Enumclaw, about an hour’s drive south of Seattle, is a small town of population 12,500 with plenty of history and character. After passing through on several road trips, we eventually stopped for lunch at the Historic Mint Alehouse and have returned several times. We enjoy taking in the activity on Enumclaw’s pedestrian-only main street, full of well-maintained 1900s storefronts, and appreciate the Mint’s approach. Established in 1906, the restaurant sources locally as much as possible, with a customer appreciation sign on the wall listing the many local business they work with and their distance from the restaurant.

Enumclaw also is the closest major center to the northern entrances of Mt. Rainier National Park at White River and Carbon Creek, and we eventually spent a weekend there to hike this section of the park. Our base in town had its own history and character: Enumclaw’s first church. Built in 1899 by Danish Lutherans, the diminutive place of worship was later converted to a single-family dwelling that is available for rent. We loved the open concept layout and the large outdoor patio table, and an easy walk brought us into town.

On this trip, we didn’t stop at the Mint, but instead explored more of the town and discovered the excellent wine bar Bordeaux Wine Bar Enumclaw, where we had dinner the first night on their patio. After our hike the next day, we enjoyed refreshing brews and live music on the lawn at Fill’s Growlers brewpub, with delicious take-out pizza from adjacent Cascadia Pizza.

We also spent a little time exploring the town and taking in the historic culture, ranging from classic cars to buildings to sculpture. One prominent statue in town, the Logging Legacy Memorial, pays tribute to loggers injured or killed on the job, an industry that brought growth and prosperity to the region. According to the inscription, an astonishing 8,000 died and 65,000 were injured over the past century while logging in Washington State.

For our hike, we climbed to Tolmie Peak Fire Lookout, a relatively short hike of 5.6 miles (9 km) with an elevation gain of 1,555 feet (474 meters). The trailhead is about an hour’s drive from Enumclaw, through the old mining town of Wilkeson. It’s a popular hike, and parked cars already lined the road by the time we arrived at 8am. A hike of just over an hour brought us to the lookout, with beautiful scenery and wildflowers along the way. For much of the way, we could see the lookout perched high on the cliff above us.

The lookout has a fabulous 360-degree view of the area, particular south over Eunice Lake to Mt. Rainer. A fair number of people already were at the lookout when we arrived, with more coming by the minute, so we opted to continue a little further and found a tranquil perch with a view to Mt Rainier to enjoy a break and a snack before returning back down.

Our routes around Enumclaw and Tolmie Peak are shown on the interactive map below. Click here for a full-page map.