Things to see and do Mount Rainier National Park

Paradise is the center of the park. It includes a visitor center, the Paradise Jackson Visitor Center, and a hotel, Paradise Inn. This is the most frequented place in the park in summer and winter. Paradise is known for its superb panoramic views of Mount Rainier and its meadows of wild flowers, the flowering period of which is from mid-July to August. There are several hikes to discover Paradise, including Bench and Snow Lake Trail (3.7 km), Pinnacle Peak (4.2 km), Nisqually Vista Trail (1.9 km) and Alta Vista Trail (2.7 km). Not to be missed too: Reflection Lake, certainly the most photographed place in the park! He has his name because Mount Rainier is reflected in his crystal clear waters.

On the road to Mt Rainier, from Tacoma, the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is a unique reserve where visitors can observe wildlife in their surroundings. A 50-minute shuttle tour allows you to see wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, foxes, coyotes, etc. Also a video on the history of the site, a cabin where animal observation methods are explained, the trails discovered…

Longmire is 11 km from Nisqually, the southwest entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. After the establishment of the park in 1899, Longmire became its head office. Nowadays, there is a museum with exhibits on Mount Rainier, a service station, a grocery store and a hotel with a restaurant. Some sports equipment is rented there. There are excellent short or long walks from here. The road of Nisqually Entrance to Longmire is one of the most beautiful in the park.

From Nisqually Gate, to the southwest of the park, a road leads to Longmire and then to Paradise Valley, one of the most beautiful sites of Mount Rainier from which you discover pine forests and fields of wild flowers. Beyond Paradise, the road bypasses Reflection and Louise Lakes, two very beautiful mountain lakes in which Mount Rainier is directed, then reached Stevens Canyon dominated to the southwest by the silhouette of the Tatoosh Range.

After leaving Carillon ridge, we descend to the Chinook River, not far from the Silver Falls; these are only a few kilometres from Ohanpecosh visit Center; Then we cross the WA 123 which, northward, goes back the Chinook Valley to the Cayuse Pass (1 439 m).

From Cayuse Pass, this route joins the WA 410, also known as Mather Memorial Parkway, which flows into the White River valley, at the northeast boundary of the park towards Tacoma. On the road, there is a branch line that leads to White River Gate and Sunrise Point from a superb panorama on the Emmons glacier, the largest in the park.