At paradise, expect to be confined to areas around the visitor center unless you are ready to traverse the snow via snowshoe or ski. They do plow the road to paradise daily when possible. Winter: Depending on how much snow there is you’ll be able to drive up to Paradise Visitor center. Expect to be able to drive all the way up to paradise visitor center daily. Still a beautiful place to visit and photograph, although many of the roads will be closed due to snow. Rainier isn’t the best place for fall colors as most of the trees are evergreen. Milky Way visibility will still be excellent.įall (Late September – November): You’ll get a mix of snow but not much fall colors. As snow pack in higher elevation melts away, streams and waterfalls will be less magnificent but Rainier stays snow covered year round. Wildflowers may have wilted by now and the park will feel drier. Late Summer (Mid August – September): Crowds will still be going strong up until the first week of September. A cold night or two could really impact the bloom for the year as well. It really depends on when the temps start to warm up and how much rain there is. Usually that is late July to early August but is hard to predict. Mid Summer (Mid July – Mid August): Rainier is best known for wildflowers, and many people try to time their trip to coincide with peak bloom. Good time to shoot the milky way as well as capture Rainier when there is still more snow over the mountain and glaciers. You’ll have driving access to the entire park without having to fight for a parking spot. As a photographer, I will assume you plan to stay overnight!Įarly Summer (June – Early July): Least crowded time to visit. There aren’t many accommodation options within the park so most people are visiting for the day. The park also empties out as sunset nears. Good news though is that weekdays are much more manageable. Weekends are often congested and crowded, queues are expected to enter the park on busy weekends. Summer is also the most popular time to visit Rainier. The best time to visit is in the summer (July – September). In terms of miles, a single full tank should be enough for 4-5 days within the park if you drive Seattle to Paradise Visitor Center When To Visit Mount Rainier There isn’t any gas inside the park so be sure to fill up before entering the park (either in Enumclaw or Ashford). The drive is pretty uneventful and rarely is there any traffic. If you are arriving from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, then getting into Rainier is pretty straightforward. West side (Primitive, open until first heavy snow).Sunrise (Visitor Center, area open summers).Paradise (Visitor Center, area open year round).Two of them are known distinctly for their visitor centers. It’s visible from the city on clear days and most people are surprised by how large Rainier looks even when in the city. Rainier is just a short 2 hour drive from most of Seattle. Glorious day for reflections at Reflection Lake Getting There I also like to make this distinction because driving from one to the other is basically crossing through the entire park, so it’s best done as separate regions. This is somewhat correlated with the area around each of those visitor centers. In this guide I will refer to the park as two different regions (Paradise and Sunrise). If you are visiting from out of state and want a longer trip, you could also plan to visit Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Mount Saint Helens National Monument. You can expect to shoot subjects such as wildflowers, mountains, wildlife, and the milky way. For out of town visitors, the best time of year would be during the summer months as much of the park isn’t accessible outside of summer. By road it’s not the largest (only takes around 1.5h – 2h to drive through) but if it’s your first time I would recommend setting aside at least 3-4 days. Rainier herself but there are plenty of other interesting compositions as well. Mount Rainier National Park is a big park with plenty of locations to shoot from. If you’re a visual person, jump to the gallery first! Overview Here’s a photography guide for photographers, by a photographer! However, I’ll try to share what I know and discuss the best locations for capturing this beautiful mountain. Rainier is my most visited place in Washington – I’ve been to Rainier over 100 times now but have plenty still to explore. Just a couple hours from Seattle, Rainier (along with the Olympics) is usually on the bucket list of Washington visitors. Mount Rainier towers over the surrounding mountains and stands tall even from hundreds of miles away.
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