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Looking for stunning hikes, beautiful drives, or a great train ride? Tweak our guide to craft the perfect trip for you!
Enjoy the best dining spots and lodging options, complete with area breakdowns and top recommendations for every budget.
Easily pick which activities are perfect for your group with our star ratings, detailed descriptions, and estimated time frames.
Mount Rainier is known for it's AMAZING wildflowers. Know the best time of year to visit and the best spots to find them!
You can easily turn your visit to Mount Rainier into an Epic Pacific Northwest Road Trip! In 11-14 days, you can experience the unique rainforests of Olympic National Park (+ Mount St Helens), the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge, the stunning wildflowers of Mount Rainier National Park, and the beautiful beaches along the Oregon Coast. Pick up the Pacific Northwest Bundle for how to connect these amazing parks and sites. We do not yet have a guide for the Oregon Coast. Coming 2026.
If you travel using our guides and don’t love them so much that you would tell your best friend about us, we’ll give you your money back. Read more.
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Hey, We’re Matt and Cheryl and we are on a mission to help people have amazing vacations. Not only do we write easy-to-follow itineraries, but we love to share interesting stories in our audio guides about all of our favorite places!
We live in Utah, just four hours away from awesome national parks like Zion and Yellowstone, and have spent our lives exploring the West and the Rocky Mountains. We often travel with both sets of our retired parents (they like each other!) and our four teenagers (who like to travel…sometimes).
We met in a history of Utah class at Weber State University and tied the knot in 2002. Matt worked for Social Security and taught adjunct history classes at our alma mater. Cheryl taught special education for 28 years and continues to volunteer by teaching a weekly dance fitness class.
We took a shot at our dream in 2020 and started making YouTube videos about the national parks we know so well. We now have over 10,000,000 views and have sold over 18,000 guides. We are delighted to help travelers fulfill dreams of their own!
We love trying out all the activities and working with local experts to give the best, most up-to-date travel advice out there.
At We’re in the Rockies, we believe in preservation and donate 5% of the proceeds of your purchase to the Washington National Parks Fund to ensure access and enjoyment to future generations.
If you have more than 3 days, we recommend seeing some of the other cool sites in the area including Olympic National Park and/or the Columbia River Gorge.
We do not recommend this itinerary if you have less than one day.
We break visiting Mount Rainier into areas. You can switch around the days you visit each area.
We recommend staying in Ashford, Longmire, Packwood or within the park to decrease daily driving time.
We recommend July through September. This is when the roads are most likely to be free of snow and when there is a good chance of seeing wildflowers.
Through many of our own experiences as well as talking to other travelers and area experts.
We travel with our 4 kids (who are now teens) and our retired parents so we get a lot of perspectives.
We try to add lots of variety including hikes, drives, good places to eat, and activities. We usually give backup options for longer hikes and activities that cost.
We are of the mindset that you have a plan so you can be flexible.
We lay out what we believe are the best activities for your time and money but we all have different preferences.
Because each activity listed has a star rating, approximate time frame, and cost, you’ll easily be able to adjust to best suit your group’s interests.
We surveyed our customers and they reported that our guides saved them 10-20 hours of trip planning research, on average.
Although much of the information included in this guide can be found with significant research, this guide combines what you need to know into one place and it is from a source committed to giving you the best information.
This guide cost us over $2,732 to create when you combine travel expenses, map creation, and formatting. In addition, we have spent hundreds of hours visiting this park and doing additional research at home.
Many of our travelers enjoy the confirmation that they have already created a good plan and may even find a thing or two to add to it.
Other travelers may find that our plan is similar to what they had already pieced together on their own.
If you’ve already spent hours planning, you may not find maximum value in this guide.
Yes! We travel with our 4 children and both sets of our retired parents. Although not every activity is for everyone, there are always backup suggestions.
We write these guides so all the work you should need to do is obtain your lodging, transportation, food and reservations. We include maps, the time needed to complete drives and activities, and lodging recommendations. We also include some recommended restaurants for you to try out. We put boxes throughout the guide indicating it’s an item that you will need to take care of before you leave. We also give links to websites we think you should check before your leave (Ex: Mount Rainier Park’s website)
You will need a car to visit Mount Rainier. There are many scenic drives you won’t want to miss and there is no shuttle system.
Yes. We give approximate time frames that are needed to complete an activity. The schedule is generally not so packed that you have to be a quick traveler. But, if you know you generally need more time, you can make adjustments. If you are quick, there are suggestions for additional activities
This is a digital download so it will be EMAILED to you. That way you can have access immediately and have the option to download it to any device you want.
