Hello We are hopefully visiting Mt Ranier in July and just got our flights. Our departure time is later than I originally thought it would be so we have almost a whole extra day. First day we are at the Paradise side For those who have been wpulls you spend that time going to the Sunrise side of the park or spend time in Seattle? Thanks

Hi!

I'm visiting Seattle in 2 weeks from the Bay Area. My main reason was to visit Mt. Rainier National Park. However I was wondering how the weather has been and if the roads to the park were hard to get to. I've looked on NPS website regarding which entrances are open.

I wanted to ask which hikes are accessible! Thanks in advance!

The weather has been amazing the last few days in what is normally the grey sadness!!

I’m looking some people to help me summit rainier next year.

We’re visiting from Toronto, Canada. Hoping to head up from the Tacoma area on Wednesday as the weather is supposed to be mostly clear and fairly mild. We aren’t looking for anything even remotely hardcore. Just hoping to get as close as possible to the mountain. A short hike would be nice. I’m aware that we have to rent tire chains which is fine. And that line ups heading in can be like 3hrs so we’ll get there very early. But what else should we be aware of? Thanks!

Hey all, I am new to the PNW hike/trail scene and wanted to hike at Mount Rainier on the skyline loop.

I have a couple of questions and wanted some advice from y’all.

I am heading there from Portland in exactly two weeks(winter season) and am driving an old shitty Honda Civic from 2011. Should I try to rent a vehicle to drive up instead, or is the drive easy enough even in the winter?

I know I have to buy or rent chains because of the season from another post I found.

Should I wait until I get to the park entrance to apply the chains?

How should I be packing for this drive/trip if I plan to just go on a 4hr hike?

I don’t think reservations are necessary this time of year, should I still try to get there before 7(leave home at 3)?

Do I need proper hiking boots, or snow shoes or anything of the sort?

What things should I be doing in preparation?

I know half of these questions will seem silly to everyone but I’ve never hiked near a mountain before and am unsure what to expect or how to prepare. I don’t want to show up and have several things go wrong out of naivety or lack of preparation.

Thank you in advance!

Hi, I am driving up from Portland this winter, I know that most roads will be closed, but are there anything that are open and suggested to drive through when heading north from Portland? And is there any suggested vehicles to drive (4WD, AWD) etc? (I assume most of the roads are paved)

Thanks!

Would the road to paradise be closed as suggested on the NPS website? And is there any snowfall?

Also-wondering where people have seen mountain goats because I haven’t seen them before on skyline

Another super busy October weekend. Seems like all of western Washington is visiting the park today. Currently have a 6 mile, 3ish hour line for the Southwest side of the park - all the way to Ashford. I’ve lived here since 2006 and I’ve never seen it this bad.

If you want to visit the park this weekend (not advised) you better get here REALLY early.

Really wonder how bad the resource damage is with all of this visitation this weekend and last. Ugh.

Took this shot from my porch!

Will be in Seattle area starting this weekend for 5 nights and Trying to decide between going to RNP on Sunday or ONP Sunday and Monday. Rest of the time would be in Seattle but I’m flexible. I know Olympic will be rainy and it looks like it may be clear in all but the higher elevations of rainier the mountain may not be visible.

We’re not big hikers and just want to enjoy the scenery but if we do Olympic we’d probably do Madison falls, lake crescent / Marymere falls, salmon cascades, sol doc falls one day - stay in Forks - then the next day go to hall of mosses, Rialto, and one or 2 other beaches before heading back to Seattle. I’m not sure how hard it would be to do this stuff in the rain. I’m aware it’s around 4 hours back to Seattle so would leave the last beach by mid day.

At rainier we’d probably mainly spend time in the paradise area and do some of the skyline loop (likely not all of it) and some of the falls and viewpoint spots. The sunrise area may be closed as per NPS but if it’s open I’d also like to check that out but assuming I won’t be able to.

Doing RNP one day and then ONP days 2 and 3 is also an option but probably not a popular one.

Thanks!

Does anybody know what was happening today? We decided to head up to the mountain this afternoon and for some reason traffic came to a standstill just after Ashford we crept along for 2 hours before turning around at 4pm.

Has anyone stayed in either of these hotels? How clean were they? Thanks for any info.

Visited MRNP first time with my husband late summer and adored it. Are there still going to be any fall colors ariund late October when our family from NC will be visiting, or should we just pick another spot to take them for fall colors at that time? Suggestions welcome, we're coming from Portland for reference. Ty!

Hello all, I’ll be staying in Ashford this weekend and my goal is to try and see the best the area has for fall colors. I’ve done some research and have a few ideas in mind. Wanted to reach out and see what other suggestions are out there. Thank you!