Mount Rainier Nat'l Park
The heart of Mount Rainier National Park is the mountain, and it's a biggie -14,411 ft high, covered with glaciers, waterfalls cascading down rocky cliffs, green meadows and profuse wildflowers in summer. There's something for kids at every age - toddlers can run around easy paths at Paradise or the Grove of the Patriarchs, older kids and teens will want to stretch their legs on panoramic alpine trails.
Plan ahead - Summer season for Mount Rainier is short, the best time to visit is July and August, but also most crowded.
Tips for summer congestion:
Mount Rainier NPS
Free shuttle
- June to September, ride the weekend shuttle bus from Ashford (outside the park) to Paradise, with stops at Longmire and Cougar Rock Campground. Ride the shuttle and avoid crowded parking lots at Paradise.
Wildflowers
- Mount Rainier gets quantities of rain and snow, and even at Labor Day, the wildflowers are extraordinary.
Tips for enjoying Mount Rainier
Don't feed the animals
- Especially the marmots will come out on the trail and look very cute, but don't give them bread or crackers. Feeding the wildlife is bad for the animals and prohibited in the park.
Changeable weather
- Hiking in Paradise close to Mount Rainier, it may be warm and sunny down at the visitor center, but as you go up the mountain, mists can quickly blow in and it will become cold. Have sweatshirts and windbreakers with you on your hikes.
Footwear
- Wear closed-toed shoes, don't hike in flip-flops. Dirt trails have sharp rocks, and even in late summer, snow can cover the trail in sections.
Bring water on hikes
- In the visitor center at Paradise, fill up your water bottles with delicious filtered water.
Stay on the trails and protect the meadows
- Around Paradise (the most popular area), resist wandering off the trail and please don't pick the flowers. The meadows are gorgeous, but fragile environments. Imagine if you and 2 million visitors ran around the meadows, what would happen to the wildflowers?
