Mount Rainier National Park

We visited Mount Rainier National Park in September 2020. This is an incredible national park with hikes offering waterfalls, old growth forests, and awesome mountain views. The mountain is 14,410 feet and often visible.

We stayed at Nisqually Lodge in a very small town called Nisqually. It is about 15 minutes from the southwest entrance to the park off of highway 706. Nisqually is about 2 hours from Sea-Tac airport.

The hotel was okay but next time would probably stay someplace else. First choice would be a stay at Paradise Inn (inside the park). We would also consider one of the log cabins in Ashford or Nisqually, or the Paradise Village Hotel in Nisqually.

The wildflower season was over when we visited, however we did see a few in the meadows off of Skyline Trail. Looking forward to returning when there are more wildflowers, which is mid-July to mid-August.

Here was our itinerary for our 3 day visit. There are details on the following hikes:

• Comet Falls
• Narada Falls
• Grove of Patriarchs Trail
• Mount Fremont Lookout Trail
• Skyline Trail

Day 1

Decided to do the Comet Falls hike. The trailhead parking is small and it was full so we parked at Christine Falls and walked to the trailhead (very short walk). We saw many waterfalls and even a rainbow at the bottom of the huge Comet Falls. We continued on the trail to the Van Trump Park, a meadow at the top of the falls. There was a huge elevation change on this hike and we were rewarded with views of Mount Rainier. 

Comet Falls with the Van Trump extension was about 4 hours and about 5 miles and 2150' elevation change. After we stopped at the Paradise Visitor Center then drove to Reflection Lake pullout. Then we hiked to Narada Falls which is a .1 mile hike down to the bottom. On our way out of the park we stopped in Longmire and ate dinner at the National Park Inn which was delicious. After dinner we drove and checked into Nisqually Lodge

Day 2

Early morning we left for Sunrise Visitor Center which is an almost 2 hours drive from Nisqually. Instead of taking the park road, we alternately went a little south to highway 12 to highway 123.  This road is very isolated (make sure you have gas) and there weren't many potholes, but there were a few that were huge and hard to see since the evergreens are so tall and it is very shaded on the road.

The wild fires caused a lot of smoke and haze so we did not get to see the view. We did hike to the lookout, 5.6 miles and 3 hours 20 minutes, elevation gain approximately 900 feet.

After finishing Fremont Lookout hike we then drove to Grove of Patriarchs, stopping at Lake Tipsoo (can see Mount Rainier in background) on the way.  

Grove of Patriarchs Trail

Grove of Patriarchs is an incredible 1000 year old forest. We spent about an hour here and hike was 1.1 miles.  There is a really cool suspension bridge on the hike as you walk along the river.

Day 3

Started the day with breakfast at Ukrainian Restaurant at Paradise Village in Nisqually and food was great. Drove to Paradise Visitor Center and hiked the Skyline Trail. It is a 5.5 mile loop trail and we saw lots of butterflies and marmot. You are able to get very close-up to Mount Rainier and total elevation change is 1,700 feet (took us about 4 hours). We hiked the trail clockwise and really liked that the views of the mountain come quickly, going this direction. 

Saw lots of Marmots eating and getting ready for winter.

In the middle of the hike there is a small bathroom.

Bucket List for Next Visit

• Tolmie Peak Fire Lookout (views of Eunice Lake and North side of Rainier)
• Sourdough Ridge Nature Trail
• Reflection Lakes at sunrise or sunset (if water is calm enough, can see reflection of Mt. Rainier)
• Naches Peak Loop
• Mount St. Helens Science & Learning Center is nearby (www.mshslc.org)