Volcano·United States

Mount Rainier

4,389m

Cascade Range

3D view drawn from Copernicus WorldDEM-30 (© DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA) and Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH, CC BY 4.0

Elevation: 4,389m
Prominence: 4,030m
Isolation: 1,177km
Relief: 2,504mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 44°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
First ascent: 1870
Summit: 46.8531°N, 121.7606°W

Stratovolcano in the U.S. state of Washington

Mount Rainier is a volcano in the Cascade Range (United States). Its summit stands 4,389 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 4,030 m, and the nearest higher ground is 1,177 km away. It was first climbed in 1870.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,885 m), it rises 2,504 m. The steepest side is the north-east face: 27° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 44° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

Mount Rainier for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

6.6/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T6 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

1.7/2.58 waymarked routes and 19 path sections nearby
0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
2.0/22,504 m of ascent from the valley
1.5/1.54,030 m of prominence
0.8/1.53 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.6/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Mount Rainier

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit4,389 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up3,137 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Foot of the mountain1,885 msnow from October to July	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Mount Rainier, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average August afternoon the summit reaches about -1 °C; on December nights it falls to about -26 °C. Even in the warmest month the summit stays below freezing all day: ice and snow all year round. Even at its highest, in August, the 0 °C line reaches only about 4,200 m: 189 m below the summit. Across the region, July is the driest month (21 mm) and January the wettest (235 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-21	-26	1,200	235	21	2.4
February	-20	-26	1,260	154	18	4.3
March	-18	-24	1,620	180	21	4.9
April	-14	-22	2,200	122	20	6.8
May	-9	-19	2,990	93	16	8.1
June	-6	-16	3,390	69	14	9.3
July	-2	-13	4,060	21	6	11.8
August	-1	-13	4,200	32	6	10.3
September	-5	-16	3,660	68	10	7.9
October	-12	-20	2,600	159	16	5.1
November	-18	-24	1,660	233	21	2.7
December	-21	-26	1,110	231	21	1.9

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 910 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Mount Rainier

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Mount Rainier seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 5 km

ViewpointsOther summitsGlaciersCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

—mountain huts and shelters
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
8waymarked hiking routes
Wonderland Trail, Burroughs Mountain Loop, Glacier Basin Trail, Skyline Trail and 4 more
—via ferratas
2climbing crags and routes
Mount Rainier
30named glaciers
Stevens Glacier, The Turtle, Nisqually Icefall, Pyramid Glaciers and 26 more
18viewpoints
Nisqually Vista, Glacier Overlook, Glacier Vista, Comet Falls Viewpoint and 14 more
14campsites
Sunrise Camp, Camp Muir, Eagle's Roost Camp, Camp Hazard and 10 more
1hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Paradise Inn
4restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

19 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Mount Rainier 5917s — Walter Siegmund (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0

A meltwater lake colored turquoise by glacier silt (5901254e-d529-4be9-9907-1198100df06f) — NPS Photo · Public domain

Governors Ridge seen from Highway 410 in Mount Rainier National Park — Ron Clausen · CC0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-21	-20	-18	-14	-9	-6	-2	-1	-5	-12	-18	-21
2020	+0.1	−0.1	−0.1	+1.6	+0.5	−1.2	−0.8	−1.1	+2.3	+0.8	−0.6	+1.7
2021	+0.8	−2.2	−0.2	+2.4	−0.6	+4.1	+1.6	+0.7	+0.2	−1.7	+1.0	−1.3
2022	+1.1	+0.8	+1.6	−2.8	−3.1	±0.0	+1.4	+2.8	+3.0	+6.1	−1.8	−1.1
2023	±0.0	−1.2	−1.3	−1.5	+3.0	+0.9	+1.4	+2.2	±0.0	+1.4	+0.9	+3.2
2024	−1.0	+0.8	+1.3	+0.4	−1.4	−0.1	+1.7	−0.2	+0.3	−0.7	−1.6	+1.5
2025	−0.3	−1.8	±0.0	+1.8	−0.2	+1.1	−1.2	+0.1	+1.1	−1.9	+0.7	+2.5

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

2,549 mMount St. Helens

United States80 km away

3,743 mMount Adams

United States75 km away

3,213 mGlacier Peak

United States148 km away

3,425 mMount Hood

United States165 km away

2,432 mMount Olympus

United States181 km away

3,286 mMount Baker

United States214 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q194057) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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