National Park Service

Cultural Landscapes Inventory

Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

2004







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Table of Contents

Part 1

Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................1

Park Information............................................................................................................................3

Property Level and CLI Number ...................................................................................................3

Inventory Summary.......................................................................................................................3

Landscape Description .................................................................................................................5

CLI Hierarchy Description .............................................................................................................6

Location Map ................................................................................................................................7

Boundary Description....................................................................................................................8

Regional Context ..........................................................................................................................8

Site Plan......................................................................................................................................10

Chronology..................................................................................................................................12

Statement of Significance ...........................................................................................................16

History Part 2a

1881 – 1919 ......................................................................................................................1

1920 – 1932 ......................................................................................................................4

1933 – 1941 ......................................................................................................................6

Part 2b

1942 – 1959 ......................................................................................................................1

1960 – present ..................................................................................................................1

Analysis and Evaluation Part 3a

Summary...........................................................................................................................1

Archeological Sites............................................................................................................1

Buildings and Structures ...................................................................................................3

Circulation .......................................................................................................................17

Part 3b

Land Use...........................................................................................................................1

Natural Systems and Features..........................................................................................3

Spatial Organization..........................................................................................................6

Views and Vistas...............................................................................................................9

Management Information Part 4

Descriptive and Geographic Information...........................................................................1

Boundary UTM ..................................................................................................................1

National Register Information............................................................................................1

National Historic Landmark Information ............................................................................4

World Heritage Site Information ........................................................................................4

Cultural Landscape Type and Use....................................................................................4

Ethnographic Information ..................................................................................................5

Adjacent Lands Information ..............................................................................................5

General Management Information ....................................................................................7

Condition Assessment and Impacts..................................................................................7

Stabilization Measures ......................................................................................................7

Agreements, Legal Interest, and Access ..........................................................................9

Treatment........................................................................................................................10
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Approved Treatment Cost ...............................................................................................10

Stabilization Costs...........................................................................................................10

Documentation Assessment and Checklist.....................................................................12

Appendix

Bibliography ....................................................................................................................13

Supplemental Information ...............................................................................................20
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Executive Summary

General Introduction to the CLI

The Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI) is a comprehensive inventory of all historically significant 

landscapes within the National Park System. This evaluated inventory identifies and documents each 

landscape’s location, physical development, significance, National Register of Historic Places eligibility, 

condition, as well as other valuable information for park management. Inventoried landscapes are listed 

on, or eligible for, the National Register of Historic Places, or otherwise treated as cultural resources. To 

automate the inventory, the Cultural Landscapes Automated Inventory Management System (CLAIMS) 

database was created in 1996. CLAIMS provides an analytical tool for querying information associated 

with the CLI.

The CLI, like the List of Classified Structures (LCS), assists the National Park Service (NPS) in its 

efforts to fulfill the identification and management requirements associated with Section 110(a) of the 

National Historic Preservation Act, NPS Management Policies (2001), and Director’s Order #28: 

Cultural Resource Management (1998). Since launching the CLI nationwide, the NPS, in response to the 

Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), is required to report on an annual performance plan 

that is tied to 6-year strategic plan. The NPS strategic plan has two goals related to cultural landscapes: 

condition (1a7) and progress on the CLI (1b2b). Because the CLI is the baseline of cultural landscapes in 

the National Park System, it serves as the vehicle for tracking these goals.

For these reasons, the Park Cultural Landscapes Program considers the completion of the CLI to be a 

servicewide priority. The information in the CLI is useful at all levels of the park service. At the national 

and regional levels it is used to inform planning efforts and budget decisions. At the park level, the CLI 

assists managers to plan, program, and prioritize funds. It is a record of cultural landscape treatment and 

management decisions and the physical narrative may be used to enhance interpretation programs.

Implementation of the CLI is coordinated on the Region/Support Office level. Each Region/Support 

Office creates a priority list for CLI work based on park planning needs, proposed development projects, 

lack of landscape documentation (which adversely affects the preservation or management of the 

resource), baseline information needs and Region/Support office priorities. This list is updated annually 

to respond to changing needs and priorities. Completed CLI records are uploaded at the end of the fiscal 

year to the National Center for Cultural Resources, Park Cultural Landscapes Program in Washington, 

DC. Only data officially entered into the National Center’s CLI database is considered “certified data” 

for GPRA reporting.

The CLI is completed in a multi-level process with each level corresponding to a specific degree of effort 

and detail. From Level 0: Park Reconnaissance Survey through Level II: Landscape Analysis and 

Evaluation, additional information is collected, prior information is refined, and decisions are made 

regarding if and how to proceed. The relationship between Level 0, I, and II is direct and the CLI for a 

landscape or component landscape inventory unit is not considered finished until Level II is complete.

A number of steps are involved in completing a Level II inventory record. The process begins when the 

CLI team meets with park management and staff to clarify the purpose of the CLI and is followed by 

historical research, documentation, and fieldwork. Information is derived from two efforts: secondary 

sources that are usually available in the park’s or regions’ files, libraries, and archives and on-site 

landscape investigation(s). This information is entered into CLI database as text or graphics. A park 

report is generated from the database and becomes the vehicle for consultation with the park and the 

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

SHPO/TPO. 

Level III: Feature Inventory and Assessment is a distinct inventory level in the CLI and is optional. This 

level provides an opportunity to inventory and evaluate important landscape features identified at Level 

II as contributing to the significance of a landscape or component landscape, not listed on the LCS. This 

level allows for an individual landscape feature to be assessed and the costs associated with treatment 

recorded.

The ultimate goal of the Park Cultural Landscapes Program is a complete inventory of landscapes, 

component landscapes, and where appropriate, associated landscape features in the National Park 

System. The end result, when combined with the LCS, will be an inventory of all physical aspects of any 

given property.

Relationship between the CLI and a CLR 

While there are some similarities, the CLI Level II is not the same as a Cultural Landscape Report 

(CLR). Using secondary sources, the CLI Level II provides information to establish historic significance 

by determining whether there are sufficient extant features to convey the property’s historic appearance 

and function. The CLI includes the preliminary identification and analysis to define contributing features, 

but does not provide the more definitive detail contained within a CLR, which involves more in-depth 

research, using primary rather than secondary source material. 

The CLR is a treatment document and presents recommendations on how to preserve, restore, or 

rehabilitate the significant landscape and its contributing features based on historical documentation, 

analysis of existing conditions, and the Secretary of the Interior’s standards and guidelines as they apply 

to the treatment of historic landscapes. The CLI, on the other hand, records impacts to the landscape and 

condition (good, fair, poor) in consultation with park management. Stabilization costs associated with 

mitigating impacts may be recorded in the CLI and therefore the CLI may advise on simple and 

appropriate stabilization measures associated with these costs if that information is not provided 

elsewhere.

When the park decides to manage and treat an identified cultural landscape, a CLR may be necessary to 

work through the treatment options and set priorities. A historical landscape architect can assist the park 

in deciding the appropriate scope of work and an approach for accomplishing the CLR. When minor 

actions are necessary, a CLI Level II park report may provide sufficient documentation to support the 

Section 106 compliance process.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Property Level And CLI Number

Property Level: Landscape

CLI Identification Number: 400027

Parent Landscape CLI ID Number: 400027

Inventory Level: Level II

Date Level II Entered: 9/1/2001

Date Level I Entered: 7/1/1997

Date Level 0 Entered: 1/1/1992

Level II Data Entry Recorder: E. Owens and M.J. Hankinson

Level I Data Entry Recorder: R. Dietz and R. Senos

Level 0 Data Entry Recorder: C. Gilbert

Level II Site Visit:

Level I Site Visit:

Level 0 Site Visit:

Yes

No

Yes

Name: Wonderland Trail

Inventory Summary

Completion Status:

Level 0

 

Level I

 

Level II

Explanatory Narrative:

Date Level II Data Collected: 9/1/2001

Level II Data Collection E. Owens and M.J. Hankinson

Date Data Collected - Level 0: 1/1/1992

Level 0 Recorder: C. Gilbert

Date Level I Data Collected: 7/1/1997

Level I Data Collection R. Dietz and R. Senos

Date of Concurrence 3/2/2004

Park Information

Park Name: Mount Rainier National Park

Park Organization Code: 9450

Park Alpha Code: MORA

Administrative Unit: Mount Rainier National Park

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Preliminary historic research for the CLI was conducted by Rebecca Dietz and Rene 

Senos in 1997. Further historic research was done by Anna Tamura and Mike Hankinson 

in summer 2000 and completed by Erica Owens and Mike Hankinson in 2001. Initial 

fieldwork was performed by Anna Tamura and Mike Hankinson in summer 2000 and 

completed by Erica Owens and Mike Hankinson in 2001. Erica Owens and Mike 

Hankinson organized and entered the data into the CLI in summer and fall of 2001.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 1) Page 4 of 16
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Landscape Description

The Wonderland Trail is a 93-mile landscape circumnavigating the mountain, providing access to remote 

and scenic areas of the park for rangers and visitors. It is identified as a corridor, five feet from the 

centerline of the trail in either direction, that follows the trails currently designated as the Wonderland 

Trail. The trail is characterized by its alignment, as it traverses dense coniferous old growth forest, 

ascending through subalpine and alpine meadows reaching above the tree line and presenting direct views 

of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains. As the trail circles the mountain, it follows a consistent 

pattern of rising and falling from 2600’ to 6800’ as it ascends and descends the lateral drainages that 

radiate from the mountain. 

The Wonderland Trail is a cultural landscape and is located within the Mount Rainier National Historic 

Landmark District. It is recognized for its association with early park master planning during the period of 

significance from 1907 to 1942 when this trail was planned and established. Presently, the trail remains 

an outstanding example of park engineering and landscape architecture design efforts to blend the trail 

seamlessly into its surrounding contexts using rustic architecture design theories.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Cultural Landscapes Inventory Hierarchy Description

The Wonderland Trail is a cultural landscape within the Mount Rainier Historic District. Seven landscape 

characteristics of the trail contribute to its historic integrity. These characteristics include circulation, 

spatial organization, buildings and structures, views and vistas, natural systems and features, land use, and 

archeological sites.

CLI hierarchy diagram showing the Wonderland Trail, a cultural landscape composed of landscape characteristics, 

which contribute to its historic integrity. (CCSO 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Location Map

The Wonderland Trail, located within the boundaries of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Boundary Description

The Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District Nomination defines the Wonderland Trail’s 

boundary as a ten foot wide corridor that is measured five feet from the centerline of the trail in either 

direction. The trail is described as following the route that is the currently designated Wonderland Trail, 

but also includes the Northern Loop Trail which was historically part of the Wonderland Trail. UTM 

reference points provided in this report are recorded at ten mile intervals along the trail starting at 

Longmire and moving clockwise around the mountain.

Regional Context

Cultural Context

Circumnavigating the mountain, the Wonderland Trail passes through both highly developed areas and 

undeveloped backcountry stretches. The developed sites with greater visitor use include Paradise, 

Longmire, and Sunrise. These points provide many amenities for visitors such as restaurants, restrooms, 

campgrounds, visitor information centers, and parking. Other sections of the trail traverse through miles 

of undeveloped backcountry interspersed with campgrounds, trail shelters, or patrol cabins at 

approximately 5-mile intervals. The trail can be accessed from many points in the park, the most popular 

being Longmire in the southwestern corner of the park which has the most immediate access. The closest 

trailheads to the urban Puget Sound area are Mowich Lake Campground and Ipsut Creek Campground in 

the northwestern corner of the park, both approximately 65 miles from Seattle.

Physiographic Context

As it ascends and descends the lateral drainage corridors that radiate from the mountain, the Wonderland 

Trail’s character continues to be transformed by changing ecosystems at each topographic level. 

Variations in temperature and moisture occur with changes in elevation and aspect, influencing plant 

composition. These factors, along with the relative frequency of disturbances, such as wildfires, snow 

and rock avalanches, mudflows, floods, and wind, also influence the distribution of plant communities. 

The primary plant community types found along the trail are lowland coniferous forests, montane forests, 

subalpine forests, and subalpine meadows. 

