Mt Rainier is a beaut! This 14,410 foot peak has more glaciers than any other mountain in the lower 48 and is still an active volcano! Visible for miles away, locals in the Seattle area & the PNW often ask daily “is the mountain out?” There’s even a website and Twitter account dedicated to spotting the mountain every day.
Mt Rainier became the nation’s 5th national park in 1899, preserving over 230,000 acres of gorgeous wilderness. The park offers over 260 miles of trails through its subalpine meadows, ancient forests and river valleys.
Mt Rainier NP has 5 developed areas: Paradise, Longmire, Sunrise, Ohanapecosh & Carbon River. We were short on time and arriving from Portland, so we decided to visit the Paradise area on the south side of the park and base ourselves in Ashford, WA (just outside the park’s Nisqually Entrance.)
Check out a short video re-cap of our Mt Rainier Trip:
When we went:
Late September. A great time of year to avoid crowds, but there’s danger of rain. (Spoiler, we got rain)
Park Entry:
$30 gets you a pass for unlimited entry for one vehicle and passengers for 7 consecutive days
Where we stayed:
- Alexander’s Lodge – Ashford, WA. A comfy historic inn 1 mile from the Nisqually Entrance. Breakfast was included, but it was in basket form for minimal pandemic contact. Generous portions! We had plenty for breakfast and saved the rest for snacks/ future breakfasts along our trip.
Where we ate:
(Take note that most restaurants near the park close at 8pm and stop serving takeout around 7:30 pm. So prepare in advance so you don’t go hungry!)
- Wildberry Restaurant – Ashford, WA. Offers traditional Himalayan Sherpa cuisine as well as a typical American menu. A bit pricey for the authentic dishes. But the portions are large and it’s worth it for the convenience factor (right by the park entrance) & taste!
- Copper Creek Inn Restaurant – Ashford, WA. A cozy spot with homemade food and delicious made-from-scratch blackberry pie. So yummy!
- The area is pretty remote. We wanted to make sure we didn’t go hungry. So we also picked up some provisions for future lunches at a grocery store en route to the park. Highly recommend doing this! Saves some money too.
What we did:
This really ought to be called “1.25 days and 2 nights in Mt Rainier NP” since we arrived late afternoon the day before. I strongly encourage this! Staying close to the park the night before allows you to get a full-days’ worth in the park the next day.
Arrival day:
We arrived in Ashford around 3pm and checked into the Alexander’s Lodge before heading to the park. This allowed us to just crash when we returned in the evening.
We bought our park pass at the Nisqually Entrance and decided to get a feel for the park by driving the 19 miles up to Paradise at 5,400 ft. This area apparently gets really busy in the summer months and has an overflow parking lot. But there was plenty of parking available in the main lot in September.
Paradise sits at the southern slope of Mt Rainier. The area consists of the historic Paradise Inn, a visitors center, restrooms and trailheads. Hiking the many Paradise Meadows trails should offer in-your-face views of the mountain. Unfortunately for us, the mountain was not out.
The area was still gorgeous though! You can see the base of the volcano, and how it disappears into the clouds. Definitely worth a hike through the vibrant autumn colors this time of year. We opted for the 1.8 mile Alta Vista Loop. The trail was pretty steep at spots and partially paved. A nice little hike after a long drive, and hiking boots weren’t really needed unless you want them for support.
There’s plenty of options for short, scenic trails in this area. Click here for a map of Paradise Area Trails
Next we drove 3 miles east of Paradise to Reflection Lakes. This is a great place to catch a glimpse the mountain’s reflection in the lake and spot some wildlife. The mountain was still pretty socked in by the clouds when we were there – so no reflection. The fall colors were pretty though!
Rain came in as we left the park and we opted to try the Wildberry Restaurant for dinner. Since its so close to the park entrance, I imagine this place gets really busy in the summer. Not too busy when we were there, and a cozy respite from the cold rain. We tried the authentic Nepalese dinners. Super tasty! And since there’s no “nightlife” in Ashford, we went to bed with the sun.
Full day:
We rose early, fueled by our breakfast from the Inn and entered the park just before 8am. The forecast was for rain most of the day. But we had expected chilly wet weather. So we came prepared with hats, gloves and waterproof jackets. Tip: bring hiking boots that are waterproof (like Gore-Tex) and wear wool socks, so your feet stay toasty and dry!
To our surprise and delight, as we drove into the park there was a break in the weather – the mountain was out! And holy cow, she is huge!! We totally did not get the full scale of Mt Rainier the day before. What a treat to be able to see the whole mountain. We took advantage of the many pull outs along park road to ogle and take pics of the mountain.
Since the weather was unpredictable, our plan for the day was to do a few short hikes:
Pinnacle Peak – We started with this 2.5 mile round-trip hike to the jagged peak in the Tatoosh Mountain range. You’ll actually see many glimpses of it on the drive up to Paradise. The trailhead is at the Reflection Lakes parking lot. This hike offers spectacular views of Mt Rainier. A moderate incline with an optional rock scramble to the peak (note that this part is unmaintained by the park and adds .3 mi to the hike.) This was our favorite hike of the day! Check out my Tiny Travel Tale about this hike here, including our first bear encounter!
Grove of the Patriarchs – This is a great hike to do in the rain. We drove an additional 17 miles down the Stevens Canyon Rd from Reflection Lakes to get to the trailhead. This is an easy 1.1 mile hike through towering centuries-old trees. I’m serious, these trees are HUGE. Super impressive! And bonus: we barely got wet under the thick forest canopy.
Skyline hike to Myrtle Falls – We planned to head back up the Paradise to do a quick 1 mi R/T hike out to Myrtle Falls via the Skyline trail. But the weather took a turn for the worse and started pouring rain and sleet. We opted to check out the historic Paradise Inn instead for a coffee and warm up by the fire.
Narada Falls – Waterfall viewing is great in rainy weather! You don’t really need to hike to visit Narada Falls. You can (kind of) see them from the parking lot just 1 mile from Paradise. But there’s a .4 mi R/T trail that takes you down to a viewpoint where you can see the full height of this 168 foot-high waterfall.
If the weather had been better, we would have hiked the full Skyline loop. It’s a 6.2 mi R/T hike that is supposed to have fantastic up-close views of Mt Rainier and the Nisqually Glacier. It’s described as the quintessential hike of the Paradise area. Something look forward to on our next visit!
We ended the day with a hearty dinner from the Copper Creek Inn. Finished off with their famous homemade blackberry pie. A perfect way to end a day in Paradise!
