Mt. Rainier National Park

The day started cloudy and overcast as it sometimes does during summer in Seattle.

If you're waiting for the sun to come out, take the drive up to the Sunrise Visitor Center at 6,400 feet elevation, the highest elevation that one can reach by vehicle in Mt. Rainier National Park. By the time you return to the Puget Sound area, the sun will most likely be out. On this day, the park was in full sun.

The drive from Kent or Tacoma is about 2 hours, so find Highway 167 where it connects with Highway 410 just north of Puyallup. The route takes you through the growing communities of Sumner and Buckley, then Enumclaw, the last town before the park. A good pit stop in Enumclaw is a very nice Starbucks on the left just before you leave town. From Enumclaw, the park is 39 miles and the Sunrise entrance (fee required) is 5 minutes further. After paying the $15.00 fee, we were on our way on the 14-mile journey to Sunrise. Open from July to late September.

This is the view from 6,100 feet along the road at Sunrise Point, just a few miles before Sunrise. Here, you'll find a parking lot with glorious views and the trail to Upper Palisades Lake Camp.

At Sunrise, you'll find several trails for hiking including the 93-mile Wonderland Trail that circles the entire park. We didn't have that much time, and easily found the Sunrise Rim Trail with beautiful views of the mountain and wildflowers. This trail was wide and fine for us to do in running shoes.


By mid-September this year, the visitor center was closed for the season, so remember to bring food and water.