Mount Rainier dominates the Cascade Range and surrounding landscape for 100 miles around, and contains a wide diversity of wildlife habitats from subalpine meadows to streamside corridors and low elevation old growth trees. Everything here is spoken of in superlatives: the glaciers, trails, wildflowers, wildlife and infinite photo ops. Four-season adventure surrounds one of America’s most popular national parks.
Before Captain George Vancouver sailed into northwest waters in 1792, Native American residents called it "Tahoma." Captain Vancouver named the mountain after then Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, R.N. At 14,411 feet, Mt. Rainier is the second tallest mountain in the lower 48 states, shorter only than its skinnier California rival, Mt. Whitney, by 80 some feet. Rainier’s height and its massive girth allow its snowcapped peak to dominate the landscape across the northwest, but its close up views from the White Pass Scenic Byway are among the best. Mount Rainier is an active volcano that first erupted about a million years ago. Because of Rainier's great height and northerly location, glaciers have cut deeply into its lavas, making it appear - deceptively - older than it is.
The Mount Rainier area includes the communities of Alder, Ashford, Buckley, Carbonado, Crystal Mountain, Eatonville, Elbe, Enumclaw, Glenoma, Greenwater, Mineral, Morton, Naches, Packwood, Randle, White Pass, and Wilkeson. Within Mount Rainier National Park are visitor centers at Longmire, Paradise, Ohanapecosh and Sunrise.
For more information, visit http://www.visitrainier.com/.
