| Trail Highlights: | Mountain views; wildflowers; wildlife; geologic features; historic context |
| Round-trip Distance: | 0.70 miles / 1.10 km (Trail of the Shadows) 4.80 miles / 7.20 km (Rampart Ridge Loop and Trail of the Shadows) |
| Location: | Mt. Rainier National Park - Longmire Area, Washington South Cascades Ancestral lands of the Nisqually, Mishalpam (Upper Nisqually), and Taidnapam (Upper Cowlitz) |
| Directions: | |
| Required Pass: | National park pass or equivalent for national parks and federal recreational lands |
| Additional Trail Info: | U.S. National Park Service U.S. National Park Service (trail map) Washington Trails Association - Trail of the Shadows Washington Trails Association - Rampart Ridge Loop |
| Note: | This page profiles Mt. Rainier National Park's "Rampart Ridge Loop," rather than the rocky crest of the same name that bounds the "Rampart Lakes" in Kittitas County, Washington. |
This pair of linked loop trails offers natural beauty, cues to the geology of a unique environment, and remnants of early European settlement, all within steps of Mt. Rainier National Park’s Longmire historic district.
The Trail of the Shadows offers glimpses of Mt. Rainier’s volcanic past — and present. The short, interpretive nature trail encircles Longmire Meadow. The meadow bubbles with mineral springs that originate where magma beneath the slumbering volcano heats groundwater and causes it to rise further down slope. As it reaches the surface, it mingles with cooler water and emerges as springs of varying temperatures. At this point, they are not warm enough to be called “hot” springs; however, because they are laden with various inorganic compounds acquired during their subterranean journey, they are true mineral springs. Throughout the boggy meadow and even along the trail, keep an eye out for small bubbles of carbon dioxide gas escaping as the waters break the surface. You may also occasionally catch a whiff of hydrogen sulfide gas, reminiscent of the scent of rotten eggs. Here and there, the ground and streambeds are lined with orange sediment from dissolved iron that oxidizes or “rusts” upon contact with air.
But that’s not all: look up. Rampart Ridge rises across the meadow, with walls of telltale stone “columns” that give it away as a former lava flow. At the time the lava spewed from the mountain, glaciers rose as high as the ridge is now. In what must have been an epic conflict of fire and ice, the lava flow was halted by the confluence of the Kautz and Nisqually glaciers, where it cooled and fractured into characteristic vertical column joints. In the end, it outlasted the glaciers, which have retreated up the mountainside in the eons since. Today, the Rampart Ridge Loop traverses the stony bastion, ascending and descending either end, depending on which direction it is hiked.
Longmire is named for the Longmire family, the first non-Indigenous settlers in the area. The Longmires built a hotel on this site to market the mineral springs as a natural health spa. (The springs have since been found to impart no medical benefit.) Remnants of that operation remain along the Trail of the Shadows.
The Trail of the Shadows can be accessed directly across Paradise Road from the National Park Inn at Longmire. It is nearly flat throughout its circuit. One end of the Rampart Ridge Loop branches from the Wonderland Trail just north of the main entrance to Longmire and the other end from the Trail of the Shadows on the opposite side of Longmire Meadow. As several other trails branch from the Rampart Ridge Loop, be sure to follow signage posted at each junction. The Rampart Ridge Loop switchbacks somewhat steeply up either end of its namesake before moderating along the spine. Most of the Rampart Ridge Loop is enclosed in pleasant evergreen forest, with peekaboo glimpses of surrounding peaks and choice views near its high point. The Nisqually River and Kautz Creek trace the deep valleys on either side of the ridge, remnants of the forces that forged this landscape long ago.
At relatively low elevation, both trails are generally snow free by the end of spring, but ask park staff or check recent trip reports at the “Additional Trail Info” resources above for current conditions if uncertain. Expect to enjoy the Trail of the Shadows with others, given its ease of access and interesting features. Fewer hikers are encountered along the Rampart Ridge Loop, especially as trails at higher elevations in the park become accessible in summer. Motor vehicles are occasionally audible on the Paradise Road far below, interspersing the constant murmur of the river.
Rampart Ridge Loop, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington.
© 2025 Anthony Colburn. Images may not be used or reproduced in any form without express written consent.