Mount Rainier National Park - Caching Food and Fuel (U.S. National Park Service)

RETURN TO THE WILDERNESS CAMPING AND HIKING HOMEPAGE

Food cache

CACHING FOOD & FUEL

For hikers on the Wonderland Trail there is the option to cache food at several locations along the 93 mile (150km) route. Food can either be mailed in advance of the hike, or you may drop it off at the cache location once you arrive in the park. In either case, food must be packaged in a plastic container to keep rodents out of your food supply. Many choose to use a five gallon plastic bucket or a Rubbermaid-like container. The park does not courier food caches from one location to the other. At the time your food cache is received at the Ranger Station it should have printed on the container: the name of the permit holder, the permit number, the location the cache will be picked up and the date the cache will be picked up. When your cache arrives at the Ranger Station it is logged into a Food Cache Logbook. We will have you sign for it when you come in to pick it up.

If your food cache remains unclaimed by the time the Ranger Station closes for the season, it will be donated to local food banks.

Fuel may not be mailed or stored in the food cache container, or mailed separately. It is a fire and safety hazard. If you arrive at the park with fuel and you need to have it stored for the duration of the hike, fuel may be cached at the Longmire Wilderness Information Center at Longmire, The White River Wilderness Information Center at the White River Entrance and at the Ranger Station at the White River Campground. As it cannot be mailed it must only be delivered in person. As the season progresses we often have a surplus of white gas (and some canister fuel). We are happy to give you the fuel for free if we have it.

The only locations in the park where you can purchase basic supplies are at the General Store at Longmire, and the Day-use Lodge at Sunrise.

Locations for caching food:

Longmire Wilderness Information Center at Longmire
White River Campground at White River
Sunrise Visitor Center at Sunrise
The Mowich Lake Patrol Cabin at Mowich Lake

NOTE: Food Cache locations at Sunrise and Mowich Lake are late openers because of snow. Consider the White River Campground in lieu of Sunrise as an alternate location for caching your food if you are hiking before early July. Because Ipsut Creek Campground has no vehicular access secondary to the severe flooding of November 2006, there is not an option to cache food at that location. Facilities at Sunrise close for the season shortly after Labor Day. Food caches for Mowich Lake are best delivered no later than mid-September as the road is subject to closing for the season depending on weather conditions.

ALSO NOTE: Food caches that are to be picked up at Mowich Lake are sent to one of the two addresses below for Carbon River. Rangers will be sure to take your food cache to the storage bin next to the Mowich Lake Patrol Cabin before the pick-up date you have written on your cache. The same applies for caches that you plan to pick up at Sunrise... they are mail to the White River RS at the address below but are delivered to Sunsire by Rangers before your planned pick-up date.

For operating hours and seasons, travel here.

To send a food cache to Longmire:

Mount Rainier National Park

Longmire WIC

General Delivery

Longmire, WA 98397

To send a food cache to White River or Sunrise:

Mount Rainier National Park

White River WIC

70002 SR 410 East

Enumclaw, WA 98022

To send a food cache to Mowich Lake:

(Sending via UPS or FedEx)

Mount Rainier National Park

Carbon River Ranger Station

Fairfax Forest Reserve Road East

Carbonado, WA 98323

(Sending via U.S. Mail)

Mount Rainier National Park

Carbon River Ranger Station

P.O. Box 423

Wilkeson, WA 98396

Remember to include this information on the food cache container: the name of the permit holder, the permit number, the location the cache will be picked up and the date the cache will be picked up.