The Hiking World

Carbon Glacier Trail

Carbon Glacier Trail — tail catalogue entry from OSM relation 5194368. Geometry and elevation are OSM/GLO-30 and provisional. No special permit known; verify locally.

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Distance 35.7 km Reported · Ascent provisional (DEM sample) · High point provisional (DEM sample) · 2d · SAC T2 · Ungraded (tail ingest)

Last checked 2026-10-07

Cite this record

The Hiking World, Carbon Glacier Trail, read 2026-10-07, https://www.thehikingworld.com/trails/carbon-glacier-trail

How we verify · last checked 2026-10-07

Byline

  • The Hiking World editorial team · author
Carbon Glacier Trail

Figures marked provisional are seed data and still need verification. Source and last-checked date sit under each cited value.

Forecast at page generation, 2026-11-04T22:07:54.170Z

Representative point on Carbon Glacier Trail: 46.950°, -121.795°, about 1856 m. A forecast, not a trail-surface reading.

Source Open-Meteo. Mountain weather changes with elevation and aspect.

Official alerts

Checked 2026-09-10 against US National Park Service. No closure is in the stored alert list for this check.

Source: US National Park Service

No active NPS alerts for the park units on this route (last checked 2026-09-10).

US National Park Service is the authority — check nps.gov before you go. This desk is not the authority.

Mount Rainier National Park NPS alerts (Carbon Glacier). Park-wide notices are labelled as such.

All official alerts

Life-safety notices on this page come from the issuer.

Altitude weather delta

High 1,856 m minus low 558 m is 1,298 m of relief on this record. A standard tropospheric lapse of 6.5 °C per 1,000 m implies about 8.4 °C cooler at the high point than the valley, all else equal.

That is a model (International Standard Atmosphere environmental lapse), not a forecast and not a trail-closure. Wind, snow, and storms stay in Hazards.

derived:lapse-rate · read 2026-09-10 · provisional

ISA 6.5 °C / 1,000 m · wikipedia.org · 2026-09-10

Stored line for Carbon Glacier Trail, from 46.995°, -121.916° to 46.921°, -121.767°. The drawing is the simplified record, not a surveyed GPS track.

Map loads when this section is on screen.

GeoJSON

This line is a schematic. The files are not a GPS track. GPX · GeoJSON

Facts46.995, -121.916
Distance35.7 km*
osm-2d (provisional; not walking distance) · read 2026-09-24
Ascent+2,771 m*
copernicus-dem:glo-30 · read 2026-10-07 · provisional
Descent1,585 m*
copernicus-dem:glo-30 · read 2026-10-07 · provisional
High point1,856 m
copernicus-dem:glo-30 · read 2026-09-24 · provisional
Low point558 m
copernicus-dem:glo-30 · read 2026-09-24 · provisional
Routepoint-to-point
Days2
Seasonunverified
GradeUngraded (tail ingest)

Catalog entry

DifficultyUngraded (tail ingest)
SAC T2
Mountain hiking. Continuous trail, some steep ground, sure-footedness helpful.
YDS Class 1
Class 1. Walking on an established path; low fall risk.
Elevation
5581207185634.63 km profile length (DEM sample)

Stored distance is 35.7 km. The chart axis follows the DEM sample (34.63 km), not the published line length.

Tail catalogue entry built from OpenStreetMap relation 5194368 (ODbL). The stored line is the OSM geometry, decimated; its 2-D length is provisional and not published as walking distance.

Elevation high/low and ascent/descent are Copernicus GLO-30 samples at the line vertices (copernicus-dem:glo-30) and remain provisional.

No special permit was researched for this trail. Permit is marked unverified — confirm locally before relying on it.

Water

No water sources recorded.

Permits & fees

Conditions, fees and rules change. Confirm with the issuer and local authorities before you go. This is a reference, not a substitute for local advice. Terms

Permit status is unverified.

Getting there

No sourced gateway chain yet.

Getting there car-free

  • Carbon Glacier Trail (start): car-free flag unknown.
  • Carbon Glacier Trail (end): car-free flag unknown.

Trailheads

  • Carbon Glacier Trail (start) car-free: unknown
  • Carbon Glacier Trail (end) car-free: unknown

Questions

Do I need a permit for Carbon Glacier Trail?

Permit status is unverified for Carbon Glacier Trail. This desk does not assert that a walking permit is or is not required.

How difficult is Carbon Glacier Trail?

Carbon Glacier Trail is graded SAC T2 · YDS 1.

How long is Carbon Glacier Trail?

The length on this record is 35.7 km (reported). Published figures may differ. See /guides/how-long-is-the-trail

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