Accessing Sunrise (mt. rainier) before road opens

My wife and I want to ski up to Sunrise and the Burroughs for an overnight trip plus a few turns... We've only hiked the area in the summer and are not familar w/ the various ways to access in the winter/spring before the road opens. We are looking at mid-April.<br><br>Could anyone give some details on the possible options (roads, trailheads, distances, etc) for getting up to Sunrise and the Burroughs.<br><br>So far I've had a friend suggest just skiing up the Sunrise road, but I'm assuming there are other options and some good trails (maybe from the W. Fork White River)... or maybe the trails off the Sunrise rd.<br><br>I'll be calling the park service regarding camp regs, where the road is currently closed, and of course keeping trail of avalanche conditions...<br><br>Thanks in advance,<br>Darren

At some point in the spring they open the road to White River Campground. That makes the trip straightforward. Either you walk the road until you can ski and then ski the road or take essentially the summer trail from the campground up the summer trail. It's been awhile since I did the latter but I remember it got rather steep for skins so I kicked steps.

My experience is limited to accessing Sunrise after the road has opened to White River CG, but the Sunrise road is still gated. Your access to the Sunrise road gate will obviously be different for mid-April, but once there I'd still recommend the June route if you want an all-skiing approach. Where the Sunrise road crosses Yakima Creek at 4800', just ski up the stream gully (it should be very well filled in) until it opens into glades (or climb up out of the gully earlier if travel there is not good). Keep following the drainage and the trees will thin, depositing you in Sunrise meadows. Fun ski back down too. Here's a link for a TR:<br> www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...m=1055973480;start=0

Thanks Charles & Skipole... I'll call the park service to verify road status, but I was curious what your typical experiences (or knowledge) is in regards to where the road is closed during April... I'm assuming the road is (and will be in April) closed near the Crystal Mtn Blvd turn.<br><br>Charles did you ever post a link to the rest of the pics from that Sunrise TR?

I don't seem to be very good about going back and posting the final link, but here it is, with another from the previous June:<br> June 2003 <br> June 2002 <br><br>And here's a link a "feature gallery":<br> Sunrise area

You got me curious about when they open the road beyond Crystal Blvd. As I recall it is usually when they open it to Cayuse Pass. So I found the site where they list Cayuse Pass openings - Anytime from the beginning of April to the end of May: www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter/PassDates.htm