Mount Rainier National Park - Ashford WA
Posted by: 
nomadwillie
N 46° 54.872 W 121° 38.558
10T E 603358 N 5196560
It was one of the US's earliest National Parks, having been established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States. The coordinates will locate you at the Sunrise Visitor Center on the east side of the mountain.
Waymark Code: WMCMQ9
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 09/22/2011
Views: 19
Truly an awe-inspiring visit. Every turn on the loop roads is an event. Sunrise VC is a place to get the best view of the Mt Ranier.
The park contains 368 square miles including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,411-foot (4,392 m) stratovolcano. The mountain rises abruptly from the surrounding land with elevations in the park ranging from 1,600 feet (490 m) to over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). The highest point in the Cascade Range, around it are valleys, waterfalls, subalpine wildflower meadows, old growth forest and more than 26 glaciers. The volcano is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow on the peak every year and hide it from the crowds that head to the park on weekends.
Ninety-seven percent of the park is preserved as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System, including Clearwater Wilderness and Mount Rainier Wilderness, a designation it received in 1988. It is abutted by the Tatoosh Wilderness. The park was designated a National Historic Landmark on 18 February 1997 as a showcase for the National Park Service Rustic style architecture (or parkitecture) of the 1920s and 1930s, exemplified by the Paradise Inn and a masterpiece of early NPS master planning. As an Historic Landmark district, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: (
visit link)