Biking Rainier: Misc. Rides

This video covers rides not included in the major climbs and descents in the park. Most of this footage was shot when the roads were not open to public vehicles, including the short section from Highway 410 to Mt. Rainier's White River entrance. To target viewing, the following lists the specific sections and minute marks:

1. Lower West Side Road: This first 3 miles of the road, with 1000 feet of climb, is usually open in the summer season. Filmed before the gate was open on a sunny April day: 00:00 - 09:27

EDIT OCT 2023: See the 2023 timelapse of the entire West Side Road below from its end at Klapatche Point to the main road intersection.

2. White River Campground to White River entrance: filmed when road crews had plowed and were in the process of clearing debris, but otherwise void of people, a good time to access these areas of the park before vehicles are allowed: 09:27 - 27:53

2A. Highway 410 to White River entrance: filmed during the low snow year of 2015 on February 11: 27:53 - 32:57

3. Chinook Pass to Cayuse Pass: Chinook Pass marks the northern entry to the park on Highway 410, and descends over 3.5 miles to Cayuse Pass, losing 800 feet. Cayuse Pass is also the intersection with SR 123, taking the rider south on the eastern side of the park: 32:57 - 41:58

OVERVIEW and STATS: 42:00 - 43:15

This last video in the "Biking Rainier" series fills in some of the park roads not covered in the major climbs. Following is a breakdown with minute references to view each ride. Most of this footage was shot when the roads were not open to public vehicles. 1. Lower West Side Road: the first 3 miles of the road usually open in the summer 00:00 - 09:27 2. White River Campground to White River Entrance 09:27 - 27:53 (Highway 410 to White River Entrance) 27:53 - 32:57 Chinook Pass to Cayuse Pass 32:57 - 41:58 Overview and Stats 42:00 - 43:15

Smooth pavement characterizes this short 5.5 mile section from Longmire to the West Side Road with an elevation loss of 600 feet.

Shortly after entering the park at the Nisqually entrance, one passes the turn off for the West Side Road. This segment covers the gentle grade from Longmire to the West Side Road, a total of 5.5 miles and a 600 foot loss. Recently repaired, improved, and repaved, this is a smooth ride and portends the section, hopefully finished this year (2017), of the Longmire to Paradise road.

Biking Rainier: SR 123

SR 123 is a seasonal road only open during the summer months. It connects Highway 410 to the north to Highway 12 in the south. This video starts at Cayuse Pass and descends 2600 feet over 11 miles to the Park's Stevens Canyon entrance. Highway 123 is part of the RAMROD route (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day). Filmed on June 8, 2016.

Situated on the east side of the park, SR 123 connects Highway 410 on the north to Highway 12 on the south side. This road is open only during the summer months, and is the only way to circle the park. This ride, filmed June 8, 2016, begins at Cayuse Pass and descends 2,600 feet to the Stevens Canyon entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park (11 miles).

Biking Rainier: Stevens Canyon Road

Mt. Rainier National Park has some of the best bike climbs and descents in the state. The Stevens Canyon Road ranks right up there, with 3400 feet of descent, starting at the junction with the Paradise road, interrupted by a 700 foot climb to Backbone Ridge, then continuing on to the Ohanapecosh (Stevens Canyon) entrance and intersecting SR 123 for a total of 18 miles. The first part of this video was filmed on May 2, 2016 before the road was open to vehicular traffic. The rest was filmed on June 8, 2016. I'm using a mountain bike to keep speeds reasonable, topping out at about 35 mph.

This video transits Mt. Rainier's Stevens Canyon road from the intersection with the Paradise road to the Ohanapecosh entrance in the southeast corner of the park. When biking east, there is one climb over Backbone Ridge of 600 feet but otherwise enjoys 4200 feet of downhill romp over 18 miles. The first part of this video was filmed on May 2, 2016 before the road was open to vehicular traffic. The rest was filmed on June 8, 2016 as part of a 77 mile, 8,000 foot climb day, all within the park boundaries.

Biking Rainier: Paradise to Longmire

Mt. Rainier is a training ground for many things but the biking is sometimes overlooked, except for the annual RAMROD event (Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day). I like to sometimes bike from Longmire to Paradise, a 2600 foot climb, perhaps hike to Camp Muir (at 10,100'), and be rewarded at the end of a hard day by the wonderful downhill bike from Paradise to Longmire. This is best done early or late in the day during the summer, or on an off time like this video (mid week Feb 26) to mitigate traffic problems. In the winter the gate to Paradise is opened at 9:00 AM so all the traffic is uphill. Taking advantage of sparse downhill traffic at around noon, I used 3 cameras mounted Left (Contour Roam2), Center (GoPro Hero2), and Right (GoPro Hero3 Black Edition) to capture this entire 11 mile journey. I use a mountain bike to keep speed reasonable and the fatter tires cope with rough roads, cracks or detritus easier than my skinny tire road bike. Shot in 960 Tall on each camera.

Paradise to Longmire Bike: Feb, 2014 from Willis Wall on Vimeo.

Biking Rainier: West Side Road

Mt. Rainier National Park's West Side Road was originally envisioned as part of a motorcar road that would encircle the entire mountain. This idea was eventually abandoned, dynamiting the bridge that spanned the North Puyallup River and, late 80’s, letting the road from Klapatche Point to the North Puyallup Camp revert to trail status (I used to day hike this area driving to the North Puyallup parking lot, 1983-1987). This video is an update (and significantly shorter) than the original filmed in 2012. Using a chest mounted GoPro Hero 11, I “hyperlapsed” the entire road in one shot, starting from its end at Klapatche Point to the start at the main road intersection, just inside the park entrance. Filmed in 4K on October 19, 2023.

Biking Rainier: Ipsut Creek Road

The Ipsut Creek Road was once driveable its entire 5 miles, with the Ipsut Creek campground a drive in akin to Cougar Rock or Ohanapecosh. After two major flooding events the road has been converted to trail status, open to hiking and biking. This video was recorded on April 29, 2012. As of this writing (June, 2016) the trail has suffered more damage and some parts will be more difficult to transit on bike.

The 5 mile road from Mt. Rainier National Park's Carbon River entrance to the Ipsut Creek campground is forever closed to vehicular traffic but remains open as a bike/hike trail. Biking this trail is the fastest way to do the 17 mile round trip to the Carbon Glacier, plus the easy grade makes for a very pleasant ride. This tour shows all the different parts of the trail in a descent ride, edited for time by cutting out some of the cruising sections where the prior road is still in good shape. This was filmed on April 29, 2012. Filmed with a Contour Plus at 60 FPS mounted to the frame.

5 years later with mother nature keeping things in flux, this update (filmed on May 26, 2017) shows the entire trail with no time editing......23 minutes to cover the entire 5 miles.

This short video highlights some of the biking opportunities at Mt. Rainier National Park.