Very beautiful visitor center. It reopened in 2025 after being closed for renovations and I have to…read moresay, the architecture is GORGEOUS with vaulted ceilings and large windows to let in the surroundings. There's wood paneling which helps you feel immersed into nature. There's an informational desk about the area, helpful for visitors newish to the area or those with questions. The gift shop is also accessible with the usual offerings of post cards, tchotchkes, and such. Do note that the restrooms are accessible outdoors at the side of the building. There's a pay area part of the center which is $5/18+, $2.50/7-17, free for 6 years old or younger, and family $15 for 2 adults and children 7-17 years old. They also honor veteran's disabled pass, WA state disabled pass, and senior limited income pass. It's definitely worth the admission, since there's a lot of exhibits explaining the geology of the area, the flora and fauna, the native peoples, and the later commercial and recreational uses of the area. There's even a place where you can walk into a huge mock up of Mt St Helens! Very fun. They have a short film playing about the eruption too. I didn't get to explore much outside as it was super rainy, but I saw a boardwalk trail out in the back. I did not see Mt St Helens due to the weather, but I'll be back when the weather is nicer!

Just stopped in to get a map and road conditions. you can…read morepay a small fee and see the exhibits. Discounts for Washington Residents only.

First and best place to stop along the way to Mt St Helens. Helicopter ride (2 person minimum)…read morestarting at $270 and a good restaurant are two things the other stops further up won't have.

The views are incredible and the staff at the gift shop were friendly and patient despite the long…read morelines. Unfortunately, this administration decided that funding the national parks was unimportant therefore there were minimal staff and maintenance. Fortunately, it appeared that most patrons were very respectful and mindful of the need to pick up after themselves.

When you go to Mount Rainier, this is one of the main stops you want to go to. This is the large…read morevisitor center in Paradise and is one of the most visited locations. If you want to let the kids out to stretch, use the bathroom and get a bite to eat, you can do it here. The parking lot will be full but if you keep circling around, you'll eventually find someone leaving. The chicken tacos with rice and beans were actually pretty good. Worth trying if you're needing a bite to eat. The top floor of the visitor center has a lot of different exhibits that tell about Mount Rainier and the wildlife in the area. Would recommend stopping if in the area.

+ Good trailhead checkpoint to begin Mt Rainier hikes. +…read moreRestrooms, drinking water. + A restaurant too. + Enticing museum upstairs. + The weather is chilling cold, even in June. Lots of snow and fog throughout the vicinity. + We saw a few marmots along Mazama Ridge. - Glad they didn't issue a parking ticket, only a warning, for everyone parked along the curb across from this Visitor Center. However, they should've built more parking spaces for us. We visited on a June, and it was PACKED! No one could find parking anywhere else. We almost left if we couldn't find parking D:

This is a beautiful visitors center! Let me start off by talking about parking. Mount Rainier is a…read morepopular national park and this parking lot in Paradise fills up incredibly fast. I suggest that if you want to visit in the morning, show up on a weekday and try to arrive before 7:30 AM. The issue is, the visitors center doesn't open until 10:00 am. Most people show up early for the hikes and won't come back to free up a parking space for an hour or two (or four if you are hiking skyline). Back to the visitor's center.....it's beautiful. Pretty spacious but it does get quite cramped depending on the number of visitors and what time you go. The gift shop is pretty large too but it does get crowded. There is another gift shop a short walk away in the Paradise Inn too, if you are feeling claustrophobic. The park rangers working the desk are so friendly and give useful tips and suggestions about trails. There is a theater room where you can watch a short video on mount rainier too. The upstairs across from the gift shop is a tiny "museum" about the flora and fauna of Mount rainier. It's a great visitors center. The only downside is the women's bathroom needed maintenance (stall doors didn't lock) but overall, one of the best visitor's centers I've visited

The place to start your trip! The new digs of the Visitor's Center are top notch, and have plenty…read moreof brochures, helpful guides, and amazing staff that can point you in the right direction and offer personalized recommendations. They are super close to Nuvrei bakery and Powell's - ideal spots to hit right after or beforehand of your Portland adventure. They keep all items fresh and upto date so this is a great PDX resource. Go visit!

Staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Visitor center is…read morevery close to Powell's Books, hotels, shopping, and attractions. They have WiFi, cell phone charging stations, and water fill stations too. The center is stocked with brochures from over 200 attractions + city and state maps

Just what I needed....a vista of Mount Saint Helen's, a restroom, a free movie of the 1980…read moreexplosion, and a gift shop with Big Foot t-shirts. What else is needed!? Located about 10-15 miles before Cascade Lake (the end of the road), this rest stop is a 'must stop!' I took some beautiful pics to mark this sunshiny day. There are plenty of parking stalls, accessible bathrooms, and the gift shop sells snacks, too! The next time you head out to the mountain, stop here and take a load off!

This is a great spot to learn at. No Charge and willing docents that want to share their knowledge…read more And a short video included.

Mount Rainier NPis such a gorgeous park. The drive up from Seattle was simple and didn't feel like…read morethe 2 plus hours. I was grateful for nearly perfect weather- even with the various microclimates throughout the park. I was prepared for the heavy humidity and the chilli weather. The park was "closed" due to the government shutdown and so we didn't have to pay the entrance fee which was nice. I do however feel bad for the park rangers and staff that were unable to work. We took the route of the Paradise route and stopped at the different viewpoints but there were a few closures. Reflection lake was beautiful but a bit crowded.