As the Wonderland Trail penetrates the lowland forest, dominated by Western hemlock (Tsuga 

heterophylla), it encounters such understory species as Oregon grape (Berberis nervosa), Blueberry 

species (Vaccinium spp.), Salal (Gaultheria shallon), Devilsclub (Oplopanax horridum), and Skunk 

cabbage (Lysichitum americanum) (Butchard 1998, 18-21). Montane forest are generally dominated by 

Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis), while the subalpine forest are characterized by Mountain hemlock 

(Tsuga mertensiana), Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), and Alaska yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis 

nootkatensis). Understory plants found within both the montane and subalpine forests are Dwarf bramble 

(Rubus lasiococcus), Fool’s huckleberry (Menziesia ferruginea), and Pacific rhododendron 

(Rhododendron albiflorum). Where the Wonderland Trail crosses the drier, northeastern side of the 

mountain, the subalpine forest is dominated by Mountain hemlock, with Beargrass (Xerophylum tenax) 

largely occupying the understory (Butchard 1998, 18-21). Subalpine meadows are interspersed with 

clumps of trees and open heath. A variety of herbaceous plants survive in this vegetation zone and 

provide a spectacular floral display in late summer for hikers on the Wonderland Trail.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Political Context

The Wonderland Trail is located within the boundaries of Mount Rainier National Park, which is 

bordered by Mount Baker- Snoqualmie National Forest, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and Wenatchee 

National Forest lands.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Site Plan

Present day park map showing the Wonderland Trail alignment as it traverses through significant points along its 

path. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

 A 1918 park map, showing a completed network of trails circumnavigating the mountain. (Tahoma Woods collection)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Chronology

Year Event Description

Established Mount Rainier Forest Reserve Supervisor, 

Grenville F. Allen, created a ranger force to clear 

trails, construct buildings, string telephone lines 

and mark park boundaries for the main purposes of 

fire prevention and game protection.

1903 - 1910 AD

Established A system of graded trails was first proposed to 

facilitate park ranger patrols and to allow visitors 

to access major attractions.

1906 AD

Established Major Chittenden urged construction of bridle trail 

around Mount Rainier just under glacial line for 

both patrols and visitors.

1907 AD

Designed Trail surveying began. Trails were laid out on the 

eastside of the mountain and mapped in the 

vicinity of the Carbon River.

1908 AD

Built Park rangers cleared a trail from the Carbon River 

entrance, southeast across the north side of the 

mountain toward Grand Park and White River, and 

south, toward Spray Park.

1909 AD

Established The Mountaineers Club expressed interest in the 

trail and offered assistance in clearing and building.

1909 AD

Built Trail completed from White River Entrance 

through Yakima Park over Burroughs Mountain to 

Glacier Basin, and from Carbon River to Spray 

Park to Mowich Lake on the north-northeast side.

1910 - 1911 AD

Built The Mountaineers cleared a trail into Summerland 

from the White River area.

1912 AD

Built A 16-mile link on the south side of the mountain 

between Reflection Lakes and Ohanapecosh, and a 

northeasterly link between the Carbon-Chenuis 

trail and Grand Park were built.

1913 AD

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Built Completion of the circuit was accomplished via 

the Carbon-Chenuis trail to Grand Park, south over 

and around Burroughs Mountain, over St. Elmo 

Pass, the East Side Trail, from Ohanapecosh over 

the Cowlitz Divide, down Nickel Creek and up 

Stevens Canyon.

1914 - 1915 AD

Built The Congressional Sundry Civil Act allotted 

sufficient funds to complete trail-loop construction 

on the east and west sides of the mountain.

1914 - 1915 AD

Established The Seattle Mountaineers Club completed the first 

documented trek around Mount Rainier on the trail.

1915 AD

Altered Natural impacts of floods, debris slides, moving 

glaciers, as well as impacts of humans and horses, 

resulted in a continual deterioration of trail 

conditions.

1915 - 1924 AD

Maintained An ongoing process of repair and replacement 

along the trail was implemented.

1915 - 1924 AD

Built Park rangers built cedar-shake cabins along the 

East Side Trail for use as telephone stations. A 

telephone wire circuit was completed from Narada 

to White River via the Stevens Canyon and East 

Side Trail.

1916 - 1920 AD

Built Trail improvements concentrated on installing 

switchbacks, stone trail markers, tree blazes, 

boulder cairns at glaciers, puncheon bridges across 

boggy areas, and footbridges across creeks and 

rivers.

1920 - 1924 AD

Abandoned Philosophic changes in the NPS contributed to an 

abandonment of the road-around-the-mountain 

idea, and the West Side Road remained as a spur 

road.

1920 - 1929 AD

Altered Construction of the West Side Road obliterated 

much of the western portion of the trail and it was 

moved to a higher elevation between Indian 

Henry's and Mowich Lake.

1920 - 1934 AD

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Built Superintendent Toll recommended and began 

installation of a series of trail shelters every 10-15 

miles along the trail to accommodate visitors and 

rangers.

1921 AD

Established The Wonderland Trail was first officially referred 

to by name in Superintendent Roger Toll's Annual 

report.

1921 AD

Designed Mount Rainer National Park Master Plan was 

designed and implemented.

1923 - 1941 AD

Established Trail alignment on maps and documents was in 

approximately the same location as the present-day 

route.

1924 AD

Maintained Log guardrails, boulders, rock borders, vegetative 

buffers, and paving were recommended to restrict 

visitors and pack animals from wandering off 

trails, trampling vegetation and compacting soils.

1925 - 1929 AD

Established The Mount Rainier National Park General 

Development Plan was the first master plan and 

included the Wonderland Trail.

1926 AD

Engineered Trail construction standards were updated based 

on the recommendations of the Landscape 

Division, to reduce scarring from trail 

construction, and the Engineering Division, to 

regulate grades, costs, and ease of trail-use.

1928 AD

Reconstructed Reconstruction of the Carbon and Winthrop 

Glacier trail segments was the most expensive 

Wonderland Trail construction cost to date, 

involving blasting through solid rock over a long 

stretch.

1930 AD

Expanded An eastern park boundary extension brought trails 

on the east side of the mountain within the park 

boundaries.

1931 AD

Built Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers built 

and occupied six construction camps in the park. 

They undertook large and small-scale construction 

projects and maintenance of park infrastructure, 

including improvements to the Wonderland Trail.

1933 - 1941 AD

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Engineered Superintendent Tomlinson issued new trail 

construction standards in 1935, including 

recommendations to direct water by sloping the 

trail tread toward the outside edge instead of the 

previous standard to slope the trail toward ditches 

on the inside edge.

1935 AD

Removed CCC exits park. Their camps were razed and 

revegetated, and further development in the park 

slowed or stopped as labor and funds were 

diverted toward the war effort.

1941 AD

Altered Construction of the Stevens Canyon Road on the 

south side of the mountain obliterated a short 

portion of the Wonderland Trail along Reflection 

Lakes. The trail in the Reflection Lakes and Lake 

Louise area was re-routed.

1950 - 1959 AD

Retained The NPS Mission 66 plan gave new trail 

development a low priority due to 290 miles of 

existing trails within the park.

1956 AD

Altered Overuse lead to degraded of trail conditions. A 

permitting system was introduced to control the 

number of people, while horse travel was greatly 

restricted.

1960 - 1979 AD

Altered The official Wonderland Trail route in the 

northwest corner of the park was switched from 

the fragile, subalpine Spray Park Loop to the Ipsut 

Pass Trail.

1960 - 1979 AD

Stabilized The Wonderland Trail's condition is stabilized and 

much improved since the 1960s, as a result of 

consistent maintenance and regulated use.

2001 AD

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Statement Of Significance

The Wonderland Trail is nationally significant for its association with the events of the American Park 

Movement and early National Park Service (NPS) master planning (criterion A) and for its distinctive 

rustic-style design and construction (criterion C). The period of significance is defined by the time in 

which the trail was conceived, planned, and completed, between 1907 and 1942. In 1907, Forest Reserve 

Supervisor Grenville F. Allen first proposed a system of graded trails throughout the park for patrolling 

purposes. The year 1942 saw the advent of World War II and the last major work on the trail done by the 

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Mount Rainier National Park was the first national park to develop and implement a master plan prior to 

WWII and remains the most complete example of early park master planning today. In 1997, the park’s 

landscape architecture was recognized by a National Historic Landmark District designation, which 

included the Wonderland Trail. Examination of Mount Rainier’s master plans of the 1920s reveal that the 

trail, then referred to as a “bridal trail”, was incorporated into the plans as an important access route 

around the mountain. The trail was created to provide both recreational opportunities for park visitors 

and patrol access for park rangers. Design and implementation decisions incorporated both of these goals 

and are still evident in the trail today. 

Regarding significant design and construction, the Wonderland Trail embodies the complimentary styles 

of rustic architecture and naturalistic landscape design. Rustic features found on the trail incorporate 18thcentury picturesque and 19th-century naturalistic theories of design, using the park’s indigenous rock, 

lumber, and native plants as basic materials. They were designed to blend in with their surrounding 

environment, appearing handcrafted or primitive, as if created without the use of technology available at 

the time – preserving the surrounding beauty of the trail. The trail itself was aligned using naturalistic 

design techniques. The trail follows the contours of land, meandering through forest and meadow with a 

curvilinear alignment, which was employed to enhance the beauty, interest, and enjoyment of the trail.

In association with the events of the American Park Movement and early NPS master planning, the 

Wonderland Trail is significant as an integral part of the Mount Rainier National Park’s master plan. The 

trail reflects the period of significance as it still retains its early alignment indicated in the early master 

plans, its original character, intent, and many of the original trail features.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Physical History

1881-1919

In 1907, Forest Reserve Supervisor Grenville F. Allen first proposed a system of graded trails throughout 

Mount Rainier National Park in response to a report of hunting expeditions by Cowlitz Indians inside the 

park (Allen 1907). The proposed trails were considered necessary to allow park rangers to perform more 

extensive patrols. During his tenure from 1903 to 1910, Allen established the rudiments of park 

administration. He created an early ranger force to clear trails, construct buildings, string telephone lines 

and mark park boundaries (Catton 1996, ch. IV). 

Numerous trails created by Native Americans, miners, packers, and developers pre-dated the creation of 

the park and influenced the alignment of the Wonderland Trail. Current archeological evidence dates 

Native American presence within current park boundaries circa 3500 years ago (Burtchard 2001). 

Burtchard (1998) suggests that earliest human use of Mount Rainier probably began about 8,500 years 

ago after glaciers retreated from upper elevations. Native American trails along the Cowlitz Divide and 

along the Ohanapecosh River were documented by the P.J. Flint party in 1881 and by Allison L. Brown 

in 1886 (McIntyre 1952). The Mountaineers of Seattle indicated in a report that Fryingpan Creek Trail, 

running from White River to Fryingpan Glacier, was used by trappers preceding 1910 (Bailey 1912). 

Another trail from Longmire Springs, along the Paradise River, to Paradise Park (paralleling a previous 

route used by climbers and campers) was blazed in 1892 by James Longmire and Henry Carter, 

improving access and increasing visitor numbers to Longmire Spring’s Hotel and Paradise Tent Hotel 

(Thompson 1981). These pre-existing trails eventually became segments of the Wonderland Trail.

During the early years of the park, poaching was problematic. Poachers were identified as both “Cowlitz 

Indians” who killed deer during “occasional hunting expeditions up the Muddy Fork Ridge to the high 

alpine country between and below the Cowlitz and White River Glaciers” (Allen 1906) and local settlers 

who hunted within the park after the peak tourist season (Catton 1996, 78). By 1906, the clearing of 

existing trails and the creation of new trails were made a priority by Allen for game protection and fire 

prevention. The existing trails were becoming obscured by natural revegetation or erosion, were often 

treacherously steep, and did not form a contiguous system. It was not until 1907 that the idea for a trail 

encircling the mountain was considered important for visitors. Major Hiram Chittenden of the Army 

Corps of Engineers asserted the need for a bridle trail around the mountain just under the glacier line, in 

order to improve ranger access for patrols, but also to enable visitors access to the major attractions of 

the park, and in particular, to encompassing views of the mountain (USDI 1908, p. 471). Chittenden also 

recommended that the alignment of the trail allow for later widening to become a wagon road.

