Fremont Fire Lookout trail is one of the most popular trails within Mount Rainier National Park. The trail is located North of Mount Rainier and it starts at Sunrise Visitor Center. The trail is about 6 miles in roundtrip distance and goes through the meadows of Mount Rainier. At the end of the trail, there is a fire lookout cabin that overlooks the beautiful forest down below. Mount Rainier can also be seen very clearly from the overlook.
We got to Sunrise Visitor Center around 7AM in the morning and the parking lot was half full. The sun has just rose above the mountain and the weather was getting warmer. From the parking lot, we could see the beautiful Mount Rainier right above us.
The trail first took us to hike across a small ridge where we could see the meadows down below. Then we got to Frozen Lake, which is the water source for Sunrise. The Frozen Lake has shrunk significantly compared to the size that was shown on the map.
As we got to the intersection point where the trail breaks off into 5 different directions, we took the Northern trail to go to Fremont Fire Lookout. The path to Fremont Fire Lookout took us onto another ridge and the trail was extremely rocky. Although it was rocky, the trail was not difficult with little elevation gain. After about 30 minutes, we got to Fremont Fire Lookout.
When we got there, we saw a married couple take wedding photos. They even got a portable dress room established trying on various dresses, it was pretty cool. There were people sitting by Fremont Fire Lookout and enjoying the view. We saw a couple using the gas tank and made instant cup noodles. It really made us really hungry.
Overall, we really enjoyed the hike to Fremont Fire Lookout. It was very different than the Skyline trail at the South of Rainier. The trail on the North side had more meadows and was a lot more dry. Next time we could come back here before the sunrise to get a more beautiful view.
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