Tolmie Peak

This is the best lookout for a view.  Eunice Lake below is incredible.  If Rainier is clear, you can fit the lake, treed hills, and Rainier's peak all in one shot.  When you first see the lookout tower up on the hill, you may be discouraged.  It looks way the heck up there and out of reach but when you get there, you will think it was easier than you thought.

Since I hit the other three lookouts in the park this summer, I decided to go for the last of the four (Tolmie Peak). This is by far the best view point in the park (is that possible?).  You would be a fool to hike this trail on a cloudy day because of the million dollar scenery you will be missing out on. Trust me, this is a sunny day hike with a huge payoff and the end.

Take the jaring, washboard dirt road to Lake Mowich. The trail signs at the lake don't really say Tolmie Peak, but Lake Eunice. The first 1.5 miles is easy walking with some near perfect trail sections. At the Ipsut Pass turn off, take the two minutes to walk the 200 feet to the pass for a great peek-a-boo forrest view. This is a great rest stop on the way back. The trail to Lake Eunice is a combo of nice trail and root/rock riddled ankle busters. Watch your step. When you finally get to the lake, it's mass picture time. But wait! It gets better at the lookout, so save some space on your camera. The lookout is plainly visible from the lake and the trail to the top is just under a mile. It's easy climbing and surprisingly quick. Just before you get to the lookout, you get hit in the face with a spectacular view of the Puget Sound region. Seattle, Tacoma are clearly visible. At the lookout, one can see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Baker way up North. Did you bring binoculars? Rainier is front and center and and so picture perfect it's scary. The sun reflecting off the glaciers is almost blinding. We hiked this on a Friday and there was at least a dozen plus people at the top. Perfect place for a picnic. The bugs were slightly annoying around the lake, but pretty much left us alone at the lookout.

We hiked Tomie Peak yesterday (8-15). Gorgeous, fairly easy. The only drawback was its popularity. Not a good hike if you like to be alone in the woods with your sweetie. The upside was a teenaged group of trailrunners drenched in Deet passed us up and down keeping the air skeeter free with their fumes! We saw a really cute group of 70+ year olds at the summit, one with a shirt that said, "old guys rule!" A good hike for slower people or for trail runners who want some challenge uphill.
Spectacular views! Wildflowers extravaganza: colors, varieties, and fragrance. Besides the deet, it was the sweetest smelling hike we've had this year. Bugs weren't bad if you had repellent.  Eunice Lake had some snow around it, but was the right temp. for a dip. It has some sandy-bottom shores and very cool newts. Pack your water socks or shoes and wade or paddle. We had a wonderful day. This is a very special hike for summer. Cool water, flowers, little critters, sparkling views...We will try middle of the week next time for less traffic.

The previous reviewers failed to mention the best part of this hike - as far as I'm concerned.  The tasty Low Bush Blueberries!!!!  MUCH sweeter than store-bought, more flavor & no chemicals!  As you leave Eunice Lake and head up the hill toward Tolmie itself, at about the third switchback ( it heads back uphill towards your left ) you can lean against the steep hill, raise a clump of blueberry leaves and underneath locate clusters of the delicious berries.  These berries have stopped me cold more than once as I have headed up this trail.  I'm a Mt. Rainier freak & have been all over that Park, over and over - also as a  Ranger there a long time ago, and have made the Tolmie hike several times - and been stopped by those blueberries many times! If you're unsure of what you're eating, of course, don't eat - bring along a flower or edible plant book and then have at 'em!

We did this hike yesterday (9/2/07-Labor Day Sunday).  It was less crowded than we expected considering it was Labor Day weekend.  3 people in our party have either never hiked or rarely hike and did just fine.  The avid hikers had no problems.

We stopped at Eunice Lake for lunch where we noticed the observation station we were headed to up on the top of the ridge.  The non-hikers were really concerned and almost turned around.  They are beyond thankful that they did not.

The views heading to the peak are increasingly amazing and what kept everyone going.  With each step we thought, "This view could not be more beautiful."  Ah, but it could...if you just made it  one more switchback.  Reaching the peak was even better than expected.  "The Mountain" gloomed over us, proud, yet ominous.  It was beyond breath-taking.