Trail surveying began in 1908, when trails were laid out on the east side of the mountain, actually outside 

of what were then the park boundaries, within the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve. Trails were also 

mapped in the vicinity of the Carbon River, in the northwest corner of the park, where mining operations 

were still active. A 19th-century miner’s trail led from the termination of the Northern Pacific Railroad 

at Wilkeson up the Carbon River to Moraine Park, on the north flank of Mount Rainier (Catton 1996). In 

1909, park rangers cleared a trail from the Carbon River entrance, southeast across the north-side of the 

mountain toward Grand Park and White River, and south, toward Spray Park. In the same year, The 

Mountaineers Club, a group of middle-class professionals who would have a great influence on the 

development of the Wonderland Trail and the park as a whole, first expressed an interest in a route 

around the mountain, and offered assistance in building or clearing a trail suitable for pack animals. The 

Mountaineers volunteered to delineate a small section of trail from Carbon Moraine to a switchback on 

the east-side of the Carbon River, if the park would construct a trail from Spray Park to Moraine Park. 

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 2a) Page 1 of 8
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

1910 maps of the park indicate trails in the White River area on the east-side, in which a trail looped up 

White River to Yakima Park and down Huckleberry Creek with a spur to Grand Park, up Burroughs 

Mountain to St. Elmo Pass, and on to Glacier Basin. Further, in 1910, Park Ranger Thomas O’Farrell, 

proposed a 5-mile trail to connect the Carbon River Entrance, Ipsut Creek Campground and Ipsut Ranger 

Station directly with the Mowich Lake Area (O’Farrell 1910). This trail, known as Ipsut Pass Trail, was 

completed in 1918 (NPS 1918).

By 1910, efforts to make the trail more accessible became a priority. Funds were allocated to sections of 

the trail, such as the section from Mowich Lake to Spray Park to “render it safe to horse travel” 

(O’Farrell 1910). It was hoped that travelling the trail would become “a trip to be enjoyed rather than 

dreaded as was the case formerly” (O’Farrell 1910). The first Superintendent of the park, Edward Hall, 

wrote the following to Asahel Curtis, a professional photographer and active member of The 

Mountaineers: 

“I am of the opinion that a good trail should be constructed around the mountain, at the lowest possible 

elevation...A trail of this kind would not only open the park to a great extent for tourists, but, what to my 

mind is more important, would enable a patrol to be maintained throughout the entire park” 

(Superintendent’s Report 1911). 

Superintendent Hall reported in the same year that the loop trail on the northwest corner had been 

completed from Carbon River to Spray Park via Cataract Basin, and Spray Park to Crater (Mowich) 

Lake. In 1912, The Mountaineers cleared a trail into Summerland from the White River area, with the 

intent that the trail could be connected to Longmire if a route could be found through Cowlitz Park and 

up Stevens Canyon. Trail construction in 1913 established a 16-mile link on the south-side of the 

mountain between Reflection Lakes and Ohanapecosh, and a northeasterly link between the CarbonChenuis trail and Grand Park. By 1913, the trail around the mountain was completed on the north and 

south sides, with the east and west sides still to be developed (Trails file 1907-1918, MORA).

In 1914, the Congressional Sundry Civil Act allotted sufficient funds to put workers on both sides of the 

mountain and complete the trail-loop construction. Superintendent Ethan Allen predicted that if the 

weather held, by 1915: 

“...a trunk line of trail will have been thrown around the park territory, making mountain encircling trips 

by tourists and park officers easier of accomplishment” (Superintendent’s Report 1914). 

The cost of building the trail loop averaged $300 per mile, and by the end of 1915, a combination footand-bridle trail corridor around Mount Rainier was completed. However, no connection existed yet 

between Summerland and Cowlitz Park, and completion of the circuit was accomplished via the CarbonChenuis trail to Grand Park, then south over and around Burroughs Mountain, over St. Elmo Pass, down 

White River, south over Owyhigh, down what is now called the East Side Trail, then from Ohanapecosh 

over the Cowlitz Divide, down Nickel Creek and finally up Stevens Canyon toward Longmire. This trail 

corridor followed a lower, longer route than is presently identified as the Wonderland Trail, and was less 

fixed in-place than early maps suggest. The Panhandle Gap trail was also completed in 1915, connecting 

to a pre-existing Native American trail along the Cowlitz Divide and is now a segment of the 

Wonderland Trail. 

The summer of 1915 marked The Mountaineers’ first large group circuit of the mountain, in which 

portions of existing trails were further cleared to allow for the passage of pack animals. In their report, 

the Mountaineers noted, “How admirably made and kept were the many miles of Park Trail we had to 

traverse on [our] trip around the mountain” (MORA Bulletin 1915). The Mountaineers’ accounts of this 

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 2a) Page 2 of 8
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

expedition describe both a “high-line” route over glaciers, and a “low-line” through forests. 

Significantly, their 1915 expedition documents passage through the same landmarks as the contemporary 

Wonderland Trail (Molenaar 1973, 198-207). This first expedition and subsequent expeditions 

demonstrate that while an encircling trail had been built and mapped, the route was not a fixed or 

singular entity. Travelers could choose their route between recognized stopping places, which were 

typically the high subalpine parks, but the route meandered in alignment between these places from year 

to year, creating a network of laced trails. 

In addition to the desire for access by visitors and rangers, infrastructure needs of the NPS were 

incorporated into the Wonderland Trail and in 1916, park rangers built cedar-shake cabins along the East 

Side Trail for use as telephone stations. In the same year, a telephone wire circuit with wire strung from 

tree to tree was completed from Narada on the south-side of the mountain, to White River via the Stevens 

Canyon and East Side trails (Trails file, 1907-1918). By 1920, telephone wires encircled the mountain. 

An official tree-blaze used to denote the trail was burnt into some trees in 1919, though this practice was 

later abandoned as it was considered to be disfiguring to trees. However, tree-blazes are still visible at 

higher elevations along the trail (Catton 1996, ch. IV). Finally, in 1920, the trail between Narada Falls 

and Cougar Rock was used for practical purposes serving as the only access route to the dam, penstock, 

and powerhouse at the confluence of Paradise and Nisqually Rivers (Catton 1996).

1903 park map, showing wagon road entering park in southwestern corner terminating at Longmire. Trails to 

Paradise, Crater Lake (Mowich Lake), and the Carbon Glacier provided limited access to the mountain. (Source: 

Map by Eugene Ricksecker, 1903)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

1918 park map, showing a braided trail network around the mountain completed. An additional road is aligned from 

the northeastern portion of the park providing access for visitors to the White River Campground area. (Source: 

Map of Mount Rainier, 1918)

1920-1932

The Wonderland Trail was first officially referred to by name in Superintendent Roger Toll’s 1921 

Annual Report in which he noted that the trail system was 100 miles in length, and required 12 days by 

saddle horse for completion. Toll recommended the installation of a series of trail shelters and cabins 

every 10-15 miles along the Wonderland Trail to accommodate visitors and rangers, and hence, trail 

shelter construction began (Superintendent’s Report 1920, 132). Toll also recommended Moving the 

trail from 2000 feet elevation below the tree line to about 4000 feet in order to take in the high subalpine 

meadows and unobstructed views of the mountain’s peak. During the early 1920s, trail improvements 

concentrated on installing switchbacks, stone trail markers, tree blazes, boulder cairns at glaciers, 

puncheon bridges across boggy areas, and footbridges across the mountain’s many creeks and rivers 

(Trails file 1907-1918, MORA).

By 1924, maps and descriptions of the Wonderland Trail document its alignment in approximately the 

same location as the present-day route: beginning at the Carbon River, over the moraines of the Carbon 

and Winthrop Glaciers, up and around Burroughs Mountain, down White River to Fryingpan Creek, 

through Summerland and over Fryingpan Glacier to the Cowlitz Divide, over Nickel Creek to Stevens 

Canyon, up to Longmire, through Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, down Tahoma Creek and below St. 

Andrews Park, through Sunset Park past Golden Lakes, up to Mowich Lake and through Spray Park, and 

finally descending to meet the Carbon River again at Cataract Creek. 

This trail alignment was left relatively unaltered throughout the master planning era of the 1920s into the 

present. By 1927, it was clear that the trail around the mountain played an important role in management 

of the park. For example, a 1927 Forest Protection Plan indicated that the trail system was meant to 

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

connect existing and proposed fire patrol stations, tool caches, and telephones. It was therefore important 

that the trails remained in good condition for rangers to access these points. A 1932 master plan map 

titled, “Trail System Plan, Part of the General Plan for Mount Rainier National Park,” illustrates a plan to 

improve and expand the trails around the mountain between 1933 and 1938. Many of the additional 

trails, however, were never completed.

The natural impacts of successive floods, debris slides and moving glaciers, as well as the impacts of 

humans and horses, all resulted in a continual deterioration of the trail. Bridges washed out each year, 

pack animals and hikers blazed new trails that eroded, rock slides obliterated sections of trail, rivers 

changed course, trees fell, and plants revegetated the cleared trail. An ongoing process of repair and 

replacement typified the demanding task of maintaining the Wonderland Trail. The difficulty and care 

involved in this task was documented by Superintendent Tomlinson in his 1924 detailed report of the 

Wonderland Trail (Tomlinson 1924). The report lists the need for more bridges and bridge repairs, a 

requirement for puncheons over marshy areas, the regrading of switchbacks, the removal of rockslides, 

and the realignment of treacherous reaches of the trail. Tomlinson solicited the help of The 

Mountaineers, Boy Scouts and other local citizens to contribute ideas, labor and money for trail 

improvements. 

The enormity of trail maintenance issues along the Wonderland Trail prompted a prolonged discourse 

between the NPS Engineering Division and the NPS Landscape Division about the adequacy of 

construction standards for park trails in general. In 1928, Chief Engineer F.A. Kittredge explained that 

Chief Landscape Architect Vint had “...expressed concern as to whether the trails now under 

construction in Rainier are just what is wanted. Trail standards, location and construction methods have 

been given considerable thought the last two or three months” (Kittredge 1928). The Landscape Division 

was primarily concerned with reducing the extent of scarring due to trail construction, especially where 

the Wonderland Trail was visible from roads or developed areas. The Engineering Division, on the other 

hand, had a greater concern for regulating grades and construction costs, and promoting the ease of trailuse. Kittredge issued trail standards that influenced trial design and construction until 1935 (when 

Superintendent Tomlinson adopted new standards). Kittredge recommended trail widths be three to four 

feet to accommodate travel with pack animals. He also recommended that the tread be graded lower on 

the inside of the trail to collect water in a side-ditch, which would then be conducted beneath the trail 

through a culvert. Approximately 3 miles of side-ditches are still evident along the trail today.

The on-going process of improving the Wonderland Trail resulted in its frequent realignment. The 1930 

reconstruction of the Carbon and Winthrop Glaciers trail segment was the most expensive Wonderland 

Trail construction to date, involving blasting though solid rock over a long stretch. Superintendent 

Tomlinson considered the expense justified because, “...when complete there will be no further danger 

of early damage by slides and glacier movement to this important trail” (Tomlinson 1930). 

Road building also had a significant impact on the alignment of the Wonderland Trail. Construction of 

the West Side Road in the late 1920s and early 1930s obliterated a section of the western portion of the 

trail, between Tahoma Creek and North Puyallup River. At the request of The Mountaineers, the 

Wonderland Trail was moved to a higher elevation to keep it well away from the new road (Myers 

1928). The West Side Road closely followed the route that the Wonderland Trail had taken, and from 

the point where the new road terminated at Klapatche Ridge, the trail had originally proceeded along a 

low-line route outside of the park boundaries and into the Forest Reserve. Further north, the trail had 

turned back to the park, and headed toward Golden Lakes and then on to Mowich Lake. Park planners 

hoped that the Westside Road would eventually reach all the way to the northwest corner of the park to 

connect with the Carbon River Road. They anticipated that the West Side Road would become the first 

leg of an around-the-mountain drive for visitors from Seattle or Tacoma, who would enter at the Carbon 

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 2a) Page 5 of 8
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

River entrance. The northwest entry to the park did not become the important gateway that was 

anticipated, however, largely due to inadequate support from the state and county in building access 

roads to the northwest corner of the park. Expectations for the Westside Road diminished in light of this 

and the high cost of continuing the road over rugged topography (Catton 1996). Philosophical changes 

in the NPS also contributed to an abandonment of the road-around-the mountain idea, and the West Side 

Road remained a long spur which penetrated the forests of the southwest flank of the mountain.

