Near Paradise-Longmire Road, on the right when traveling east.
Enter an ancient forest and find yourself sheltered by giant trees reaching more than 200 feet into the sky. Western hemlock and western red-cedar, some as old as 850 years, are the dominant trees in Mount Rainier’s old-growth lowland forests. These . . . — — Map (db m62156) HM
Since 1922, many Mount Rainier climbers have begun their summit attempts at the threshold of this building. From the 1920s to the early 2000s, park concessioners operating out of the Guide House led guided climbs up the mountain. Today the building . . . — — Map (db m310788) HM
Paradise is a high-mountain reservation. From here, trails traverse wildflower meadows and lead to close-up views of glaciers and panoramic views of Cascade peaks. Within this dramatic subalpine setting you can also explore the history of Paradise. . . . — — Map (db m310801) HM
In midsummer it may be difficult to imagine the quantity of snow that accumulates here. The Inn’s architecture provides a clue – the steep roof is designed to shed heavy snow. On a larger scale, extreme annual snowfalls have created the enormous . . . — — Map (db m310810) HM
On Stevens Canyon Road, on the left when traveling west.
In the wake of the melting glacier, plants reclaim the bare ground in a particular sequence. From this overlook the phases of succession all appear in one view. On freshly exposed rock, lichens gain the first foothold in tiny cracks caused by . . . — — Map (db m311285) HM
On Stevens Canyon Road, on the left when traveling west.
This spot was once buried beneath hundreds of feet of moving ice. The evidence lies at your feet: bedrock polished by sediment-laden water on the underside of the glacier. As the glacier flowed across the rock, debris frozen into the ice created a . . . — — Map (db m311270) HM
Remnants of the historic Paradise Lodge building lie buried beneath this site. Built in 1918, the lodge mirrored the Paradise Inn’s rustic design, with a steeply pitched roof for shedding snow and shingle siding with log façade. It overlooked . . . — — Map (db m310783) HM
On Paradise Valley Road E, on the left when traveling south.
Mount Rainier erupted andesite lava flows which filled and hardened in ancient valleys cut into the older, tougher Tatoosh granodiorite. The Paradise River is eroding into the soft contact zone between these two rock formations as the water plunges . . . — — Map (db m310818) HM
On Paradise Valley Road E, on the left when traveling south.
At the end of the short trail. the entire 168-foot-high waterfall is visible. The vista is not only about dramatically falling water but also the rock that creates the steep drop. Here the Paradise River plunges over the edge of a relatively recent . . . — — Map (db m310822) HM
Since the late 1890s Paradise has served as a base camp for people attracted to the spectacular wildflower meadows and high-mountain recreation. Built between 1916 and 1942, structures at Paradise were designed in an alpine rustic style. Massive . . . — — Map (db m310826) HM
Advertised as a place "where the flowers and the glaciers meet,” Paradise Inn opened on July 4, 1917. Here tourists arrived wearing long skirts and woolen traveling suits, "seeking a renewal of spirit in the vast world out-of-doors.”
Today, . . . — — Map (db m129378) HM
For eighty years park rangers used this building as a base for coordinating rescues and protecting park resources. The ranger station still serves this purpose, although it is no longer open to the public. Historically, the first floor was an . . . — — Map (db m310785) HM
On Stevens Canyon Road, on the right when traveling west.
From the earliest days of tourism, many people have been attracted to this classic view of Mount Rainier. A boat concession which began in 1927 and the stocking of non-native fish had unintended consequences: the lakeshore and surrounding meadows . . . — — Map (db m311294) HM
On Stevens Canyon Road, on the left when traveling west.
Not every feature of this terrain is ice-carved. Box Canyon began as a crack in the granite bedrock. The canyon-cutting is ongoing: listen for the clatter of cobbles and sometimes boulders in the powerful current, battering the rock walls. The . . . — — Map (db m311269) HM