If you want to make friends/family that don't have the luxury of living in The PNW...do this hike.  Take lots of pictures.  Guarenteed they will reply instantly to your postings.

It is definitely one of the best day-hikes we have done.

We did the hike yesterday (Aug. 11).  Considering the views and beauty, it is a relatively easy hike.  The road in is gravel and with little washboards in places, but not bad.  The only drawback on the hike was the bugs, so be sure to potent bug spray if you are doing the hike in August.  This is one the the best hikes I have done.

I visited the park in early July,  We camped at Mowich Lake and we took the hike  around the lake and found ourselves in a lovely deep forest.  We were fortunate to be there as all the Avalanche Lillies were in bloom.  On the way to Eunice Lake there is an opportunity to go a little further straight to isput pass, a well worth extra 200 yards.  wow.  There are some pretty magnificent views of Mt. Rainier during the ascent. But, the view from the top of tolmie peak was just incredible.  It was a clear day and, visible were  Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, the N. Cascades, the Olympics, the Sound and Dominating the skyline, Mt. Rainer.  I highly suggest this hike, it was my first time to the park and we didn't have much time so this hike was very..fulfilling.

I did this hike a year or so ago. It was very beautiful. The fire lookout was cool and definately worth the extra climb. I went with my Dad and little brother as well as my daughter. My brother who was about 10 was able to hike this without any difficulty. My Dad had to pack my daughter on his back a couple of times but she was about 4 years old. Mowich and Eunice Lakes were lovely. A wonderful day hike where I got a good workout and so did my camera.

Hiked Wed 8/3/05: I must thank the scorching sun for frying the mosquitos...there were none! Some biting horseflys but breezes kept them mostly at bay. Gorgous wooded walk to the lake. Few people on this trail, probably due to the fact that wildflowers are spectacular this year in Spray Park. Lovely to have such wilderness in my backyard - Leslie (Tacoma)

On a clear day, you can see forever, and yesterday was a clear day. This was easily the prettiest hike I've done this year, and one of the most enjoyable. Mowach Lake was exceptionally clear and blue, lots of wildflowers were in bloom, and the forrest was lovely. I took my time to enjoy the scenery, so hiking time was 4 hours plus an additional hour spent at the top of Tolmie Peak. Many thanks to the hiker who left a review on 7/28/05, I was prepared for the voracious bugs. The drive to the trailhead took much longer than I anticipated due to the long rough gravel road. The drive was tedious, dusty, and rough going, but the hike was all the more pleasurable in contrast.

We really enjoyed this hike. As with most people, we started at Mowich. We would have liked to have started earlier in the day it took 1.5 hours driving from Orting to get to Mowich. We arrived at 10AM and the parking lot was filled. We were fortunate to find a parking spot at the trail head. The trail seemed easier than the Spray Park trail we took last week, but I have been trying to get into better shape. Be sure to take to 200 foot side trip to Ipsut Pass just for the view. Once we reached Eunice lake we were hoping to take off our boots and soak our feet for half and hour or so, but couldn't locate a reasonable bank. So we saw a pretty lake. Then we looked up the hill and saw an itty bitty look-out station. We chose the climb. It was worth every step. We stopped frequently to let our heart rates return to normal and drank lots of water. The views are wonderful. Lunch at the look-out station was perfect. We could see Mt Baker, Mt Adams, Puget Sound, Lake Tapps (my house in Puyallup was hidden by a tree), two of the states largest cities and several of the smaller ones. We soaked our feet at Mowich before enduring the 15 miles of bumpy gravel road down the hill.

This is a great hike. We started at Mowich Lake, which was gorgeous already. The water almost looks cleaner than crystal you wish you could just dive in. The hike was pretty moderate. With so much to see along the way we pretty much forget to rest. The view of Mt Rainier with Eunice Lake in front is worth a million dollars. Better than the Paramount Picture logo. Tolmie peak is pretty amazing as well, standing right at the edge of the cliff. A warning. Bring your bug repellent. I rarely see moschitos this hungry. Several hikers had to borrow from me because it was really too much to endure.