Happenin’
Places › Washington › Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park, photo 1 of 5

Photo: Eric Kilby / CC BY-SA 2.0 · source

Mountains

Mount Rainier National Park

Ashford, WA · Cascade Range$$30 per vehicle, good for 7 days

About

The road from the Nisqually Entrance climbs through Longmire to Paradise, at 5,400 feet on Mount Rainier, a 14,410-foot volcano in Washington. In winter that's the only road in. From November 1 to May 1 every vehicle on it has to carry tire chains, four-wheel drive included. Entering before 10 a.m. or after 2:30 p.m. cuts the wait at the gate, which can pass an hour on the busiest summer weekends. Snow usually clears from the Paradise meadows by mid-July, when in most years many flowers are already blooming, and frost can come by late August. The 1.2-mile Nisqually Vista Trail looks out on the Nisqually Glacier, one of 28 major glaciers on the mountain.

Highlights

Paradise wildflower meadows in midsummerGlacier views, including Nisqually and Emmons93-mile Wonderland Trail circling the peakSunrise, the park's highest drivable pointNisqually Vista Trail, 1.2 miles

Getting there

39000 State Route 706 E, Ashford, WA 98304

Related places

North Cascades National Park Mountains

North Cascades National Park

Newhalem, WA · North Cascades, WashingtonFree

Glacial rock flour turns Diablo Lake turquoise, brightest on sunny days from July through September, below an overlook at milepost 131.7 on Washington's State Route 20. The…

Olympic National Park Mountains

Olympic National Park

Port Angeles, WA · Olympic Peninsula$

From Port Angeles, Washington, Hurricane Ridge is 17 miles and 45 minutes uphill, and the Hoh Rain Forest is 91 miles and 2 hours 15 minutes away. One or two areas a day is…

Ruby Beach Beaches

Ruby Beach

Olympic National Park, WA · Olympic Coast$

Cedar Creek runs into the Pacific at Ruby Beach, among sea stacks about 7.5 miles north of Kalaloch on US 101 in Olympic National Park. From the sloped gravel lot a 735-foot…

More in Washington

Others worth the drive in Washington.

All of Washington →
Ape Cave Lava Tube Caves

Ape Cave Lava Tube

Cougar, WA · Mount St. Helens$

Outside Cougar, Washington, the lower section of the Ape Cave lava tube is an easy, pitch-black walk of three-quarters of a mile each way, down a stairwell. The upper section…

Palouse Falls Lakes & rivers

Palouse Falls

LaCrosse, WA · Palouse River Canyon, southeast Washington$

Palouse Falls is Washington's official state waterfall, named in 2014 after a group of local schoolkids lobbied the legislature for it. The Palouse River drops about 200 feet in…

Comet Falls Lakes & rivers

Comet Falls

Ashford, WA · Mount Rainier National Park, Washington$

Comet Falls earns its name at high water, when Van Trump Creek launches off a cliff and fans into a long white tail that streams roughly 300 feet down the rock, wider at the…

Part of these collections

The United States National Parks63 places

The United States National Parks

All 63, for anyone keeping count, with the famous ones up top and the quieter ones further down.