Most Iconic Mountain in WA
Rainier
The big guy! Inspired and named so many things. Causes inferiority complex for citizens of Oregon.
Adams
Shorter little more stubby, often confused as Rainier from Western Washington road trippers. The pride of Goldendale and Yakima.
Mt. Baker - The White Lady of the North.
Mt. Stuart -
6th Highest and crown jewel of Central WA. Bastion of the enchantments, and monarch of Ellensburg. Its the big mountain you see looking to the north from Ellensburg and along I90.
Mt. Shuksan - Possibly one of the most photographed, yet unknown mountains in the US. I've seen it used in Colorado, passed off as a CO mountain. No other mountain other than Rainier has probably been featured in more calendars.
St. Helens - Angry beautiful bitch who despite losing 1500 feet, still dominates its neighbors. Pretty good case study about why shaving makes things look even bigger. Worst part of the 1980 eruption is that prevailing winds weren't northerly, burying the cesspool of duck fans to the south.
Mt. Constance - Tallest of the Olympics visible from Seattle. Debatable if its more stunning than The Brothers. Probably confused for Mt. Olympus by retards who can't read a map.
Liberty Bell / Early Winter Spires - Icons of Washington Pass and one of the more epic view points in the state. Was used in quite a few WA tourism publications. I'm kind of partial to nearby jagged peak of Silver Star Mountain.
White Horse Mountain - This won a coin flip with nearby and just as impressive Three Fingers. WH and TF are the most visible and prominent Cascade Mtns in the North Sound. I gave the nod to White Horse as its a behemoth you can get close too, and was also used as the background when a young David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) calls after escaping NORAD in the 'Rocky Mountains'. White Horse is the number one reason I'd move to Darrington. There are pocket glimpses of bigger and possibly more impressive mountains in the area (Pugh, Glacier, Three Fingers) but White Horse's proximity dominates the skyline.
Bonus Pic: Glacier framed by White Horse and White Chuck from Mt. Erie.
Bonus Pic: White Horse, Three Fingers and Pilchuck from Magnusson Park.
The Brothers - The other very distinctive Olympic Mountain from Puget Sound. Nothing like cresting a hill in Seattle in the morning heading west and sun hitting this bad boy just right.
Honorable Mentions:
Glacier Peak - 4th highest but most people don't even realize its there. Not a lot of great views of it outside of Everett and Lake Cavanaugh of all places. Shorter but high peaks nearby obstruct its view. Easy to spot if you know what you're looking for.
Index / Persis: Very visible from Hwy 2 and Seattle. Northern higher peaks before the peaks get higher.
Mt. Baring: From Everett it really sticks out and was at one point referred to as Mt. Index, as honestly, it looks more like a finger than index does. From highway 2 its not impressive, but the simple and beginner hike to Barclay Lake offers great views of the north, almost shear cliff wall of stone. A popular place for base jumpers.
Olympus: High point of the Olympics but not a lot of great perspectives out there, even from places like Hurricane Ridge, a direct view is tough.
Olympus from Elinor
Most Iconic Mountain in WA 25 votes
16 votes
1 vote
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5 votes
1 vote
1 vote
Comments
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Mt. St. Helens
The one that blew its load all over the place.
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Mt. Rainier
TAH TOWN TUFF
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Mt. Tequilla
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Mt. Rainier
This should not even really be a debate. Second place goes to St. Helens. Debate starts after that.
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Mt. Rainier
I agree but like the availability of choice.
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Mt. Rainier
No one's talking about Mt. Sugarsuvius in Pumpeii
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Mt. St. Helens
I've spent the most time on and around St Helens (pre and post eruption) and Adams, which has nice stuff going on around it but is pretty dull compared to many of the peaks mentioned.
St Helens has dominated news stories throughout most of my life. It was awful pretty before too. It wins.
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Mt. Stuart
@huskyhooligan is our board's banana hammock and mountain superiority guy.
Great poll! I enjoyed those photos
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Mt. Rainier
Thanks! I'm a fan of massive polls. It took some time finding those pics in my collection.
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In all seriousness this is a hell of a pole. So many beautiful mountains.
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Mt. Rainier
Fan dual has the Sisters favored to win the Cascadia natty.
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Mt. Rainier
I sit on the port side of the airplane when flying to Seattle and the starboard side when departing Seattle for reasons.
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Mt. Rainier
All you have to do is walk up the skyline trail, and continue up to the 10,000 foot level and get ready to walk across the ice to get to the base camp to feel close to god… the other astounding Mtn though in my book is Baker… the sheer cliff on the south side is really something to behold.. and it stands over the skyline in vancouver in such a nice way..; yow.