Every year I pick one or two national parks that I have never been to for vacation. This year I…read moredecided to fly to Washington and travel to both Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks. My Dad lived north of the Seattle area for many years, and I would travel to see him. I would always marvel at Mount Rainier when flying over it by plane or seeing it from afar while in Seattle. Its snow-capped peak and overall size are incredible sites to see. Mount Rainier is a 14,410-foot active volcano in Washington's Cascade Range. It is the tallest mountain in Washington State. My Dad never had any interest in seeing this mountain up close, so I made my own trip out here to visit the park and do some hiking. I also ran a 5K that was going on in nearby Ashford to add a little fun to my trip. President William McKinley signed a bill authorizing the creation of Mount Rainier National Park in 1899. It is the nation's fifth national park. There are many cities around Mount Rainier National Park that you can stay in. I stayed in Packwood, which is southeast of the park. I took an overnight flight to Seattle-Tacoma and drove straight to the park where I ended up sleeping in my rental truck for a few hours until the sun came up. Mount Rainier National Park now requires a timed entry reservation made in advance during peak hours. I had got there early enough to avoid having to wait in the timed entry line. I began my day hiking to base of Mount Rainier on the popular 5.5-mile Skyline Loop Trail. It was a beautiful trail full of wildflowers, waterfalls, snow and wildlife. Marmots were running around all over and providing all sorts of entertainment for us hikers. The Skyline Trail begins and ends next to the visitor center in Paradise. At the visitor center, you can grab a bite to eat and check out exhibits that provide some history and information about this beautiful park. I spent much of my time driving around Mount Rainier National Park and enjoying its breathtaking views. The park has four main entrances - Nisqually, Carbon River, White River/Sunrise and Stevens Canyon. I was able to check out several waterfalls while exploring the park. Narada Falls was probably my favorite. One beautiful place to check out is Reflection Lake where you can see a reflection of Mount Rainier in the lake. Longmire is another popular destination that has lodging, camping, food, a visitor center and is the location of the park's original National Park Service Administration Building (which is now an information center). Ohanapecosh is an area in the park that has many campsites. I did make time to drive to Sunrise to get a different view of Mount Rainier. Sunrise is the highest point in the park that is accessible by vehicle at an elevation of 6,400 feet. When I visit national parks, I try to do a hike each day while I am in the park. There are 168 trails in Mount Rainier National Park. So I had to be selective in how many I could do because of time. After hiking the Skyline Loop Trail, I ended up doing some shorter day hikes like the Twin Firs Loop Trail and Bench & Snow Lakes Trail. I also did some hiking in the Sunrise area. There are so many trails to choose from at various lengths and difficulty. There is no Wi-Fi in Mount Rainier National Park. So I had to rely mostly on paper maps to get around. But if you do need Wi-Fi, you can stop at any of the three visitor centers in the park to connect. There are also park rangers on hand who are very helpful and will answer any questions that you may have. You will find restrooms, merchandise and food options at the visitor centers. I am so glad that I finally made my way to this beautiful national park to see this incredible mountain. Hiking the Skyline Trail and seeing some of the waterfalls were the highlights for me on this trip. Flying to Washington to spend some time in Mount Rainier National Park is an experience that I won't forget. I look forward to a return visit someday.

Beautiful park with views of Mt St. Helens. Old mossy trees and trails for days. Four legged…read morefriends and families here and people traveling through. A park with a forest of old trees and an impressive backdrop of Mt St Helens. I don't think there is a better place to 'forest bathe' around. So shady and cool and comfortable when surrounding areas were unpleasant hot. Not sure exactly why but the abundant moss on the trees suggests that normally weather is cool no matter what the day or season... it wasn't that I just got lucky with a cool pleasant day. I met a lady with a 12 year old dog. It was a happy little grey haired guy. They were celebrating his 12th birthday with a little roadtrip. He was in a cart getting pulled and I don't think he could walk much more. Chatted a little more with his mom and turned out he had stage 4 cancer. The little grey dog with fur in his face was so happy looking around in the safety of his cart. I think a place like this could make anybody feel good - including this little four legged friend. People here were very friendly and lots of photo opportunities for you and the volcano. I think if your here to see Mt St Helens this is as close as you need to go. I later went 25 miles closer to it and I don't think the views or the hikes got any better.

Love this location! So quiet and serene. Lots of trees and wildlife. Women's shower had no hot…read morewater, unfortunately I didn't figure this out until I was completely undressed. Had to wrap a towel around myself, grab my things and run over to the men's side. Luckily the campground was nearly empty and my husband stood watch at the door. Men's shower had warm water. Nice they took out the pay feature and now they are free. However, every 3-4 min you have to reach out and push the button otherwise the water goes ice cold. Not really any kind of warning other than a slight change of water pressure just before the warm water drops out. We stayed during a torrential downpour over several days so didn't leave the trailer much except to run into town. Planned on watching movies and just relaxing. There was zero cell service - AT&T. Wouldn't have normally been a big deal but we had planned to stream movies during our stay. Found an amazing record store called Stash Records in Longview and picked up a handful of DVDs. Overall a very peaceful stay and very affordable. Will definitely visit again!

One of the best visitor information centers we've been in. In my career I supervised a visitor…read moreinformation center and taught customer service so I'm pretty well-versed. First off, well-signed and easy to find from both directions. Second, easy to read large map of the region out by the front door showing the towns and parks (with simple graphics showing amenities at each park). It's nice that you can get info even after hours. Inside you'll find plenty of brochures for the region to help plan your trip. Finally, but in my opinion, most importantly, they have a wonderful young woman inside who really knows her job. She greeted us warmly when we walked in and came out from behind her desk to help us. She knew every brochure they had and was able to answer our questions. If I were still in this line of work, I'd hire her in a heartbeat. She makes this place what it is!