The Nisqually Glacier is one of the larger glaciers on the southern face of Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of . Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Washington. The glacier is one of the most easily viewed on the mountain, and is accessible from the Paradise visitor facilities in Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park is a United States National Park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. It was one of the US's earliest National Parks, having been established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States. The park contains...

. The glacier is currently retreating. Measurements made at 9,200 feet (2,800 m) altitude show that glacier got 56 feet (17 m) thicker between 1994 and 1997, suggesting that it will probably begin advancing in the first decade of the 21st century. Nisqually Glacier is the source of the Nisqually River

Nisqually River

The Nisqually River is a river in west central Washington in the United States, approximately long. It drains part of the Cascade Range southwest of Tacoma, including the southern slope of Mount Rainier, and empties into the southern end of Puget Sound....

.

Perhaps the longest studied glacier on Mount Rainier, Nisqually's terminal point has been measured annually since 1918. In May 1970, the glacier was measured to be moving at an average of 29 inches (73 cm) per day.

Debris flows

The glacier is one of four on Mount Rainier that are known to have released debris flow

Debris flow

A debris flow is a fast moving, liquefied landslide of unconsolidated, saturated debris that looks like flowing concrete. It is differentiated from a mudflow in terms of the viscosity and textural properties of the flow. Flows can carry material ranging in size from clay to boulders, and may...

s. Similar flows have stemmed from the Winthrop

Winthrop Glacier

The Winthrop Glacier is a large glacier on the northeastern side of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named after Theodore Winthrop, the body of ice covers 3.5 mile2 and has a volume of 18.5 billion feet3 . Starting at over at the Columbia Crest, the glacier heads north and descends steeply over the...

, Kautz

Kautz Glacier

The Kautz Glacier is a narrow glacier on the southern flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named for August Kautz, who is sometimes credited for the first ascent of Mount Rainier, covers and contains 7.8 billion ft3 of ice. Upper Kautz Glacier extends south from the summit ice cap to Kautz Ice...

, and South Tahoma

South Tahoma Glacier

The South Tahoma Glacier is a glacier located on the southwest flank of Mount Rainier in State of Washington. It covers and contains 4.6 billion ft3 of ice. Starting from an elevation of around at the base of a steep cliff, the glacier flows down southwest with the larger, adjacent Tahoma...

glaciers as well.