"Solo hike up the Banderas. Soggy and foggy throughout. Little B is very easy, fitting amongst your average i-90 peak. Big B is kind of an annoying one, rocky, will improve your route finding ability. I saw > 100 people between parking lot and Little B. I saw 0 people between Little B and Big B. Great day in the hills." — zachmitch • Jun 14, 2025

"A hike that had it all: waterfalls, views of alpine lakes, and summits with stunning 360 degree views. Hiked up the trail to the summit of Little Bandera Mountain and continued on the spur trail to the summit of Bandera Mountain, which involved a little bit of down climbing, a bit of bushwhacking through the forest, a bit of scrambling and route-finding through the boulder field below the summit, but the views and solitude on top made all the effort worth it. Overall rating 8/10, a very rewarding mountain if you have the strength and confidence to keep going after reaching Little Bandera Mountain " — MountainQuest • Oct 30, 2021

"Late start, started heading up around 1:30 from exit 42, avoided alot of the crowding. Once i got to the junction and headed up only saw two other people. Great day for a hike!" — Birddog • Sep 20, 2020

"Planned to hit Bandera Mountain Summit, 2nd time, and 4th for Little Bandara. Perfect blue skies - almost too perfect as the temps rose. Started at exit 42 - Tinkham vs. the Ira Springs trailhead, in part to avoid parking crowds and the dusty potholed road, plus the lower trail is a beautiful moss-covered trail with stumps of old grown tree harvested long ago, with beautiful stream flowing along the trail. There are no water sources once you pass the log bridge, and the true summit to Bandara is long and hot as it's exposed to the sun. Wildflowers along the steep boot path to Little Bandera are in full bloom, so take your time and enjoy the many colors. All lakes are melted out and the trail to Bandera Mountain summit is completely snow-free. There is a talus field of a couple of hundred yards marked with cairns to navigate once you get to the final stretch. The talus covered summit has a summit register, a small box with some papers, and other odd items. From the summit looking South Rainier looms larger than ever. There is a massive blow of talus below and it could be an interesting scramble adventure to explore and connect with the trail for Talpus Lake in the future. ..." — markhadland • Jul 25, 2020

"Day 1 -7/17/20: Evening of July 17th - Parked at the Granite Mountain/Pratt Lake TH and hiked into Rainbow Lake (3 hrs). Made camp at the lake. Cloudy with drizzle and temps hovering around 60F. Very buggy at the lake - mossies and little black flies. Day 2: Day hike to Bandera (true summit), and Mt. Defiance via Mason Lake and Sir Richard's Pond. Excellent weather, blue skies from beginning to end and great visibility. All trails were in great shape. Bugs were a nuisance - mossies and black flies. Returned to Rainbow Lake camp for another restful night in the tent, 10 hrs sleep. " — MosquitoFood • Jul 18, 2020

"Knocked out Defiance and Bandera on a single day hike. Socked in but cleared up while snacking on Defiance’s summit. Convenient way to snag both peaks with tired feet and quads upon returning to the car." — TheIncredibleGulk • Jul 8, 2020

"The trail was in great condition, better than my legs! This is a challenging but rewarding hike. The views were perfect with very prominent and clear shots of McClelland Butte, Mount Kent and Duke of Kent peaks at the beginning part of the hike and when the trail splits to Bandera vs. Mason Lake, Mount Rainier becomes the main attraction! The trail steepens considerably at this point and feels a lot more like Mailbox Peak. The beargrass is now out, along with pink heather, creating great photo opportunities. This is one of my favorite Hikes. The. Route to The real summit beyond Little Bandera requires some route finding. I was surprised that there was still a snow filed to cross on the backside of the ridge. There are options to hike along the I-90 side of the ridge which I did on the return or the backside which I did on the ascent. The summit offers wonderful views of Mason Lake, Mount Defiance, Webb Mountain, Mount Rainier, Mount Roosevelt, Kaleetan Peak, Chair Peak and Chimney Rock along with a number of less prominent peaks. Don’t forget to sign the summit register on top! There are not a lot of entries!!" — joeerickson • Jun 11, 2019

"Hit the trail head at 0640, started up in the rain. Hit the trail intersection towards Bandera peak but the trail was completely snowed in and I wasn't outfitted to bust trail through the 2 foot snow since I was just out for a trail run. Decided top cut my loss and headed back top the trail head. Will head back up I m the spring. " — CraigArnold2 • Dec 20, 2018

"Hiked To little Bandera and then onto the summit of Bandera Mountain. It snowed hard when we got to little Bandera. Hiked through snow and scrambled over big boulders. Amazing hike! Lots of Bear grass and pink heather." — joeerickson • Jun 10, 2018

"Ira Springs TH to Little Bandera to Bandera. Pretty warm, 5 liters for the two of us was just right. Wouldn't have minded another liter. Trail in good shape, though it got a bit harder to read after Little Bandera." — mathiasricken • Aug 27, 2017