1933-1941

Perhaps the most important period of development of the Wonderland Trail was during the Great 

Depression, when federal employment programs funded the work of hundreds of men in the park. 

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers, employed by the Emergency Conservation Work Program, 

built and occupied six construction camps in the park between 1933 and 1941. Ernest Davidson, NPS 

Assistant Landscape Architect, supervised their activities with the help of his assistants Russell McKown 

and Halsey Davidson. A landscape foreman also oversaw the work of the men in each camp (Catton 

1996, p. 341). 

Naturalistic landscape design principles, in concert with the rustic style of design, were perpetuated by 

the NPS Landscape Division in the inter-war period and these influenced the work of the CCC. The 

CCC’s work left an unmistakable impression on the landscape of the park and the Wonderland Trail. 

While the CCC did not pioneer the rustic style, it has been noted that they “mass-produced” it during 

their years of service, and so made it a signature of the national parks (Cutler 1985, 90). While the CCC 

did undertake large construction projects, their contribution largely consisted of small-scale construction 

projects and the maintenance of park infrastructure, such as clearing and regrading trails; building stone 

retaining walls and guardrails, trail shelters, patrol cabins, fire lookouts, stone steps, culverts, and 

footbridges; planting native vegetation; and clearing vegetation to open up views and vistas. CCC work 

on the Wonderland Trail followed the principles of E.P. Meinecke, a plant pathologist contracted by the 

NPS in the late 1920s to analyze visitor-use of park campgrounds and trails, and to make 

recommendations for natural resource protection. Meinecke endorsed using log guardrails, boulders, 

rock borders, vegetative buffers, and in some cases, surfacing or paving, to restrict the tendency of 

visitors and pack animals to wander off trails and subsequently trample vegetation and compact soils 

(McClelland 1993,161-6). 

During their 8-year stay, the CCC improved and maintained the Wonderland Trail, reconstructed 

segments where needed, built numerous trail features such as culverts, footbridges, and larger structures, 

including the Indian Bar Trail Shelter and Summerland Trail Shelter. Other CCC activities included 

bank stabilization and erosion control, as well as the obliteration of unused or undesirable trails by 

replanting with native vegetation. 

In October 1935, Superintendent Tomlinson issued new trail construction standards that differed from 

earlier park standards set by Kittredge in regards to trail width and methods for directing water off the 

trail. He recommended narrower trails, 2-3’ wide, especially in the backcountry. He also recommended 

sloping the tread lower on the outside edge of the trail to direct water off the downhill side thus avoiding 

maintenance of side-ditches and culverts (Tomlinson 1935). In July 1936, retired Yosemite Park 

Supervisor Gabriel Sovulewski toured the park by car and on horseback, and made recommendations for 

trail maintenance and construction improvements that also reflected the need to deal with stormwater and 

grading of the trail more effectively (Sovulewski 1936). He supported Tomlinson’s recommendations to 

direct the water off the outside edge of the trail to avoid side-ditches. This change in trail standards is 

evident along portions of the trail improved or reconstructed after 1936.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

1934 park map, showing the preferred route around the mountain is established. As a result of obliteration of the 

Wonderland Trail by the West Side Road project, the trail is aligned closer to the mountain. (Source: Mount Rainier 

Master Plan map, 1934)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Historic photograph showing the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed horse bridges with hand tools, c. 

1930. (Courtesy Carl Fabiani)

Historic photograpgh showing footlogs provided access for park visitors during the historic period, c. 1930. (MORA 

Archives Is135)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

1942-1959

By 1942, discourse about trail standards became a moot point. The park lost the mainstay of its trail 

construction and repair task force when the CCC left in 1941. Their camps were razed and revegetated, 

and further development in the park slowed or stopped as labor and funds were diverted toward the war 

effort. Consequently, many structures that might have been replaced remained until the Mission 66 era. 

In 1956, the NPS Mission 66 plan gave trail development a low priority as by that time, 290 miles of 

trails existed within the park. However, road development in the 1950s did effect the realignment of part 

of the Wonderland Trail. Construction of the Stevens Canyon Road on the south side of the mountain 

required altering a portion of the Wonderland Trail near Reflection Lakes and Lake Louise. The trail’s 

new course paralleled the road along these lakes, then continued along its original alignment east of Lake 

Louise through Steven’s Canyon. Some sources have suggested that the trail was completely realigned in 

Steven’s Canyon to offset the new road (Catton 1996), but NPS and USGS maps indicate that the trail 

still follows its original alignment along the south bank of Steven’s Creek as it did in the early 1920s.

1960-Present

The public’s increased interest in accessing wilderness in the 1960s and 1970s led to backcountry 

overuse and degraded trail conditions in the park. In order to address the deteriorating trail conditions, a 

permitting system was introduced to control the number of people entering the backcountry and horse 

travel was greatly restricted (Catton 1996, 539). Additionally, to reduce wear to fragile meadows, the 

official Wonderland Trail route in the northwest corner of the park was switched from the subalpine 

Spray Park Loop to the Ipsut Pass Trail. 

Today, the Wonderland Trail maintains its popularity with day and backcountry hikers. In 2000, the 

Mount Rainier National Park Backcountry Permit Office in Longmire, estimated that approximately 

40,048 visitors received permits to hike segments of the Wonderland Trail. Most of the trail is in good 

condition with the exception of a segment near Winthrop Creek recently damaged by erosion. Recent 

completion of a new trail segment along the White River has moved the the historical trail alignment 

from the shoulder of the White River road to the other side of the river bank. Campgrounds are located 

along the trail at approximately 5-mile intervals, each with designated tent sites, a pit toilet, and a bear 

bag pole. Because they can only accommodate a limited number of backpackers, reservations for the 

campgrounds are needed, often filling up during the high-use months of July and August.

Since the period of significance, the trail’s overall alignment has experienced minor changes in order to 

reroute irreparable segments of the trail. However, the trail’s alignment still closely matches its route in 

1942 by the end of the period of significance. At the finer scale, the trail has undergone continuing 

maintenance of bridges, culverts, and tread that has served to preserve the character and alignment of the 

trail. Campgrounds, trail shelters, and patrol cabins continue to serve visitors and rangers hiking around 

the mountain. Thus the Wonderland Trail has changed little since it was first named in 1921, preserving 

its integrity and significance as on very important part of the park’s early master planning.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Present day park map, showing the Wonderland Trail is routed via Ipsut campground rather than through Spray 

Park, yet the trail maintains its integrity of alignment. (Source: USGS map 1974 and Mount Rainier Official Map and 

Guide, circa 2000)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 2b) Page 2 of 3
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photogragh showing remote areas of the park such Ohanapecosh Glacier and Indian Bar, which the 

Wonderland Trail continues to access. (CCSO, 2001)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 2b) Page 3 of 3
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Summary

Analysis And Evaluation

The Wonderland Trail was evaluated as a cultural landscape within the Mount Rainier National Historic 

Landmark District. As a result of this evaluation, the Wonderland Trail was found to retain the following 

landscape characteristics and features that contribute to the trail's historic integrity. These landscape 

characterisitcs are natural systems and features, spatial organization, views and vistas, land use, 

circulation, archeology, and buildings and structures. These landscape characteristics and associated 

features retain their historic character and remain to the present day as originally intended by the Mount 

Rainier Master Plan during the period of significance from 1907-1942.

Landscape Characteristics And Features

Archeological Sites

NPS Power Generation

One historical archeological site along the Wonderland Trail is the penstock and Paradise River 

hydroelectric plant site dating from the 1920s. Located .5 mile up the Paradise River from Cougar Rock, 

the hydroelectric plant site was abandoned in the 1970s and demolished in the 1980s. Constructed by the 

Rainier National Park Company, the plant generated electricity for the Longmire and Paradise Inns 

during the period of significance. During its period of operation, the Wonderland Trail was used to 

access the site. The powerhouse was a timber frame two-story structure, containing turbines, generators, 

living quarters and a workshop (MORA Historic Building Survey 1983). The wood stave penstock with 

steel bands, 1 mile in length, conveyed water from an upstream dam. Electric wires connected Longmire 

and Paradise to the power plant along the Paradise River corridor.

Today the penstock is in varying states of decay, running beside the trail for 1-mile leading to the plant 

site. Disturbance regime vegetation suggests the boundaries of the plant site. Abruptly transitioning 

from coniferous forest into a young alder dominated area, the site offers clues of its historical uses. 

Electrical wires, concrete slabs and other industrial remains are scattered around the site. The refuse area 

beside the river contains historic items from daily activities. Presently, sensitive park visitors have 

places these objects on a makeshift pedestal marking the site as a place of historic significance. 

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

In the 1930s, CCC crews worked on the Wonderland Trail and a possible historic CCC site is located just 

below the upper Fryingpan Creek bridge. Documented as Site 45PI42, it is made up of a “series of 

excavated tent platforms, privy and dump pits, a central area with structural elements, and water by-pass 

ditch” (Burtchard 1998). Presently, the site is visible to the south side of the trail. It is an open area of 

land with scattered lumber and debris from a screen door along the edges of the clearing. The by-pass 

ditch and foundation depressions are discernable. According to Burtchard, the site dates from the “early 

to mid 1900s and is a possible CCC camp or trail construction station” (Burtchard 1998). 

In 1931, park administrators proposed a connector trail between the Fryingpan Trail and Panhandle Gap, 

bypassing the Summerland route. It was completed by 1936 but later abandoned. A comparison of maps 

from 1931 and 2000 yields that the location of the historic site corresponds exactly with the junction for 

the old connector trail. Consequently, it is plausible that Site 45PI42 dates from 1933-1936 and was the 

CCC’s spur camp for the construction of the connector trail.

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photo showing items collected by hikers over time at the former site of the Paradise River 

hydroelectric plant, originally built in the 1920s. (CCSO 2000)

Contemporary photo showing Site 45PI427 located to the left of the trail, likely a 1931 CCC spur camp. (CCSO 2000)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Buildings And Structures

Throughout the Wonderland Trail’s 93-mile course, ranger patrol cabins, trail shelters, and footbridges 

were built during the historic period to improve park patrol and recreational access to the mountain. 

During the period of significance, these structures were constructed in the rustic style, typical of park 

master planning attempts to fully integrate built structures within the park’s surroundings. Although 

various original buildings and structures have been reconstructed or updated due to the mountain’s 

dramatic climatic conditions, the majority of original buildings and many structures retain historic 

integrity or are contemporary replacements compatible with the rustic style of architecture used 

historically.

The rustic style of architecture associated with early park master planning utilized the mountain’s 

available indigenous materials such as rock, wood, and plant material in an effort to enhance the park 

visitor’s experience. This integration of the park’s buildings and structures into the surrounding 

landscape incorporated 18th-century picturesque and 19th-century naturalistic theories of design, 

creating patrol cabins, trail shelters, and footbridges that appeared hand-crafted or primitive. However, 

as rustic details enhanced the feeling that these structures were centuries old, careful engineering and 

design ensured their ability to accommodate hikers and rangers, and in the case of footbridges, their 

ability to accommodate pack animals. 

Small log cabins sited along the Wonderland Trail were primarily constructed during the historic period 

and were generally located at 10-15 mile intervals, considered a day’s hike apart for patrolling park 

rangers. These patrol cabins embodied rustic architectural characteristics such as a log framed 

rectangular plan with saddle notching, cedar shake roofs, lofts above the first floor, gabled roofs over an 

open front log post porch, beam and bracket construction, whole log rafters, and roughly hewn whole log 

walls. Additionally, patrol cabins constructed during the period of significance featured either stone or 

log foundations. Today, the White River, Indian Henry’s, Mowich Lake, and Sunset Park patrol cabins 

contribute to the trail’s historic integrity, while the Mystic Lake patrol cabin, a contemporary 

reconstruction, is compatible with the rustic style. Along the Northern Loop Trail, the original Lake 

James patrol cabin has also been reconstructed in 1982 and is compatible. The patrol cabins sited along 

the trail continue to serve their intended historic purpose as a base to conduct patrols or work efforts in 

the backcountry, and contribute to the trail’s overall integrity. Patrol cabins lost include Nickel Creek 

along the main stem of the Wonderland Trail, and Grand park along the Northern Loop Trail ( Historic 

Building Inventory 1983, Thompson 1981).

