This is an abandoned trail. Only come here if your navigation is up to the task of finding your way where there is no path to follow, and practice Leave No Trace to avoid damaging fragile terrain.

I've always loved entering Mount Rainier National Park at Nisqually. It's an instant hit of over-the-top verdancy, flamboyant in its lushness. Always struck me as a shame to just drive past this area on my way to Longmire or Paradise.

Well, what do you know: there's an old trail that starts here, right by the park entrance! Boundary trails were used in the early days of the National Park to patrol for poachers and other illegal activities. This one heads due north along the edge of the park. It's a rigid map-and-compass approach to trail design, having been created for administrative rather than recreational purposes. The path climbs steeply, descends a bit, crosses Tenas Creek, and then climbs a lot more getting REALLY steep near the end, all without straying more than a few hundred feet from the park boundary line. Quite a different feel from the old Taidnapam trail up Backbone Ridge, which follows the flow of its terrain rather than a line on a map.

This trail is no longer maintained, but in 2022 I found it easy to follow. The many blowdowns were mostly on the smaller side so I could step over them without much in the way of acrobatics. Tenas Creek has no bridge and the area around it was muddy, but I forded with no trouble other than wet feet.

Tenas means 'little' in the Chinook Jargon.

The trail ends upon reaching the top of a ridge which offers limited glimpses through trees over the Nisqually Valley. Climbers can turn east here, continuing another 2 miles up the ridgeline to the summit of Mount Wow (which is named after the Yakama word for 'goat').

There is no public parking at this trailhead, as the buildings around the Nisqually Entrance are used for park administration and employee residences. Some hikers have reported success asking the entrance booth staff nicely if there's a space available that day, but while friendly they had nothing for me. Alternatives are to find a spot outside the park and walk in, or drive on to the pullout near the Westside Road and walk back (which I did).

While walking the road section back to my car I enjoyed taking a look at the remnants of the Sunshine Point campground. This used to be a car camping site, but the Nisqually River reclaimed much of it during the floods of 2006. As of 2022 you can still see a levelled area with clearings, now separated from the road by a channel of the river.