A very beautiful park! Very nice views and fun trails. A couple cool waterfalls you can check out if you follow the right trails. I recommend snow shoes and hiking poles when it has snowed.
What a beautiful place! We went for a day trip but I would have loved to stay longer. We went to the visitor center and my kids earned their junior ranger badges. We ate our picnic lunch and then explored a couple trails. We also saw some beautiful waterfalls, one on our hike and two we stopped to walk to on our drive. Restrooms: The restrooms at the visitor center were nice.
Great place to hike, lots of trails!! And the maps were laid out great. We bought one of the park passes but when we got there no one was around to scan it or verify we got it so that was a bit confusing. Recommend you pace yourself and watch your footing, especially if you are not used to the elevation. No bears on our trail! Overall had a great time!!
Unbelievably beautiful! The views were amazing from all the hiking spots around Sunshine. Sourdough ridge and a few other shorter trails had great vistas, although there was too much smoke to see the peak of Mt. Rainier the day I was there. I was thankful I had some extra layers with me, as it was very cold. It peaked at about 40F in the afternoon, despite being August. So for newbies, bring a hat and an extra jacket! The rangers there in the morning gave fantastic tips for all the trails and some spots to sit and sketch while avoiding damaging the delicate wildlife, and the gift shop was warm and lovely after my brisk hikes. Restrooms: Only primitive outhouses at Sunshine, but in multiple locations, and much nicer than plastic ones. Dog-friendliness: Not pet friendly, although service animals were ok on the trails. Picnic area: Some of the best picnic areas I’ve ever seen: each one was nestled into some pines which conveniently kept the wind off and out of sight of most of the other picnic tables. It was so lovely to take a break there.
Easily one of my favorite national parks for the vertical hikes, wildflowers, and the meeting of rock and flowing water. The paradise loop hike that goes through panoramic point is a top to hike two hike of all time for me most pictures from there.
Absolutely beautiful place! The mountains are huge and grand. I haven’t seen anything like this before. The rangers here are friendly and I got to see a lot from the viewpoints. It’s a 2 hour drive from Seattle but it’s definitely worth checking out.
I will be back when the snow melts. We went peak snow days when the snow was up all the way up to their second floor of the visitor center and all the roads after that were closed. But it was absolutely amazing. Coming from Georgia where it barely snows and even if it were to, they either don't stack or doesn't last longer than a day, it was so refreshing to see so much snow and the mountains themselves were beautiful. There are native birds there too that will fly up really close to you. It was such a great experience. Also, make sure you have snow chains ready because they will check at the gate during snow seasons.
This is one of the most beautiful national parks I've ever been to. There are amazing hiking trails - the scenery is spectacular!
The mountain was amazing. I went in early August, and it was great. It's a very popular national park, so expect a lot of people, but not very many parking spots. The visitor centers are quite crowded, and the food isn't that great, to be completely honest. The views were nice, and it wasn't that difficult of a hike to get up to the scenic areas. The animals are quite used to people and will approach you regardless of whether you have food or not. But remember to not feed them, because they will start depending on people for their food, rather than naturally scavenging it. If you see any small rock cairns near the river, knock them over, as they are unnatural to the environment. It's fine to build them, just make sure to knock it over after. Playground: There's not really a playground area. Restrooms: There's a lot of restrooms near the visitor center, and picnic areas. Dog-friendliness: Dogs aren't very welcome on the trails. Picnic area: There are plenty of areas to picnic near the visitor centers, as well as dedicated picnic sites.
This was a wonderful destination. We were visiting in August. The trails were very dry. There is a steady stream of cars everywhere we went. It did not deter from the attractions or the beauty. Overall, this is somewhere I would visit again. The trails were family friendly for people ranging in our group from 8 to 66 years old. If you have a fourth grader, you can register for free online for the national park pass. This pass will waive your admission entrance fee.
