Accessing Sunrise (mt. rainier) before road opens

My wife and I want to ski up to Sunrise and the Burroughs for an overnight trip plus a few turns... We've only hiked the area in the summer and are not familar w/ the various ways to access in the winter/spring before the road opens. We are looking at mid-April.<br><br>Could anyone give some details on the possible options (roads, trailheads, distances, etc) for getting up to Sunrise and the Burroughs.<br><br>So far I've had a friend suggest just skiing up the Sunrise road, but I'm assuming there are other options and some good trails (maybe from the W. Fork White River)... or maybe the trails off the Sunrise rd.<br><br>I'll be calling the park service regarding camp regs, where the road is currently closed, and of course keeping trail of avalanche conditions...<br><br>Thanks in advance,<br>Darren

At some point in the spring they open the road to White River Campground. That makes the trip straightforward. Either you walk the road until you can ski and then ski the road or take essentially the summer trail from the campground up the summer trail. It's been awhile since I did the latter but I remember it got rather steep for skins so I kicked steps.

My experience is limited to accessing Sunrise after the road has opened to White River CG, but the Sunrise road is still gated. Your access to the Sunrise road gate will obviously be different for mid-April, but once there I'd still recommend the June route if you want an all-skiing approach. Where the Sunrise road crosses Yakima Creek at 4800', just ski up the stream gully (it should be very well filled in) until it opens into glades (or climb up out of the gully earlier if travel there is not good). Keep following the drainage and the trees will thin, depositing you in Sunrise meadows. Fun ski back down too. Here's a link for a TR:<br> www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...m=1055973480;start=0

Thanks Charles & Skipole... I'll call the park service to verify road status, but I was curious what your typical experiences (or knowledge) is in regards to where the road is closed during April... I'm assuming the road is (and will be in April) closed near the Crystal Mtn Blvd turn.<br><br>Charles did you ever post a link to the rest of the pics from that Sunrise TR?

I don't seem to be very good about going back and posting the final link, but here it is, with another from the previous June:<br> June 2003 <br> June 2002 <br><br>And here's a link a "feature gallery":<br> Sunrise area

You got me curious about when they open the road beyond Crystal Blvd. As I recall it is usually when they open it to Cayuse Pass. So I found the site where they list Cayuse Pass openings - Anytime from the beginning of April to the end of May: www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter/PassDates.htm

Please share any official info that you receive from the NPS folks on the subject. The road is likely clear now to near the White River entrance station as clearing on 410 and 123 has been underway for some time now. <br><br>For what it is worth, we had an interesting encounter last spring (early June?)where the NPS staff at White River issued us permits for the trip you are describing and wished us well and then quickly attempted to chase us down to revoke our permit and restrict our access via the road. We eventually negotiated a mutualy acceptable "get-a-way" plan (proof that cool Rangers still exist!) and had a great trip.<br><br>We were attempting a bike approach from the White River Campground gate. We were told that the maintenance folks felt that no recreational access should be allowed when they were "working". In our instance, there was no equipment working on the road at all -- only in the parking lot. <br><br>Based upon the apparent "disagreement" within the NPS, I suspect we can expect a more formal policy with greater "enforcement" this year on days with maintenance crew activity.<br><br>

As I mentioned before, I volunteer with the Park at Paradise. There's a very real hazard to people trying to pass when maintenance crews are working (see comments under "That Damned Gate" post). Just dealing with their job is enough for the crews to handle and it is reasonable for the Park to decide that they shouldn't have to deal with travelers as well. I've heard reports of what happens to others who get too close (e.g. cars totalled) -it's not pretty. While you may be able to safely handle being on the road at the same time as the plows you would be amazed at the number of absolute bozos who go in the park and there's no test to figure out who will be the bozo before people go into the park. So the Rangers tend to be conservative in protecting safety.

This is info I included in my TR last June (I'm hoping this policy will still be in effect this year, but haven't checked yet):<br><br>"The Park has made a policy change this year regarding the gated Sunrise Road which makes it possible to use the road to access skiing without being an outlaw. A number of years ago, it was deemed permissable to bike or hike the Sunrise road up past the gate even when plowing was going on up higher. Then, reportedly as the result of a biker wiping out on rocks and threatening a lawsuit, the Park simply banned all uses of the road until the gate was opened (usually very late June), by which time the great touring typically was gone (although north facing chutes OK). This year, the policy has been changed back, partially. Here's what I was told by Dave at the White River RS (360-663-2273): there is now a reversible sign on the gate, which will read "Road Closed to Recreational Use" when crews are doing any work on the road, and "Recreational Uses Allowed: biking, hiking, skiing" when the crews are not working. The crews have semi-regular hours, typically 7:30 to 4:00 or so, but this can vary. This year, crews have been working 7 days a week. In contrast to previous years, the Park seems to be willing to release these details, so a call should provide the needed info. For people who do not wish to be outlaws, this new policy seems to mean that you need to start up the road before the crews change the sign in the morning, and wait to come down until they are done for the day (fortunately the crews don't seem to work all that late)."

FYI-I was looking down at the Sunrise Road from the summit of Crystal Peak on 4-2-04 and the road is snow bound from the WR ranger station. It does not appear to have any plowing going on at this time. The road is clear to the ranger station and white from there on to the campground.