Ronald is a small unincorporated community in upper Kittitas County, Washington, situated in the Cascade Mountains a short distance northwest of Cle Elum and north of Roslyn. The settlement grew out of the region's coal-mining boom: the Northwest Improvement Company opened the first mines in the Roslyn–Cle Elum coalfield in August 1886, north of what is now Ronald, and the area hosted a series of mining operations that continued into the mid-1940s. Immigrant miners and their families built the surrounding communities, and that heritage remains a defining thread of local identity. Today Ronald is a quiet mountain hamlet of just over one hundred residents, far smaller than the bustling mining camp it once served. The community lies near the southeastern shore of Cle Elum Lake, a Bureau of Reclamation reservoir formed by Cle Elum Dam on the Cle Elum River, and functions as a gateway to the recreational lands of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The nearby Suncadia resort, developed on former mining and timber lands, has drawn attention to the upper Kittitas County valley, and the neighboring town of Roslyn, with its well-preserved historic downtown, anchors the surrounding communities. Ronald's setting among lakes, forest, and mountains makes it a seasonal base for boating, fishing, snowmobiling, and other outdoor pursuits, while Cle Elum and Roslyn provide everyday services a few minutes away. The upper Cle Elum Valley's combination of reservoir shoreline, forest, and quick access to the Cascades gives the hamlet an outsized role as a recreation base. Interstate 90 at Cle Elum connects the community to Ellensburg to the east and the Seattle metropolitan area across Snoqualmie Pass to the west.