Mount Rainier is the second most seismically active and the most hazardous volcano in the Cascade Range. It is extensively monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey to provide advance warning of future eruptions.
Mount Rainier is the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48. This park stays cold well into the summer months, and attracts visitors of all ages to come and explore its forests, climb to its peak, and discover its secret lakes and waterfalls created by snowmelt.
Mount Rainier is an episodically active composite volcano, also called a stratovolcano. Volcanic activity began between one half and one million years ago, with the most recent eruption cycle ending about 1,000 years ago.
If you're traveling for a day or a few, the primary dangers are traumatic injuries from falls. Many portions of the trail are rough and uneven, with roots and rocks. Wear sturdy trail runners or boots as prevention. Snake bites are possible, but rare. Dehydration is always a risk, but completely preventable.
What would happen to Seattle if Mount Rainier erupted?
Seattle is too far from volcanoes, including Mt. Rainier, to receive damage from blast and pyroclastic flows. Ash falls could reach Seattle from any volcano, but prevailing weather patterns would probably blow ash away from Seattle.
Did you know Mount Rainier is an active volcano? While we can't say how many times Rainier has erupted over the course of its existence, we do expect it to erupt again someday. The only questions is matter of when, and to what degree.
Helens, a young spud of the Cascade range at 40,000 years of age, Rainier is a half-million years old. St. Helens is a tidy mountain, a nearly symmetrical cone until 1980, having been built by alternating layers of lava, ash and volcanic debris. Rainier is a mishmash, a mound of many layers of lava and blast fragments.
You can also see Mt. Rainier from Seattle, so if you just want a view from a distance there is not a need to even worry about it. You can also see Rainier and Adams from some of the highway rest stops on 82 between Yakima and Ellensburg if you really don't want to detour.
Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy observed the mountain while surveying the Pacific coast in 1792 and decided to name the mountain after his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. Rear Admiral Rainier never saw the mountain named for him in person.
Mount Rainier is at once the most public symbol of the Pacific Northwest and its most sacred private icon. We look at Rainier and feel love for a mountain. It inspires in us a feeling akin to spiritual awe: reverence, adoration, humility.
Why? Because Mount Rainier is not just any mountain. It is one of the top ten volcanoes in the world most likely to erupt with deadly consequences. What makes Mount Rainier especially dangerous is the heavy snow and ice sitting around its massive summit and caldera.
Washington state geologists confirmed today that, according to their most recent research study, Mount Rainier definitely won't erupt at any point during your lifetime, with the possible exception of the very end.
Mount Spurr, dormant since its last eruption in 1992, is now showing increased seismic activity and ground deformation, prompting the USGS to raise its alert level to “Advisory” and warn that an eruption could occur within weeks. Not far away, Great Sitkin Volcano has been slowly oozing lava for years.
Areas that are further away from Yellowstone would escape the flows, but they would be subject to falling ash, which would come down heavily in the states closest to the epicenter. The ash would be especially dangerous for anyone who breathes it in, and it could kill those in the hardest hit areas immediately.
We know that Mount St. Helens is the volcano in the Cascades most likely to erupt again in our lifetimes. It is likely that the types, frequencies, and magnitudes of past activity will be repeated in the future.
When was the last time Mount Rainier erupted today?
Mt. Rainier hasn't had a "significant eruption" in the past 500 years, according to the USGS's website. However, it is considered to be "potentially the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range because of its great height, frequent earthquakes, active hydrothermal system, and extensive glacier mantle."
Fast and Light. In order to be successful on a single-day climb of this magnitude, you must pack as light as you can while still maintaining a comfortable safety margin. This safety margin is highly personal and can only be determined through your own experience.
The most popular climbing route at Mount Rainier is called the “Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct” because it uses a prominent feature on Mount Rainier called the Disappointment Cleaver. A cleaver is a type of narrow ridge that splits the flow of a glacier (like a knife cleaver cutting through food).
Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning five major rivers.
