Paradise RV Campground
One of the prettiest campgrounds we’ve been in was in Silver Creek, Washington. Our campsite was among an old growth forest.
The entrance to the campground overlooks a beautiful valley and Mayfield Lake. In the distance on clear days, we could see Mt. St. Helen and Mt. Rainier.
We were about an hour and a half from Mt. Rainier National Park. On one of our visits to the park, we stopped along the way to view Riffe Lake, a reservoir on the Cowlitz River.
Mt. Rainier National Park – Day 1
On our first visit, we entered the park through the Stevens Canyon Entrance. Not far from the entrance was Fall Creek. We stopped and took several photos of this pretty waterfall.
This was our first good look at Mt. Rainier. At over 14,000 feet, this glaciated volcano and its surrounding land was the fifth national park to be created. We happened to see Mt. Rainier on a sunny day when it wasn’t covered in clouds.
This park has plenty of scenic roads where valleys and tree-covered mountainsides are visible. It is a 21 mile drive from Stevens Canyon Entrance to the visitors’ center in the Paradise area.
There is plenty of water run-off from the mountainsides and glaciers to create many beautiful waterfalls. This one is Stevens Creek Falls which we could see right from the road.
With all that water, it is still amazing but not surprising to find out that there are over 400 mapped lakes in the park. This area shown below is called Reflection Lakes.
We arrived at the Paradise area visitors’ center and found the parking lot was full and overflowing. People were parked along the road for quite a distance. We took a chance and drove around a bit until we found someone leaving the parking lot. It was a good spot, right in front of the visitors’ center.
After getting my National Park Passport book stamped, and buying a few postcards for sending to the grandkids, we set out to see if we could hike the trail to Myrtle Falls. What we encountered was ice and snow all over the trail. It was too hazardous for us to hike it that day.
There are over 26 glaciers on Mt. Rainier. You can see some in the photo above. I noticed something on the mountain when I zoomed in. See if you can see it in the photo below.
Our exit from the park that day was through the Nisqually Exit, which meant that we saw different views. We stopped at Naranda Falls and I hiked the trail to the bottom.
The trail was pretty steep and muddy, but the view was worth it. This is what it looked like from below.
Mt. Rainier National Park – Day 2
On our second day going into the park, we stopped again at Fall Creek to experiment with different settings on the camera. The goal was to get the falls to show more motion which gives the water a blurred look. I think we achieved it!
Our excursion that day was to ride the gondola at Crystal Mountain. It is located on the east side of Mt. Rainier outside the park limits. Since it was cloudy when we arrived, we killed some time inside the park shooting photos and eating lunch, hoping that the clouds would go away. They didn’t.
The twelve minute ride to the top of the mountain took us over 2,400 vertical feet. Despite the clouds, the scenery was fantastic.
I was glad I wore my puffy jacket that day. The temperatures at the top were quite chilly.
We went to the Tower 16 Gift Shop to warm up and get some hot tea and a snack. While we were there, we watched the gondolas as they glided overhead.
When we drove home that day, we saw this beautiful creek–Nickel Creek.
Mt. Rainier Park – Day 3
On our third visit to the park, we stopped on our way to visit this cute little church in the town of Elbe. This German church started in settlers’ homes until the church building was completed in 1906. Today services are still held monthly. In the tradition of the early pastors, the bishop arrives riding on a bicycle.
Mt. Rainier National Park has a timed entry policy between 7 am and 3 pm. Despite the timed entrance, it still took an hour and 7 minutes to get through the Nisqually entrance. This photo was taken later on after the traffic was gone.
Our first stop on our third visit was at the historic Longmire area. Longmire is the original location of the park headquarters. It now houses a museum. Outside the museum is a tree log with historic dates from 1293. This tree was alive when Lewis and Clark visited the Pacific northwest. Amazing!
A scenic loop off the main road took us to a viewpoint of Nisqually glacier. This glacier has advanced and retreated over the years. In years of advance, it can be seen from the bridge shown in the photo. It can advance or retreat as much as three feet in a day.
The views of Mt. Rainier from the scenic loop are some of the best.
Looking down canyon from Nisqually glacier, we can see the stream below. Pacific silver firs dominate the landscape at this elevation of 4,000 feet.
We drove again to the visitors’ center in the Paradise area where we again found a prime parking spot. This visit was different from our first visit. By now, the snow and ice had melted and the trail to Myrtle Falls was clear.
The trail is .9 miles round trip and moderately challenging because of the steepness. It is a 100 foot elevation gain, but it starts at over 5,000 feet. There is a bridge across the creek with a beautiful view of the mountain.
There was a fat coney, sometimes what is called a rock badger, near the creek. He didn’t seem to be very shy.
A steep pathway leads down to a viewpoint below the falls. It’s the best place to view Myrtle Falls. This was special to me because I recently painted this in a paint-along from an online artist. I wanted to see it for myself.
As we walked back to the parking lot, we stopped to see many of the wildflowers like mountain heather and giant white fawn lilies.
The views from the pathway back to the parking lot were stunning and the weather that day was perfect.
We also stopped in to see the historic Paradise Inn constructed in 1916. This reminded me somewhat of the hotel in Yellowstone, in that it has a large open timber frame. The large solid wood table in the main lounge is made of cedar logs.
As we drove out of the park for the last time, we got one last look at the mountain framed by the beautiful trees and wildflowers.
Mt. Rainier National Park is my number two favorite national park. (Yosemite still remains my all-time favorite.) Mt. Rainier has so much variety–the mountain, the waterfalls, the forests, the scenic drives, the historical buildings–and much more. I feel like we could spend many more days there learning about and exploring this beautiful national park.
“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.” — Psalm 36:6