Patrolling rangers as well as visitors utilized the park’s rustic wood and stone trail shelters constructed 

during the period of significance as stopping points along the Wonderland Trail. Unlike patrol cabins, 

wood and stone trail shelters were smaller in size, approximately 14’ x 14’, and had an open front 

facade. The remaining three shelters on the trail were constructed with wood (South Mowich shelter) 

and stone (Summerland and Indian Bar shelters), yet were similarly styled as rectangular, one story, oneroom units. Additionally, stone shelters used log and stone masonry frames and distinctive “saltbox” 

gable shake roofs over tongue-and-groove cedar sheathing on log beams, while wood shelters had log 

frame “saltbox” gable shake roofs, whole log walls; post, beam, and bracket supports at the front corners; 

and rear corner saddle notching. These three remaining trail shelters are still important stopping points 

along the trail and are significant in their association with early recreational use of the park as they 

continue to be used by hikers as shelter from the mountain’s unpredictable climatic conditions. Trail 

shelters that have been lost along the main Wonderland Trail route include Mowich Lake, Mystic Lake, 

North Puyallup River, Sunset Park, North Mowich River, Klapatche Park, and Cataract Creek Shelters. 

Along the Norhtern Loop Trail, Berkley Park Shelter and the original Lake James Shelter have been lost 

(Historic Building Inventory 1983, Thompson 1981, Fabiani 2001).

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Rustic styled wood bridges with curbs, and wood swamp bridges constructed during the period of 

significance were engineered to accommodate hikers and their pack animals and today further contribute 

to the Wonderland Trail’s integrity. Historically known as “horse bridges”, these wood structures 

typically featured rough-hewn split log cedar decking laid from end to end towards the center of the 

span, and in limited numbers, some featured laminated 2”x4” floor decking. Depending on bridge span, 

2 or 3 large diameter log stringers sat on a sill log, which in turn sat on solid rock or concrete 

foundations. In an effort to make the crossing easier for pack animals, large wood curbs were used and 

secured by large drift pins. Over time, these structures have occasionally been repaired or replaced, but a 

number of original horse and swamp bridges still remain. Others are contemporary replacements, 

compatible with the historic character of the trail. 

Of the 118 wood bridges on the Wonderland Trail (MORA Trail Inventory), 14 date from the period of 

significance. Sixty-four wood bridges are contemporary, but are compatible with the historic character of 

the trail. Of 51 existing swampbridges (MORA Trail Inventory), 2 are historic and 25 are contemporary, 

but compatible. Five corduroys exist along the trail (MORA Trail Inventory), of which 2 are historic and 

2 are contemporary, but compatible. Of 279 culverts on the trail made of wood, rock, metal, and 

fiberglass (MORA Trail Inventory), 35 are historic wood culverts, 16 are contemporary, but compatible 

wood culverts.

Contemporary photograph of the Sunset Park Patrol Cabin built in 1922. (CCSO 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph showing the top view of an original wood culvert located between White River and 

Fryingpan Creek. Forest duff was used to blend the culvert with the trail tread. (CCSO, 2001)

Contemporary photograph showing an existing historic corduroy near Lake Louise. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph showing a compatible 2001 reconstruction of a footbridge built in the rustic style with split 

log decking, located on Frying Pan Creek. (CCSO, 2001)

Contemporary photograph showing a compatible swamp bridge reconstruction at Mystic Lake. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph of historic horse bridge located on Fryingpan Creek. (CCSO 2000)

Contemporary photograph of historic horse bridge located on Fryingpan Creek. (CCSO 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph of Indian Henry’s Patrol Cabin built in 1915. (CCSO 2001)

Historic photograph of a more detailed wood bridge with handrails built in the early 1930s. This bridge no longer 

exists. (Courtesy of Carl Fabiani)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph of Mowich Lake Patrol Cabin built in 1922. (CCSO 2001)

Contemporary photograph of White River Patrol Cabin built in 1927. (CCSO 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph of Indian Bar Trail Shelter built in 1940 by the CCC. (CCSO, 2001)

Contemporary photograph of South Mowich Trail Shelter built c. 1980. This structure is compatible, but noncontributing. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

A 1934 photograph of a footlog with handrail crossing St. Andrew’s Creek. The diameter of this particular historic 

footlog is similar to examples found today. (MORA Archives, N4116)

Contemporary photograph of Summerland Trail Shelter built in 1934. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph showing a compatible 2001 reconstruction of a footbridge built in the rustic style, located 

on Fryingpan Creek. This bridge incorporates curbs and split cedar decking. (CCSO, 2001)

Contemporary photograph showing an original wood culvert on the trail located between White River and Fryingpan 

Creek. From the side, the stringers and sill logs are visible. (CCSO, 2001)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph showing footlog with handrail spanning the Nisqually River. (CCSO, 2000)

Historic photograph of a footbridge. This bridge no longer exists. Bridges built by the CCC often curved with the 

landscape, typically met the trail at grade, were made with split cedar decking, and had wide-axe cut tapered curbs. 

(MORA Archives, N4372)

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Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Indian Bar Trail Shelter Contributing 30058 O-054 Indian Bar Trail Shelter

Characteristic

Feature

Type Of

Contribution

LCS Structure

Name

IDLCS

Number

Structure

Number

 

Indian Henry's Patrol Cabin Contributing 030061 N-106 Indian Henry's Patrol Cabin

Mowich Lake Patrol Cabin Contributing 30064 C-252 Mowich Lake Patrol Cabin

Summerland Trail Shelter Contributing 30059 W-057 Summerland Trail Shelter

Sunset Park Patrol Cabin Contributing 30060 N-105 Sunset Park Patrol Cabin

White River Patrol Cabin Contributing 30056 W-051 White River Campground 

Patrol Cabin

Wood bridge at 10.620 on the 

Sunrise to Ipsut Creek 

campground segment of the 

Wonderland Trail.

Contributing

Wood bridge at 2.847 on the 

Sunrise to White River Bridge 

segment of the Wonderland Trail.

Contributing

Wood bridge constructed like a 

culvert at 6.194 on the Box 

Canyon to Reflection Lakes road 

crossing.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 1.329 

on the White River Bridge to Box 

Canyon segment of the 

Wonderland Trail.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 1.983 

on the White River Bridge to Box 

Canyon segment.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 

13.297 on the Sunrise to Ipsut 

Creek campround segment.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 

15.505 on the White River Bridge 

to Box Canyon segment.

Contributing

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 14 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Wood bridge with curbs at 

18.534 on the Longmire to West 

Side Road segment of the 

Wonderland Trail.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 2.932 

on the Sunrise to White River 

Bridge segment.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 3.156 

on the Sunrise to White River 

Bridge segment.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 3.807 

on the east edge of Mowich Lake 

to Ipsut Creek campground.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 4.224 

on the Longmire to West Side 

Road segment of the Wonderland 

Trail per 1997 MORA Trail 

System Inventory.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 4.483 

on Longmire to West Side Road 

segment.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 6.028 

on the Box Canyon to Reflections 

Lakes road crossing segment of 

the Wonderland Trail.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 6.053 

on the Box Canyon to Reflection 

Lakes road crossing.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 6.066 

on the Box Canyon to Reflection 

Lakes road crossing.

Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs located 

.863 on the Longmire to West 

Side Road segment of the 

Wonderland Trail per 1997 

MORA Trails System Inventory.

Contributing

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 15 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Wood corduroy at 6.396, not 

indicated in the 1997 Trail 

System Inventory. Corduroy is 

on the Box Canyon to Reflection 

Lakes road crossing.

Contributing

Wood Corduroy at 7.586 on the 

Sunrise to Ipsut Creek 

campground segment of the 

Wonderland Trail.

Contributing

Wood swamp bridge at .917 on 

the east edge of Mowich Lake to 

Ipsut Creek campground.

Contributing

Wood Swamp Bridge at 18.400 

on the Longmire to West Side 

Road segment of Wonderland 

Trail.

Contributing

Wood swamp bridge at 4.060 on 

the White River Bridge to Box 

Canyon segment.

Contributing

Wood Swamp Bridge located at 

.409 on Longmire to end of West 

Side Road segment of the 

Wonderland Trail, per 1997 

MORA Trails System Inventory.

Contributing

Wood swamp bridge with curbs 

at 4.250 on the North Puyallup 

Trail to east edge of Mowich 

Lake.

Contributing

Wood swamp bridge with curbs 

at 6.181 on the Box Canyon to 

Reflection Lakes road crossing.

Contributing

South Mowich Trail Shelter Non-Contributing

Wood bridge with curbs at 2.914 

on the Sunrise to White River 

Bridge segment.

Undetermined

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 16 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Circulation

The Wonderland Trail, a prominent circulation route around Mount Rainier National Park, is a 93-mile 

loop circumnavigating the entire mountain. Designed not only for functionality and ease of travel, the 

trail was also engineered to take full advantage of the natural beauty of the landscape. The depth of 

consideration put into the trail’s design is highly evident in the trail’s width, gradient, drainage, 

curvilinear alignment, and surface materials. The goal was to create a circuit that blended into its 

surrounding natural environment, flowing seamlessly with gentle curves and slopes, and providing an 

enjoyable travelling experience.

In the 1920s, both the Landscape and Engineering Divisions discussed how to best accomplish these 

goals along the trail. Trail construction standards created during this time recommended routes be 

planned with an “advanced engineering study” (Kittredge 1928). Trail widths of three to four feet were 

recommended for ease of traveling with stock. Grades were not to exceed 15%, except where they might 

be “rolled to take advantage of lighter topography, scenic features, and to avoid cliffs” (Kittredge 1928). 

Switchbacks were designed to allow pack animals to turn easily. The grade was to include frequent dips 

in the trail “to insure removal of water” because “dips or water breaks are generally preferable to 

culverts” stated Chief Engineer F.A. Kittredge (Kittredge 1928). Other trail construction standards used 

by the Engineering Division at the time to handle water run-off included grading the trail lower on the 

inside than the outside “to retain run-off water until a safe place is reached for diverting it over the edge” 

(Kittredge 1928). Finally, the aesthetic qualities of the trail were considered with the recommendation 

that construction debris should be cleaned up concurrently with the advance of trail construction “so that 

when the project is completed the trail sides will not be left unsightly” (Kittredge 1928). Also, the 

proportions of cut and fill during regrading were to be balanced with “due regard for the vegetation 

below” (Kittredge 1928).

During the 1930s, when the CCC began to take on maintenance projects along the Wonderland Trail, 

Tomlinson issued updated trail standards that differed from the previous standards. He recommended that 

the trail tread be only two feet wide, which he felt was sufficient for pack and saddle horse use 

(Tomlinson 1935). He wrote, “Wider than the two-foot trail construction or reconstruction requires the 

approval in writing of the park Superintendent. As a general thing, a wider trail may not be used outside 

the developed areas” (Tomlinson, Superintendent's Annual Report 1935). Tomlinson also changed the 

standards for handling water run-off. He recommended grading the outside of the trail lower than the 

inside so water would run directly off it, rather than be collected in side ditches or drain ditches. Newer 

approaches to handling drainage were also supported by Sovulewski, retired Yosemite Park Supervisor, 

who wrote:

“The trails are built with the outer edge of the trail very high in order to drain to the inner edge or toward 

the bank of the trail, necessitating the construction and maintenance of drainage ditches along the inner 

edge.... [T]his type of trail (especially if it is a trail along a steep band) will be ugly and difficult to 

landscape.... It is necessary to deliberately break up the regular grade and to construct into the surface 

slight depressions from 15-25 feet in length, sloping slightly to the outer edge and deep enough to 

provide natural drainage” (Sovulewski 1937). 

Tomlinson still recommended that the grade not exceed 15% where possible and believed “...it is 

preferable to vary the grade [of the trail] occasionally in order to avoid monotony, and to better conform 

to the general topography” (Tomlinson 1935). Concern about the impact of trail development on scenic 

qualities of the environment was still evident in the 1930s with Tomlinson’s request that, “The use of 

powder for blasting rock, stumps, etc., should be kept at a minimum. Trees, moss-covered boulders, rock 

ledges and other natural features must be protected from damage...” (Tomlinson 1935).

