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Getting There

From I-5, 67 miles north of Vancouver, Washington, take Exit 68 and travel 72 miles east on US 12 to a junction with WA 123, about 7.5 miles past the town of Packwood. Turn left, following signs to Mount Rainier National Park, and drive a little over 5 miles to a junction with Stevens Canyon Road. Turn left, immediately passing through an entrance station for the park, and drive 10 miles to the Box Canyon Trailhead, just before a bridge over Muddy Fork Cowlitz River.

GPS COORDINATES

Hiking It

The trail departs from the north side of the road across from the parking lot and soon comes to a junction with the Wonderland Trail. It is worthwhile to turn left here and make a 0.2-mile side trip to check out Box Canyon, an extremely narrow cleft where the waters of the Muddy Fork Cowlitz River shoot through a steep-sided gorge.

After the short side trip, return to the junction and follow the Wonderland Trail as it gradually ascends a mostly forested hillside and then loses a little elevation before coming to a bridged crossing of Nickel Creek at 0.8 mile. There is a designated backpacker camping area on the left. The sites here are pleasant, but the camp area has poor drainage, so it tends to turn into a shallow lake after a hard rain.