Stevens-Van Trump Monument

Stevens Van-Trump Monument

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Paradise

Significance:

Historic Memorial

Season: Summer

This rock bench is located along the Skyline Trail at Paradise and serves as a monument to the first known ascent of Mount Rainier.

Philemon Beecher Van Trump and Hazard Stevens were the first people documented to successfully summit Mount Rainier. They were guided by James Longmire to Bear Prairie and to Paradise by a native guide named Sluiskin. However, there are oral records of native people reaching the summit long before.

Stones attached to the bench are carved with words reading “Site of the camp from which General Hazard Stevens and PB Van Trump made the ascent of this mountain 17 August 1870,” “Sluiskin Indian Guide waited here for the climbers to return,” “Place identified by General Hazard Stevens 17 August 1915,” “Erected by the Mountaineers and the Mazamas 1924.” It is in the shape of a bench so that those sitting can take in the view of Mount Rainier and imagine the route of the early climbers.

The Stevens-Van Trump Monument is located on the East Skyline Trail at the intersection with the Paradise Glacier Trail. It is 1.74 miles from Paradise when hiking counter-clockwise on the Skyline Loop. Paradise is open year-round but the monument is covered by the snow in the winter.