Mt Rainier Fumaroles
Steam vents at the top of Mount Rainier, inside the national park, at more than fourteen thousand feet. The reading on record is scalding. Pierce County, with Buckley the town the record names, roughly twenty-five miles away. Open access here means the summit is inside a national park that admits the public; it says nothing about the climb.
The nearest-road field holds the Disappointment Cleaver Route, a couple of hundred feet from the vents. Average temperature on file is in the single digits and snowfall exceeds four hundred inches. The record says nothing about the route, but at this elevation and with that much snow the vents sit in climbing terrain. National Park Service land.
Cougar Rock Campground sits six miles out, the one campground the record gives. the best months on record says winter, which at fourteen thousand feet should be checked against current park conditions. Scalding steam, so keep skin well away from the vents.
Aircraft with laser scanners measured this ground to within inches. The scan strips out trees and buildings, leaving the bare shape of the land around Mt Rainier Fumaroles.
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 180 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
A slice through the ground from northwest to southeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's close to the US average of 65. It's higher than at 6% of the springs on this site.
Heat flow measures the warmth working its way up through the ground from deep inside the earth. Where it runs high, rain and snowmelt that seep down through cracks in the rock come back up hot.
See every spring on the geothermal heat map →
Heat flow estimate: Stanford Thermal Earth Model (Aljubran & Horne, 2024), CC BY 4.0.
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Overview Cougar Rock Campground, on the southwest side of Mt. Rainier National Park, is conveniently located near Paradise. Individual campsites are reservable on this page. Group campsite reservations can be made via Cougar Rock Group Campground. Paradise is the most popular destination in the park, with a lodge and visitor center, many miles of hiking trails and a commanding view of the mountain-the highest in the state and Cascade range. The main attraction at Mount Rainier National Park...
Mt Rainier Fumaroles sits at 14,217 feet, well above 10,000 ft, where the air holds roughly 30% less oxygen than at sea level. Altitude sickness (headache, nausea, dizziness) is a real risk, especially when combined with the dehydrating effects of hot water. UV exposure is approximately 57% stronger than at sea level. Acclimate for at least 24 hours before soaking, drink extra water, and descend if symptoms worsen.
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Mt Rainier Fumaroles is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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