This is the easiest to reach of Rainier's four remaining fire lookouts (the others being Gobblers Knob, Shriner Peak, and Tolmie Peak) and I think offers the best views of them all. It's correspondingly popular and busy. Possible strategies for avoiding crowds include:

• Come on a weekday.
• Arrive early (it makes a great dawn hike).
• Visit while SR410 is closed due to wildfires, so getting here from the Seattle urban area requires driving the long way all around the mountain.

I combined all three, and there were still a few people ahead of me on the trail!

Starting from Sunrise, you have multiple options for getting to the five way junction at Frozen Lake. Head north and then west along Sourdough Ridge for the most dramatic views, or south and then west joining the Wonderland Trail and passing Shadow Lake for a bit more distance through mellow meadows, or due west for the easiest hike partially along a road. Of course you can make a loop of this part (I went out along Sourdough Ridge, then returned past Shadow Lake).

At Frozen Lake you will see Mount Fremont looming above you to the north, with the trail traversing up its western side. It's a gradual climb, skirting below the summit of Mount Fremont, becoming rocky as you cross steep scree slopes (the path is solid and well made, but exposed enough that I would not enjoy this in windy or icy conditions), and then arriving on top of the ridge where the lookout building is located. Dating from 1934, this is in great condition although no longer used for fire watch which is now done aerially.

There are great views the whole way along this hike, but those from the lookout are just silly. There's Rainier behind you of course, but also Grand Park and the valley of the West Fork White River spread out below, and on a clear day you can see all of Mount Baker, the North Cascades, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains.

This trail melts out before others around Sunrise, so another way to have the place to yourself is to hike up via White River to Sunrise before the road to Sunrise opens for the season.