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 17 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Using naturalistic landscape architecture methods of design employed in the park during the 1920s and 

30s, the trail was aligned in a curvilinear fashion. Whenever possible, the trail was designed to follow the 

contours of the land. The trail meandered through forest and meadow, never taking a straight direct route. 

In the vertical alignment, the trail was designed to gently incline or decline, never dramatically dipping 

up or down. This was purposely done to make the Wonderland Trail an interesting and enjoyable hike. 

Materials used during the construction also reflected the naturalistic and rustic design styles of the time. 

These design styles advocated the use of local or regional materials that helped to blend built structures 

into the natural environment. For instance, the bridges and culverts constructed during this period were 

built of logs or rock salvaged within close proximity of the trail. The trail tread was also made of the 

existing materials on the ground – duff in the lowland forests and rock on the upper subalpine sections 

(in contrast to importing materials from another region such as gravel). These native materials were 

spread over the top of wood bridges or culverts to keep the tread material uniform. The elevation of the 

top of culverts were set so that no step up or step down was required to cross them. Their finished 

elevations were flush with the trial tread. The attention given to the materials used and the elevations of 

the structures in relation to the trail tread contributed to the seamless quality of the trail and also reflected 

the unique qualities of each area the trail passed through.

Today, due to repair and realignment since the period of significance, small segments of the trail have 

changed in respect to circulation. For example, in the 1950s, the construction of the Steven’s Canyon 

Road resulted in the relocation of approximately half a mile of the Wonderland Trail in the Reflection 

Lakes and Lake Louise area. Some portions of the trail in this area actually follow along the shoulder of 

the road. In these trail segments, the width, character, and tread material (asphalt), is considerably 

different from the rest of the trail. 

Despite these altered segments, the majority of the Wonderland trail still maintains the historic qualities 

of circulation reflecting the different trail standards issued during the period of significance. Some 

segments of the trail exhibit the philosophies of the 1920s with drainage ditches running along the uphill 

sides of the trail, directing the water towards culverts or drain dips. Other sections of the trail reflect 

1930s philosophies being constructed with the tread sloping to the outside of the trail to let water flow 

immediately off its surface. The trail also reflects decisions made in the 1920s and 30s about trail width. 

The width tends to be about 3-5 feet in close proximity to trailheads or more developed areas, but 2-3 

miles beyond developed areas, the trail narrows to 1-2 feet wide. The trail still maintains the same 

grading philosophies of the period of significance, keeping most slopes under 15%, and using 

switchbacks to ease travel where the landscape is excessively steep. Alignment of the trail still retains its 

historic curvilinear qualities throughout its course. Materials used on the tread still reflect the materials 

available adjacent to the trail. For example, when crossing the rocky Panhandle Gap, the trail tread is 

made of crushed pumice. In the lower forested elevations, the trail consists of evergreen needles. The 

trail still moves through these various zones providing walking surfaces unique to particular areas. 

Because the majority of the trail still reflects the drainage, widths, grading, curvilinear alignment, and 

materials used during the period of significance and provide the overall feeling of a trail that flows 

seamlessly through the landscape, circulation is a landscape feature that contributes to the overall 

integrity of the Wonderland Trail.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 18 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Historic photograph showing how the trail tread was built up to meet grade at bridges during the historic period, c. 

1935. (Courtesy Carl Fabiani)

Contemporary photograph showing forest duff spread on bridges and culverts. This was done during the historic 

period in an effort to integrate the structure with the surrounding landscape. (CCSO, 2001)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 19 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph taken near Fryingpan Creek trailhead showing width of the Wonderland Trail near 

developed areas is approximately 4-5'. (CCSO 2001)

Contempoary photograph taken between Sunrise and Berkley Park showing how the width of the Wonderland Trail 

narrows in the backcountry. (CCSO, 2001)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 20 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3a) Page 21 of 21
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Land Use

The original land use intent of the Wonderland Trail was to provide access for both visitors and park 

rangers around Mt. Rainier and is used for this purpose today. During the early conceptual years of the 

Wonderland Trail (1906-1907), several trail segments that would eventually be incorporated into the 

overall circuit around the mountain had already been developed and were in use for a variety of 

purposes. For example, a trail segment from Narada Falls to Cougar Rock had already been built and 

used by 1892 for tourists to access developments at Longmire and Paradise. Another trail along the 

Cowlitz Divide, an old Native American hunting trail, was being used at the time for recreational 

purposes. 

Inspired with the goal to make travelling around Mt. Rainier more comfortable and feasible, the NPS 

designed the trail to create a continuous route and to accommodate those travelling with pack animals. 

The resulting foot and bridal trail allowed park visitors to see a multitude of natural features within the 

park and to camp at backcountry camps or trail shelters. Backcountry camps were operated by the 

Cooperative Campers, an organization loosely associated with the Mountaineers, managing sites in 1917 

at Paradise, Ohanapecosh Park, Summerland, Glacier Basin, Mystic Lake, and Seattle Park (Catton 1996, 

261). In addition to backcountry camps, camps associated with trail shelters were located, during the 

period of significance, at Sunset Park, North Mowich River, Summerland, Indian Bar, Berkeley Park, 

Lake George and Nickel Creek (Thompson 1981, 187-8). 

The trail was also designed to provide park rangers strategic and broad views of the region for wildfire 

detection and wilderness protection. As a result, the trail was aligned to capture views from the top of 

valleys and to rise above the tree line where views were not obscured by vegetation. Patrol cabins were 

placed one day apart to provide rangers with living quarters. The trail was also used to facilitate NPS 

communication with telephone lines strung from tree to tree and telephones located at patrol cabins along 

its path.

Currently, the Wonderland Trail still maintains the majority of its historic land uses. The trail still allows 

hikers to travel and camp around the entire mountain on a continuous route. Park rangers continue to use 

the trail and cabins for patrolling purposes. However, due to environmental concerns, horse travel has 

been limited along the trail to specific segments that include both Ipsut Creek to North Puyallup (18 

miles) and Longmire to Box Canyon (13 miles). The telephone lines have also been abandoned and 

removed in preference for hand held radios. Yet because the Wonderland Trail is still used as it was 

originally intended, for access of visitors and rangers to hike, camp, and patrol around the entire 

mountain, land use is a characteristic of the Wonderland Trail that strongly supports its historic integrity, 

and contributes to its historic significance.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 1 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Historic photograph showing built structures such as horse bridges were used to accommodate people and pack 

animals. (MORA Archives, R2)

Historic photograph showing a park ranger accessing remote areas of the park with pack animals. The ranger is 

pictured with containers for fish stocking. (MORA Archives, N3992)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 2 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Natural Systems And Features

Natural systems and features influenced the siting, alignment and development of the Wonderland Trail 

during the period of significance. Designed to access and highlight the mountain’s waterfalls, glacier 

snouts, subalpine meadows and mountain lakes, the trail traverses the landscape, frequently providing 

direct views of the mountain and the surrounding Cascade region along its linear path. These natural 

systems and features are still evident and continue to influence the historic character of the trail allowing 

access for park rangers to patrol and protect its natural resources and for park visitors to recreate. 

From the trail’s earliest conception, designers aligned the trail to access remote areas of the park, varying 

in elevation from the trail’s 2600’ low point at Ipsut Creek to the trail’s highest elevation at 6800’ at 

Panhandle Gap. During the historic period, a pattern emerged: the trail systematically passed significant 

and prominent natural systems and features located around the mountain from montane forest zones 

through subalpine zones to alpine zones well above the tree line. Consequently, park rangers and visitors 

had visual and physical access to sites including Mowich Lake, the Emmons and Nisqually Glaciers, 

Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, the Cowlitz Divide, Summerland Park, and frequent and varying views 

of Mount Rainier. Further, these natural systems and features influenced trail alignment. For example, 

the trail usually took the path of least resistance along a ridge above a stream—such as the Fryingpan 

corridor—arriving above the tree line at Summerland, an alpine zone offering dramatic views of the 

mountain and the Fryingpan glacier. 

Although the mountain’s dynamic climatic forces continually weather and alter its natural systems and 

features, the trail highlights the same natural systems and features as during the period of significance. 

Occasionally, the trail has minor realignments or is repaired, yet it maintains the original feeling as it 

accesses these natural systems and features. While in the forest, the trail is enclosed under old growth 

conifers providing a sense of seclusion. As the trail gains elevation, the mixture of light and lowgrowing vegetation open up expansive and breathtaking views of the mountain’s rivers, meadows, and 

surrounding peaks. 

The Wonderland Trail continues to provide access for rangers and the ability for park visitors to see the 

mountain’s natural systems and features. The original design intent by park planners to furnish access to 

these sites of the mountain and around the mountain still influence the trail’s alignment and support its 

integrity.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 3 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph showing the Wonderland Trail winding through dense lowland coniferous forests. 

(CCSO, 2001)

Contemporary photograph of the Wonderland Trail traversing the verdant meadows of Indian Henry’s Hunting 

Ground. (CCSO, 2001)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 4 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph of the Wonderland Trail winding through rocky terrain just north of Panhandle Gap. 

(CCSO, 2001)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 5 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Spatial Organization

The spatial organization of the Wonderland Trail retains integrity and contributes to the trail’s historic 

significance. Spatial patterns of the trail reflect decisions made during the period of significance in regard 

to land use, circulation, views, and natural features. As a result of these decisions, the main spatial 

pattern of the trail emerged as a dynamic, braided corridor encircling the mountain, which enabled the 

connection of important points for trail users, allowed for alternate routes, and provided further access 

into remote areas with additional trails branching off its main stem. 

The trail was planned as a loop around the mountain with the goal of providing access through the park 

for both park rangers and visitors. This allowed rangers to patrol the entire park and for visitors to 

experience the scenic beauty of the whole mountain. As early as 1907, Grenville F. Allen proposed that a 

system of trails be aligned around the mountain in an effort to improve access to remote areas of the park 

for patrolling purposes. However by 1910, The Mountaineers, a local hiking club, was frustrated with 

the lack of access throughout the park. “It seemed that one had to hire a guide to hike anywhere” was the 

comment of one Mountaineer (Thompson 1981, 58). As a result of The Mountaineers desire to have 

autonomy and experience various scenic areas of the park, while simultaneously improving access for 

patrol rangers. The Mountaineers working in concert with park rangers aligned an upper and lower route 

circumnavigating the mountain by 1915. 

As a linear landscape, the trail connected points within the park important to both ranger and visitor use. 

For rangers, important viewpoints of the park were connected by the trail while patrol cabins were 

spaced evenly along its route, making patrol duties more feasible. For visitors, the trail connected 

prominent natural features, views of the greater region, and provided campsite facilities spaced evenly at 

one-day intervals. In order to connect and provide access to points of interest, the trail was designed to 

repeatedly ascend and descend the mountain from forests as low as 2600’ up to glaciers as high as 6800’. 

The spatial organization of the trail could be therefore envisioned like a ribbon applied to a pleated skirt, 

with a generally circular horizontal alignment and a repeating up and downhill vertical alignment.

During the period of significance, the Wonderland Trail was not a fixed or singular entity. The trail 

constantly underwent minor alignment changes due to harsh climatic conditions and to avoid fragile or 

dangerous areas. In 1915, the Wonderland Trail was described by the Mountaineers as a braided trail that 

provided various “high-line” and “low-line routes” that intersected at specific points, usually near high 

subalpine meadows (Molenaar 1973). Over time, as these high- and low-line routes became more 

established, this braided spatial pattern gave visitors and rangers flexibility to access a variety of routes 

and the natural systems traversed by the trail. It also allowed sustained access around the trail even when 

the high-line routes were inaccessible. For example, the Eastside Trail was considered the low-line 

alternative route of the Wonderland Trail when the route across Panhandle Gap was closed; the Ipsut 

Creek Trail was a low-line route alternative to Spray Park; Northern Loop Trail was a low-line 

alternative route to the upper Mystic Lake route; and finally, Burroughs Mountain Trail was a high-line 

alternative route to the lower trail from Sunrise to White River. 

