Roadside Geology of Mount Rainier National Park and Vicinity
Washington Department of Natural Resources Information Circular 107
Patrick T. Pringle, with contributors
Map of Trip Guide
MPG V2.8, January 2013

“Roadside Geology of Mount Rainier National Park and Vicinity” is an up-to-date book on volcanic processes past and present in the Pacific Northwest, illustrating both the beauty and the hazards of our state’s largest volcano. This book covers an area bounded by I-5 on the west, State Route 410 on the north, Yakima on the east, and U.S. 12 on the south. This 200-page, four-color book is written for anyone with a basic understanding of geology and is designed for ease of use, with a landscape format and spiral binding.

Its centerpiece is the logs of the roads to and through the park. Each of the 15 road logs has expanded geologic maps of the route and a mile-by-mile narrative describing the geology and other interesting features. The book is divided into three main parts:

Part I describes the geologic history and setting of Mount Rainier and environs;
Part II contains the 15 legs of the road guide; and
Part III consists of a glossary, references, and other useful information.

The book contains more than 290 photos and illustrations, some of them historic, most of them in color. It was funded in part by the National Scenic Byways Program of the Federal Highway Administration.

Pringle, also the author of the “Roadside Geology of Mount St. Helens" (Information Circular 88), worked at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory for 8 years during and after the 1980s eruptions of Mount St. Helens. He was with DNR for more than 15 years before taking an Earth Sciences teaching position at Centralia College in 2005. Contributing authors include some of the leading experts on the volcanic history of the Pacific Northwest.

Above description quoted from the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WA DNR) Web page for this book where you can download it for free or purchase the book for $17.95 plus shipping.

Download the Book
Alternative Download Site

You can also download book as a single file or individual sections from WA DNR's Web page or from list below. You can get the latest errata sheet for the book.

Note.-- People using Apple's Safari browser, should use the right click to save the file or download it from the alternative Website. People using Mozilla's Firefox browser will get a pop-up window asking for instructions for the file.

• Chapters
  • The Whole Book
  • Introduction
  • Geologic History & Setting, Part 1
  • Geologic History & Setting, Part 2
• Road Trip Guides
  • Map of Trips - Map with each leg listed below
  • Leg A - Tacoma to Paradise Via State Routes 7 & 706
  • Leg B - Paradise to Ohanopecosh via Stevens Canyon
  • Leg C - Southern Transect, I-5 to State Route 123 & Highway 12
  • Leg D - Northern Approach, Highway 410 to Cayuse Pass
  • Leg E - Sunrise Road from Highway 410
  • Leg F - Eastern Approach, Highway 410 to Cayuse Pass
  • Leg G - State Route 123 Cayuse Pass to Highway 12
  • Leg H - Across Cascades at White Pass
  • Leg  I - Alternate Southern Route, State Routes 508 & 7
  • Leg J - Northwestern Approach, Highway 162
  • Leg K - Mowich Lake Road
  • Leg L - Carbon River Road
  • Leg M - Westside Road to road end over Round Pass
  • Leg N - Alternate Western Approach, State Routes 507 & 702
  • Leg O - Bumping Lake Road from State Route 410
• Chapters
  • References & Information

• Section (PDF) size
  • 316 Mbytes
  • 23.6 Mbytes
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  • 15.1 Mbytes
• Section (PDF) size
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  • 44.7 Mbytes
  • 14.8 Mbytes
  • 23.2 Mbytes
  • 16.2 Mbytes
  •   2.8 Mbytes
  • 42.8 Mbytes
  • 11.9 Mbytes
  • 30.4 Mbytes
  •   8.6 Mbytes
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• Section (PDF) size
  •   3.0 Mbytes

That's the book. You can also buy it from DNR's Website, which I also did. It's a great spiral-bound book easily suitable for travel.

Additional Resources

You can check out the author's, Patrick Pringle, Web page for addition information about the book and the award he recieved with the book. The last section, part 3 (above), has about 25 pages of references, Websites, glossary, description of geologic map units and a list of geologic terms. It alone is a great resource.

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