Washington Roadtrip: Mount Rainier National Park

Nisqually Entrance at Mount Rainier

When we started thinking about visiting the three National Parks in Washington, we knew this would be another trip with a lot of driving, but it would be well worth it!  Our first stop, Mount Rainier National Park.  An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning five major rivers.  With 1.6 million visitors in 2024, Mount Rainier ranked as the 23rd most visited park.  There are three primary entrances: White River, Sunrise and Nisqually, with access to Paradise, and Stevens Canyon, normally open seasonally; however, closed during our visit due to spring flooding.

After three and a half days of driving, with overnight stops in Medora, Bozeman, and Coeur d'Alene, we finally arrived at our spot for exploring Mount Rainier, a Hipcamp (think AirBNB for renting out a spot on someone's property) reservation.  After a lot of research, there aren't really that many well-rated RV parks near the south entrance of Rainier!  The drive on Hwy 12 from Silver Beach to Packwood along the Clear Fork Cowlitz Rivers was so beautiful, and it's where we had our first glimpse of Rainier.  We were then directed to take a National Forest Road from Packwood to Ashford. This is barely a 1.5 lane road through a forest, and mind you, we were pulling our 5th wheel.  This 15-mile drive took over 30 minutes and made for a wonderful end to our driving day.

Once we were near the campsite, Tim asked me which site number he should look for, and I said, 'The site.'  Yes, just one.  This location was just about 10 minutes from the Paradise entrance, one of the most unique OG NP signs (see above) we've seen.  Yes, there is another sign (see the slideshow below) on the drive to Paradise, but this one is at the actual entrance.

During our first full day in the park, we headed towards the Paradise Visitor Center and enjoyed a 30-minute delay as crews resurfaced the road.  It's crazy to think about managing a road construction project of this scale, with only two-lane roads and barely any shoulders. Once we were on our way and drove out of the denser forest, we got our first full view of the mountain.  Remember, the visitor center is at 5400 feet, and Mt. Rainier is 14,411 feet, so there's a lot of mountain to see!  It’s like seeing a giant full moon. 

We completed a 6-mile, fairly hardcore hike on the Lakes Trail, with a spectacular stop at Reflection Lake.  Simply amazing views.  We ended at the Paradise Inn, rated one of the most beautiful in the National Parks' system.  Where you can enjoy the views, but not much else.  "Rooms do not include modern amenities such as internet, telephone, and television".

On our second day, we revisited the Paradise area and took the Skyline Trail to Panarama Point *(the road to the Sunrise area was closed due to flooding in the spring).  This was another day of spectacular views of Rainer and the Nisqually Glacier, healthy for the heart going up and hard on the knees going down.  We got to not only see a couple of marmots, but also hear one super loud one, as I assume hikers were getting too close.  It sounded like a 3-year-old having a fit LOL.  We ended the day at Narada Falls, along the Nisqually River.

If I were ever to revisit Mount Rainer, I'd try to hit the late June time period, when the wildflowers are in full bloom.  This, of course, will also coincide with the period with the most visitors - ugh.  

What a wonderful way to start off our Washington adventure!  Next up, Olympic National Park.

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