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Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier
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. Traveling around Mount Rainier, there's something for kids at every age - toddlers can run around easy paths at Paradise or old-growth forests in the Grove of the Patriarchs, older kids and teens will want to stretch their legs on panoramic alpine trails.
Mount Rainier Photo Album
    Paradise
    Southeast Stevens Canyon Entrance
    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 and timed day-use reservations: Mount Rainier NPS
    Go camping – Mount Rainier has different campgrounds, available on a first-come-first-serve basis. You can reserve in advance at Cougar Rock and Ohanapecosh campgrounds.
Mount Rainier wildflowers
  Wildflowers – Mount Rainier gets quantities of rain and snow, and even at Labor Day, the wildflowers are extraordinary –we saw fields of purple asters, alpine lupine, dark blue mountain bog gentians, magenta paintbrush, yellow monkeyflowers, white pearly everlasting, and more.
  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?

fun books
     
 
Best Easy Day Hikes
Mount Rainier National Park

Heidi Schneider, Mary Skjelset

Guide to 30 different hikes around Mount Rainier, ideal for families (half are less than 3 miles round trip). Map, detailed hike descriptions, trail difficulty, and what you'll see along the way. (Guidebook)

 

     
Wildflowers of Mount Rainier
Laird R. Blackwell

Not a kid's book per se, this is our favorite reference for wildflowers you'll see at Mount Rainier, especially in the Paradise area. (Guidebook)

 

 
Wildflowers of Mount Rainier
TfK Blog
TfK Blog