Although maps produced during the period of significance indicate the dynamic and braided nature of the 

trail, the main route was described by the mountaineers in 1915 as traversing from the Carbon River over 

the moraines of the Carbon and Winthrop Glaciers, up and around Burroughs Mountain, down White 

River to Fryingpan Creek, through Summerland and over Fryingpan Glacier to the Cowlitz Divide, over 

Nickel Creek to Stevens Canyon, up to Longmire, through Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, down 

Tahoma Creek and below St. Andrews Park, through Sunset Park past Golden Lakes, up to Mowich Lake 

and through Spray Park, and finally descending to meet the Carbon River again at Cataract Creek. 

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 6 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

By the early 1930s, a segment of the trail was realigned in response to the construction of the West Side 

Road. As a result, the trail was moved from a lower route between Mirror Lake and Spray Park to a 

higher route that is still used today. By 1934, another segment of the trail that historically ascended up 

and around Burroughs Mountain was abandoned for the preference of a lower trail from Berkley Park to 

White River (Mount Rainier Forest Protection Plan, 1927 and Mount Rainer Master Plan, 1934). Since 

these adjustments, the overall alignment of the trail has changed very little.

Another pattern that developed in response to circulation and access needs was a system of adjunct trails 

branching away from the main trunk of the trail that encircled the mountain. These branching trails 

radiated out from the Wonderland Trail to access lookout towers, to reach deeper into the backcountry, to 

extend towards the summit of Mt. Rainier, and to provide access to the trail itself. This interweaving and 

radiating trail pattern relies on the encircling nature of the Wonderland Trail for access, thus making the 

Wonderland Trail the spine of the park’s network of trails. 

Today, the Wonderland Trail continues to retain the same spatial patterns as it did during the period of 

significance. The trail’s alignment has changed little since 1942, still circumnavigating the mountain, 

connecting the majority of the same natural features, viewpoints, patrol cabins, and campsites and 

continuing to reflect its original elevation gains and losses around the mountain to access these points. 

Since 1942, the trail’s official route has been determined as a singular trail that follows the majority of 

the high-line routes of the original braided system. The most significant change made to the alignment 

since 1942 resulted in switching from the high-line route through Spray Park to the lower Ipsut Creek 

route in an effort to protect Spray Park meadows from overuse. Because this realignment of the official 

route of the Wonderland Trail takes advantage of a path that was considered a segment of the 

Wonderland Trail during the period of significance, the official alignment recognized today is consistent 

with the period of significance and therefore contributes to the trail’s historic significance. In addition, 

although the Wonderland Trial is delineated today as a singular trail, the historical low-line and high-line 

alternatives still exist as the Eastside Trail, Northern Loop Trail, and Spray Park Trail.

 

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 7 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

A 1918 park master plan map indicates the historical alignment of trails within the park. Overall trail alignment has 

changed little since the period of significance. (Mount Rainier National Park Master Plan, 1918)

Profile diagram of the entire Wonderland Trail showing the continuous elevation changes as the trail encircles the 

mountain, taking the hiker through the numerous physiographic zones within the park. (CCSO, 1997)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 8 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Views And Vistas

Views captured along the Wonderland Trail were thoughtfully considered in the trail’s original alignment 

and continue to contribute to its historic integrity. Scenic views of Mount Rainier and its surrounding 

dramatic features were made accessible by the trail, permitting rangers to circumnavigate the park as they 

patrolled for wildfires and poaching, while park visitors enjoyed the unique recreational opportunity to 

observe the mountain’s dramatic natural wonders. 

By design, the trail’s alignment was patterned to traverse through dense old growth forest near 2600’, 

then ascend to higher subalpine and alpine areas, peaking above the tree-line, providing direct views of 

the mountain and the cascade region, and finally descending back to the forest. In addition to the 

purposeful attempt to align the trail to capture views, back country trail shelters located around the 

mountain at places such as Summerland and Indian Bar were sited to further enhance the opportunity to 

enjoy the surrounding landscape. In 1925, Mount Rainier’s first naturalist, Floyd Schmoe recognized 

the appropriately named Wonderland Trail. He observed, “Every hour it opens to the fortunate visitor 

vistas and distant views, intimate glimpses of growing things, and sketches of wild animal life . . . a 

natural God-made Wonderland of forest and snow, wild flower, field, and mighty cascade” (Schmoe 

1925, 99). Today, these historic views of the mountain are visible from the same vantage points accessed 

by the Wonderland Trail such as from Reflection Lakes, the flowering meadows on the Cowlitz Divide, 

or the Carbon Glacier. Additional stunning viewpoints that contribute to the trail’s integrity of views 

includes Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, the Tahoma Glacier (as seen from Emerald Ridge), Takaloo 

Rock and the Puyallup Cleaver (as seen from Klapatche Park), Golden Lakes, Goat Island Rocks and the 

dramatic views of the mountain from the Moraine Creek corridor, Mystic Lake and Mineral Mountain 

with direct views of Mount Rainier, Berkeley Park, Summerland, Panhandle Gap (6800’), Ohanapecosh 

Park and Glacier, and Indian Bar. 

The Wonderland Trail retains its integrity of views as it presents the mountain and its encircling 

landscape to hikers. Although the trail is subject to the dynamic climatic forces of the mountain and is 

occasionally realigned in short segments, the trail physically and visually accesses the same views it 

captured during the period of significance and therefore retains integrity of views.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 9 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Contemporary photograph showing view of Mount Rainier from the Moraine Creek Corridor. (CCSO, 2001)

Contemporary photograph of regional view including Mount Adams as seen from Cowlitz Ridge. (CCSO 2000)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 3b) Page 10 of 10
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Management Unit:

Tract Numbers:

Size (acres): 113.00

Management Information

State and County: Lewis County, WA

State and County: Pierce County, WA

Boundary UTM

Boundary UTM(s): Type Datum Source Zone Northing Easting

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5189948 603373

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5186447 586702

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5178092 590955

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5180321 598361

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5202856 589158

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5199699 592063

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5196657 601248

USGS Map 

1:24,000

Line NAD 27 10 5194560 583223

National Register Information

Entered -- Documented

Formerly, numerous structures along the Wonderland Trail, mostly patrol cabins and trail shelters, 

were listed on the National Register as part of a multiple property nomination of 1991. The 

Wonderland Trail was included in the National Historic Landmark District nomination of 1997.

National Register Documentation:

Explanatory Narrative:

NRIS Information:

GIS File Name:

GIS File Description:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 1 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

NRIS Number: 91000190

Primary Certification: Listed In The National Register

Primary Certification Date: 3/13/1991

Name In National Register: White River Patrol Cabin

W-051

Date Received/Pending 

Nomination

1/29/1991

Other Certifications:

Other Certification Date:

Other Names In

National Register:

 

NRIS Number: 91000186

Primary Certification: Listed In The National Register

Primary Certification Date: 3/13/1991

Name In National Register: Sunset Park Patrol Cabin

N-105

Date Received/Pending 

Nomination

1/29/1991

Other Certifications:

Other Certification Date:

Other Names In

National Register:

 

NRIS Number: 91000185

Primary Certification: Listed In The National Register

Primary Certification Date: 3/13/1991

Name In National Register: Summerland Trail Shelter

W-057

Date Received/Pending 

Nomination

1/29/1991

Other Certifications:

Other Certification Date:

Other Names In

National Register:

 

NRIS Number: 91000183

Primary Certification: Listed In The National Register

Primary Certification Date: 3/13/1991

Name In National Register: Mowich Lake Patrol Cabin

C-252

Date Received/Pending 

Nomination

1/29/1991

Other Certifications:

Other Certification Date:

Other Names In

National Register:

 

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 2 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

National Register Classification: District

Significance Level:

Contributing/Individual:

National

Individual

 

NRIS Number: 91000180

Primary Certification: Listed In The National Register

Primary Certification Date: 3/13/1991

Name In National Register: Indian Henry's Patrol Cabin

N-106

Date Received/Pending 

Nomination

1/29/1991

Other Certifications:

Other Certification Date:

Other Names In

National Register:

 

NRIS Number: 91000179

Primary Certification: Listed In The National Register

Primary Certification Date: 3/13/1991

Name In National Register: Indian Bar Trail Shelter

O-054

Date Received/Pending 

Nomination

1/29/1991

Other Certifications:

Other Certification Date:

Other Names In

National Register:

 

A -- Inventory Unit is associated with events that have 

made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of 

our history

Significance Criteria:

C -- Inventory Unit embodies distinctive 

characteristics of type/period/method of construction; 

or represents work of master; or possesses high artistic 

values; or represents significant/distinguishable entity 

whose components lack individual distinction

Period Of Significance

Time Period: 1907 - 1942 AD

General Recreation

Historic Context Theme: Creating Social Institutions and Movements

Historic Context Subtheme: Recreation

Historic Context Facet:

Regional Planning

Historic Context Theme: Expressing Cultural Values

Historic Context Subtheme: Landscape Architecture

Historic Context Facet:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 3 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Rustic Architecture

Historic Context Theme: Expressing Cultural Values

Historic Context Subtheme: Architecture

Historic Context Facet:

The 1930's: Era Of Public Works

Historic Context Theme: Expressing Cultural Values

Historic Context Subtheme: Landscape Architecture

Historic Context Facet:

Area Of Significance:

Priority: 1

Category: Landscape Architecture

Priority: 2

Category: Architecture

Priority: 3

Category: Transportation

Priority: 4

Category: Politics/Government

Cultural Landscape Type and Use

Cultural Landscape Type: Historic Designed Landscape

Current and Historic Use/Function:

Use/Function Category: Government

Use/Function: Government-Other

Detailed Use/Function: Government-Other

Type Of Use/Function: Historic

National Historic Landmark Information

Yes

2/18/1997

National Park Service landscape architecture, and 

National Park Service master planning

National Historic

Date Determined Landmark:

Landmark Theme:

 

 

Landmark Status:

World Heritage Site Information

World Heritage Site Status: No

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 4 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Use/Function Category: Transportation

Use/Function: Pedestrian-Related

Detailed Use/Function: Hiking Trail

Type Of Use/Function: Both Current And Historic

Use/Function Category: Transportation

Use/Function: Pedestrian-Related

Detailed Use/Function: Horse/Bridle Trail

Type Of Use/Function: Historic

Use/Function Category: Recreation/Culture

Use/Function: Outdoor Recreation

Detailed Use/Function: Outdoor Recreation-Other

Type Of Use/Function: Both Current And Historic

Documented in "Ethnographic Guide to the Archaeology of Mount Rainier Natioanl Park" by 

Allan H. Smith, 1964 and "Review and Assessment of the Ethnographic Literature of Mount 

Rainier National Park, Volumes 1 and 2" by Astrida R. Blukis Onat, 1999.

Significance Description:

Associated Groups

Cowlitz (Tainapan)

Both Current And Historic

Name of Peoples:

Type of Association:

Muckleshoot

Both Current And Historic

Name of Peoples:

Type of Association:

Nisqually

Both Current And Historic

Name of Peoples:

Type of Association:

Puyallup

Both Current And Historic

Name of Peoples:

Type of Association:

Yakama

Both Current And Historic

Name of Peoples:

Type of Association:

Adjacent Lands Information

Do Adjacent Lands Contribute? No

Ethnographic Information

Ethnographic Survey Conducted: Yes-Restricted Information

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 5 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Adjacent Lands Description:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 6 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

General Management Information

Management Category: Must Be Preserved And Maintained

Management Category Date: 2/18/1997

As part of a National Historic Landmark District, the Wonderland Trail meets the criteria for this 

management category.

Explanatory Narrative:

Condition Assessment And Impacts

The criteria for determining the condition of landscapes is consistent with the Resource

Management Plan Guideline definitions (1994) and is decided with the concurrence of park

management. Cultural landscape conditions are defined as follows:

Good: indicates the landscape shows no clear evidence of major negative disturbance and

deterioration by natural and/or human forces. The landscape's cultural and natural values are as

well preserved as can be expected under the given environmental conditions. No immediate

corrective action is required to maintain its current condition.

Fair: indicates the landscape shows clear evidence of minor disturbances and deterioration by

natural and/or human forces, and some degree of corrective action is needed within 3-5 years

to prevent further harm to its cultural and/or natural values. If left to continue without the

appropriate corrective action, the cumulative effect of the deterioration of many of the

character-defining elements will cause the landscape to degrade to a poor condition.

Poor: indicates the landscape shows clear evidence of major disturbance and rapid

deterioration by natural and/or human forces. Immediate corrective action is required to protect

and preserve the remaining historical and natural values.