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Mt. Rainier
Love me some sisters. When in Bend I always pop up to Pilot Butte for the view. RIP Pilot Butte Drive-In.
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Mt. Rainier
You can see Casa de Piss !
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Most iconic mountains in WA state these days.
509 represent.
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Mt. Rainier
5’3” bruh. Optical illusion.
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Mt. Rainier
Iconic Mountain. Iconic beer.
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Irrelevant when horizontal
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Mt. Rainier
I don't get in here enough. Iconic? It's clearly Rainier and it's foolish to say otherwise. I could smash on this subject for days for other adjectives. Your choices seem to be for the Mountaineers Club, not the common man. For some of us, a great selection, love the blurbs, but there's some glaring omissions for iconic. Got to have Mount Si in there and you got to throw the East a bone. Mount Spokane is pretty rad for what it is. It would be a temple for me if I lived over there. Pilchuck could get a nod. Seems like more people die there than Rainier. Mount Constitution should get an interview for the position at least. It's the law, after all, and the San Juans smash. Galbraith Mountain in Bellingham is iconic for we mountain bikers.
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Mt. St. Helens
When was the last time you rode Galbraith?
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Mt. Rainier
The year I moved away from Bham, 2016. I became more of a mountain biker down here in Reno though.
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Mt. Rainier
Yeah, my omission of Mt. Si was that honestly, a lot of people probably don't know what they are looking at, and well, visually, it's not on par. Not that I haven't also taken pictures of it.
Pilchuck is another one that I'd put in honorably mention. Visually its usually grouped with White Horse, and Three Fingers. From a hiking standpoint, other than Rainier, Pilchuck is probably the true GOAT of local day hikes. The summit hike, Lake 22, Pinnacle Lake and Heather Lake are all on one mountain. To be clear, Glacier Peak was an honorable mention, and the fifth highest Bonanza isn't on most peoples radars considering you have to take a boat then go to religion camp just to get to the base. Almost every peak listed is one that anyone who gives a damn will recognize, and are visible from a road. Fun fact I've never been to the top of constitution, nor ever stepped foot on Orcas. Mostly because I'm a poor. Plus there are other drivable lookouts that give one a much of the same view, Mt. Erie near Anacortes gives a pretty nice view of the San Juans, though not as substantial. I've been deep in the Okanogan and nothing really from there or near Spokane in WA seems iconic. Honestly considering Spokane sits at 2000 ft, Mt. Spokane seems like a slightly taller Tiger Mountain.
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Mt. Rainier
Pilchuck above.
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Mt. Rainier
You ever climbed South Sister via the Eastern Approach from Green Lakes? Did a 3-night base camp at Upper Green Lake a few years back during the weekdays, summitted via that route. Spectaculur, remote, rugged, fun, probably gets 1% the foot traffic the main trail does, if that. We had the entire mountain to ourselves until it linked with the main trail, and then again on the way down. Would smash again.
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Mt. Rainier
@huskyhooligan I will push back slightly on comparing Mt. Spokane to Tiger Mountain. Mt. Spokane is 6000 feet and pretty prominent actually, 3500 feet, more than Index even. Tiger is about 1600. Tiger is just a hill relative to its surroundings. Mt. Spokane is far more substantial because of its isolation. 10th most isolated peak in the state. You can see it from everywhere and you can see everywhere from the top. It's a pretty cool place, tons of rec opportunities, road to the top, accessible, close to Spokane, very popular. Spokanians would call it iconic. It's not a particularly photogenic type of mountain relative to the Cascades and Olympics, but it does have some shit going for it. I gotta throw the east an honorable mention bone on my list.
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Mt. Rainier
Mt Si sucks. Mt Pil @chuck is the GOAT of suburban peaks.
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Mt. Rainier
No, unfortunately. I don't do much hiking around here to be honest. In the summers when I have me time, it's Mt Bikes, Fishing and Golf.
With the kids we're either on the river or heading to Elk Lake right past the trailhead of said hike.
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Mt. Rainier
Mt. Si is neat. You don't see many behemoths hovering like that above a town/interstate in WA. It has its place and it's popular. Most of the hike is forest and kinda boring but the Haystack scramble at the top is fun. I like scramblin'. People die up there, there's a little memorial and everything. That's how you know it's decent. It would be in my top 15 list.
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Mt. Rainier
My hiking and peakbagging game has fallen off recently myself. Mountain biking and disc golf took over. But it'll come around again. Love Central and Eastern O. Endless rec.
