other person on the trail. We saw lots of wildlife tracks, mostly elk and rabbits. But we didn't see any animals today. We made it about 1.6 miles or so up the road. Up to this point, there were a number of blown down trees that were not too hard to navigate around. At this point, there were so many with more challenging places to climb over/under. Since we had our kids (including one on my back in a backpack), we decided to head back. It wouldn't be too hard to get around if you don't have kids in tow/on back. :)