Undetermined: Not enough information available to make an evaluation.

Condition Assessment: Fair

Date Recorded: 09/30/1998

Park Management Concurrence: Yes

Level Of Impact Severity: Moderate

Assessment Date: 09/30/1998

Concurrence Date: 3/2/2004

The following measures need to be taken to stabilize the trail. Locations are based on the 

Wonderland Trail Inventory provided by Carl Fabiani. 

1) Stabilize/reinforce trail tread by removing vegetation encroaching on trail in two areas:

Stabilization Measures:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 7 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Impact:

Internal/External: Internal

Description:

Type of Impact: Erosion

Internal/External: Internal

Description:

Type of Impact: Exposure To Elements

Internal/External: Internal

Description:

Type of Impact: Flooding

Internal/External: Internal

Description:

Type of Impact: Other -- Geologic Hazard

- From the 3.067-mile mark to the 4.210-mile mark of the Box Canyon to Reflection Lakes 

segment. 

- Several small segments between South Puyallup River and Klapatchee Park.

2) Repair bridges, footlogs, and culverts.

Section 1 between Longmire and end of old Westside Road: 

(3) Wood bridges with curb rails at 6.918, 12.885 and 13.058-mile markers,

(1) Wood swamp bridge with curb rails at 12.498-mile marker, 

(1) Footlog (broken in half) at 7.384-mile marker, and

(1) Wood culvert at 7.572-mile marker.

Section 8 between reflection Lakes and Longmire:

(1) Wood bridge with curb rails at 0.204-mile marker. 

3) Replace trail tread surface around roots generally where needed between North Mowich 

River and Mowich Lake

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 8 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Agreements, Legal Interest, and Access

Explanatory Narrative:

Management Agreement: None

NPS Legal Interest: Fee Simple

Explanatory Narrative:

Public Access: Other Restrictions

Backcountry permits needed for camping in 

backcountry campsites along trail.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 9 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Treatment

Approved Treatment: Undetermined

Approved Treatment Document:

Document Date:

Explanatory Narrative:

Approved Treatment Completed:

Approved Treatment Cost

Landscape Approved 

Treatment Cost:

$0

Cost Date:

Level of Estimate:

Cost Estimator:

LCS Structure Approved

$0

Explanatory Description:

Treatment Cost:

Stabilization Costs

Landscape Stabilization Costs: $29,980

Cost Date: September 24, 2001

Level Of Estimate: C - Similar Facilities

Cost Estimator: Support Office

LCS Structure Stabilization Cost:

Explanatory Description: This estimate is based on 8 weeks of work for a 4-

person seasonal trail crew and materials. Stabilization 

needs are described in more detail in the “Stabilization 

Measures” section.

Labor = $25,600

1) Remove vegetation: 1 week

2) Repair 5 bridges (5 weeks); 1 footlog (2 days); and 1 

culvert (2 days): 6 weeks

3) Replace trail tread surface: 1 week

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 10 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Materials = $4,380

1) Trail tread material: approximately 73 cu.yards at 

$60/cu.yard.

Made of 50% crushed rock, 50% topsoil and clay

2) Materials for bridges, footlog, and culvert from 

slavage sources.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 11 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Documentation:

Administrative History

Year Of Document: 1996

Adequate Documentation: No

The Adminisrative History does not describe or analyze the landscape characteristics and 

features of the Wonderland Trail.

Explanatory Narrative:

Document:

General Management Plan

Year Of Document: 2001

Adequate Documentation: No

The General Management plan does not describe or analyze the landscape characteristics 

and features of the Wonderland Trail.

Amplifying Details: The GMP is still in draft form.

Explanatory Narrative:

Document:

Historic Resource Study

Year Of Document: 1981

Adequate Documentation: No

The Historic Resource Study does not describe or analyze the landscape characteristics 

and features of the Wonderland Trail.

Explanatory Narrative:

Document:

Documentation Assessment: Poor

Documentation Assessment and Checklist

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 12 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Bibliography

Appendix

Citations:

Ethnographic Guide to the Archaeology of Mount 

Rainier National Park

004277

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

CRBIB

1964

National Park Service

Citation Author: Smith, Allen H.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Number:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Historic Resource Study, Mount Rainier National Park

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

CRBIB

1981

National Park Service

Citation Author: Thompson, Erwin, N.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Short History of Mount Ranier National Park

011743

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

CRBIB

1952

National Park Service

Citation Author: McIntyre, Robert N.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Number:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 13 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Wonderland, An Administrative History of Mount 

Rainier National Park

017248

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

CRBIB

1996

National Park Service

Citation Author: Catton, Theodore

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Number:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail 

Encircling Mount Rainier

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1993

Citation Author: Filley, Bette

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

History of Mount Rainier National Park

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1933

Citation Author: Tolbert, Caroline

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Our Greatest Mountain: A Handbook of Mount 

Rainier National Park

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1925

Citation Author: Schmoe, F. W.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 14 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of 

the National Park Service

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1993

Citation Author: McClelland, Linda Flint

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

The Natural History of Puget Sound Country

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO, University of Washington

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1991

Citation Author: Kruckenberg, Arthur R.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

The Public Landscape of the New Deal

Narrative

CCSO, MORA

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1985

Citation Author: Cutler, Phoebe

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Wilderness By Design: The Historic Landscape 

Design of the National Park Service, 1916-1942

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Library Of Congress/Dewey Decimal

1996

Citation Author: Carr, Ethan

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 15 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Archaeological Test Excavations at the Berkeley 

Rockshelter Site

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1987

Citation Author: Bergland, Eric O.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Environment, Prehistory & Archaeology of Mt. Rainier 

National Park, Washington

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1998

National Park Service

Citation Author: Burtchard, Greg C.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Forest Ecosystems of Mount Rainier National Park

Narrative

MORA

Other

1979

Citation Author: Franklin, Jerry F., et al.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Forests of Mount Rainier

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1989

Citation Author: Moir, William H.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 16 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

General Information Regarding Mount Rainier 

National Park

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1918

National Park Service

Citation Author: National Park Service

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Historic Building Inventory, Mount Rainier National 

Park

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1983

National Park Service

Citation Author: National Park Service

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

History of East Side Development

Narrative

MORA

Other

1918

National Park Service

Citation Author: National Park Service

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Information Relative to the Conditions in the Carbon 

River District of the Mount Rainier National Park for 

the Season of 1910

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1927

National Park Service

Citation Author: O'Farrell, Thomas

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 17 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park Bulletin, 29

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1915

National Park Service

Citation Author: National Park Service

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Mount Rainier National Park Progress Report, Vol. 2, 

and Mount Rainier National Park Supplement to 

Progress Report

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1997

National Park Service

Citation Author: National Park Service

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Publisher:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Mountain Fever: Historic Conquests of Rainier

Narrative

MORA, Oregon Historic Society, Portland, OR

Other

1962

Citation Author: Haines, Aubrey L.

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

National Historic Landmark Nomination: Mount 

Rainier National Park

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1997

Citation Author: Carr, Ethan, Stephanie Toothman, and Susan Begley

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 18 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

The Challenge of Mt. Rainier

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1971

Citation Author: Molenaar, Dee

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

The Historic Resources of Mount Rainier National 

Park National Register Nomination Form

Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1990

Citation Author: Toothman, Stephanie

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Trail Maintenance Standards Mount Rainier National 

Park

Both Graphic And Narrative

MORA, CCSO

Other

1978

Citation Author: Dalle-Molle, John

Citation Title:

Year of Publication:

Source Name:

Citation Type:

Citation Location:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 19 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Supplemental Information

Title: Director's Annual Report

Description: Report: 1908, Department of the Interior.

Title: Interview with Carl Fabiani

Carl Fabiani is the Trails Foreman at Mount Rainier National Park. 

Interviewed by Dietz and Senos, Mount Rainier 1997.

Description:

Title: Interview with Craig Strong

Craig Strong was the park Cultural Resource Specialist. Interview by 

Senos and Dietz, 1997.

Description:

Title: Interview with Doug Roth

Doug Roth was the park GIS Computer Specialist. Interviewed by Dietz 

and Senos, 1997.

Description:

Title: Interview with Eric Walkinshaw

Eric Walkinshaw was the park Planning Administrator. Interviewed by 

Senos and Dietz, 1997.

Description:

Title: Interview with Greg Sullivan

Greg Sullivan was the park Archaeologist. Interviewed by Senos and 

Dietz, 1997.

Description:

Title: Interview with Kelly Donahue

Kelly Donahue was a Landscape Architect stationed at the park. 

Interviewed by Senos and Dietz, 1997.

Description:

Title: Interview with Regina Rochefort

Regina Rochefort was the park Botanist. Interviewed by Senos and 

Dietz, 1997.

Description:

Justification for Reconstruction and Betterment of Existing Trail System 

and for the Construction of New Trails, to Accompany Proposed Trail 

Development Program for Mount Rainier National Park

Title:

Description: Report: 1927, National Park Service.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 20 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Title: Letter concerning the Mountaineers

Letter recounting the Mountaineer's first reconnaissance on Wonderland 

Trail in 1912. Nimana Bailey, 1912.

Description:

Title: Memo from Harry Myers to Tomlinson and R.D. Waterhouse

Memo from Harry Myers to Tomlinson and R.D. Waterhouse: 1928, 

National Park Service.

Description:

Title: Memo on Location of Tatoosh Trail (to Tomlinson and Waterhouse)

From Frank A. Kittredge to Tomlinson and Waterhouse, National Park 

Service, 1928.

Description:

Title: Memorandum for all Washington Field Offices

Description: National Park Service, 1936.

Title: Memorandum on Location of Tatoosh Trail (to E.A. Davidson)

Description: From Frank A. Kittredge to E.A. Davidson, National Park Service, 1928.

Title: Memorandum Regarding Trail Standards

Description: O.A. Tomlinson, National Park Service, 1935.

Title: Memorandum to the Director

Description: A.O. Tomlinson to the Director, National Park Service, 1924.

Title: Mount Rainier Master Plan, 1931

Description: Map: "Trail System Plan"

Title: Mount Rainier Master Plan, 1936

Description: Map: "Tourist Trails Plan"

Title: Mount Rainier Master Plan, 1940

Description: Map: "Trail System Plan"

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 21 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Title: Mount Rainier Master Plan, 1942

Description: Map: "Trail System Plan"

Title: Mount Rainier Master Plan, 1958

Description: Map: "Roads and Trails"

Title: Mount Rainier National Park

Description: 1918 map

Title: Mount Rainier National Park Illustrative Map

Description: Illustrative map, 1953

Title: Mount Rainier National Park Trail System Inventory

Inventory. Carl Fabiani, Mount Rainier National Park Trails Foreman, 

1997.

Description:

Title: Mount Rainier National Park, 1907

Description: Map drawn under the supervision of H.N. Chittenden

Title: Mount Rainier National Park, 1915

Description: Topographic map reprinted in 1920

Title: Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Open All Year

Description: National Park Service, 1934.

Title: National Geographic Topographic Map

Description: Mount Rainier National Park--trails illustrated, 1989.

Title: Park Development Program

Description: 1915 park topographic map reprinted in 1923.

Title: Peraonl Comments

Description: Carl Fabiani, 2001.

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 22 of 23
Wonderland Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Title: Personal Comments

Description: Greg C. Burtchart, 2001.

Title: Report from the Mountaineers Club

Description: R. Molenaar, Seattle Mountaineers Club, 1973.

Title: Report on trails in Mount Rainier National Park

Description: Mount Rainier National Park, 1928.

Title: Superintendent's Annual Reports

Superintendent's Annual Reports: 1906 (Grenville F. Allen), 1916 

(Dewitt L. Reaburn), and 1979.

Description:

Title: Superintendent's Monthly Reports

Description: Superintendent's Monthly Reports: 1930 (A.O. Tomlinson).

Title: United States Geological Survey

Description: Mount Rainier topographic map, 1924

Title: United States Geological Survey topographic maps

1971, 7.5-minute series quadrangles (Sunrise, White River, Golden 

Lakes, Mont Wow, Mowich Lake, Mt. Rainier West, Mt. Rainier East, 

Chinook Pass.

Description:

Cultural Landscapes Inventory (Part 4) Page 23 of 23