Many travelers, including us, prefer to print the itinerary and take it with us as we travel.
The itinerary is available immediately upon purchase, right on this webpage. You will also receive an email within 30 minutes with download links in case you need to revisit the links and download the items later. If you don’t receive your email, check your junk mail folder. If it’s not there, contact mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com and we’ll be in touch with you within 1 business day. Also, the guides will be available in your account, if you choose to establish one (we highly encourage it).
Olympic National Park, the Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast are amazing things to add to your trip.
Experience the Pacific Northwest like never before with our ultimate bundle! Get itineraries for Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and the Columbia River Gorge—plus an exclusive bonus: a comprehensive Pacific Northwest Overview Guide that will show you how to loop around all 3 for an ultimate 10-11 day road trip.
(Oregon Coast is not released yet. Most likely to be released in 2026)
Guides are automatically updated to the latest version when you create an account.
In addition to that, we also send an email notification out when a guide is updated. Just make sure to stay subscribed to our email list so we can reach you.
Because the download is a PDF file, you can do it on any device: computer, iPhone, Android, tablet, etc.
Stuff like this happens. We get it. When you purchase a guide, you have access to 18 months of free updates.
If you created an account, just log in again and download your guides.
If you didn’t create an account or forgot your password, just email us and we can resend your links.
For step-by-step instructions (including pictures) check out our Help With Downloads page.
If you still need help, reach out to us at mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com We’ll get back to you as soon as possible to help. We’re even happy to jump on a phone call with you if needed.
Mount Rainier is open year-round but this guide is meant to be July through September.
Yes!! We update our guides as needed, but write the concepts to intentionally be as timeless as possible. We encourage you to purchase the guide as soon as you know you will be traveling. It will help you determine which areas to stay and how many days to obtain lodging. Upon purchase, you’ll be guided to create an account on our website. If we update the guide, it will automatically show in your account for up to 18 months after purchase.
It is not required but is HIGHLY recommended. We encourage you to create an account when purchasing the guides because you’ll have access to the links at any time.
You will have access to the updated guide through your account (another reason to create an account) for up to 18 months. We generally send an email announcement when we do an update as well.
We put approximate price ranges on all our activities so you know what to expect.
Gas and lodging can be expensive in this area.
Although we do suggest some hikes, we offer plenty of alternatives if hiking is not desirable including viewpoints and drives.
Yes. It would be very easy to download this itinerary and head out the door. Mount Rainier National Park currently requires some timed entry reservations. Many are available the night before. You can also enter the park before 7 am or after 3 pm (make sure to check exact entry requirements as they can change unexpectedly) .
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I haven’t used any of the guides before, I watched a lot of their YouTube videos tho. Those were already super helpful but the guide goes into even more detail, which is awesome. I like to do a lot of research myself but i also love that i have everythin i need to know all in one place already written down for me. Can’t wait do use it next year !
This guide is very informative and provides very important hints that will make our trip in 2025 better. Matt provides insight for activities, trails, timing, accommodations and food availability. I love how he breaks the days down, each with an itinerary and approximate timing. This will help my trip planning immensely.
We can’t wait to visit the Pacific North West! We often travel with a group of friends, and I seem to do most of the planning. Matt and Cheryl have made my job SO much easier. I especially appreciate the information provided about viewing wildflowers and will definitely be planning our trip to take full advantage of this information. We have some gardening enthusiasts in our group, so this will get me definite bonus points.
This guide provides so many helpful tips about eating in the park (or not), the lack of gas stations in the park (VERY important since there is lots of driving involved), and signage in the park, which is sometimes not as clear as it could be. I also appreciate the information provided for RVers. Most people who do not travel by RV themselves do not provide this information, but Matt and Cheryl do – so thank you!
Also, if you are printing out your guide (as we do), I would advise you to print it in color. There are lots of color-coded maps, not just one big map that can be hard to follow. Matt and Cheryl provide separate maps for each area, and they are clearly marked. I am sometimes not the best at decifering maps, but they make it really easy.
Thanks again for LOADS of practical information.
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We love the We’re in the Rockies travel guides! We recently completed a Pacific Northwest two-week trip to Columbia River Gorge, Mt Hood, Williamette Valley Vineyards, Oregon Coast, Mt Rainier NP, Seattle, Olympic NP, Victoria, BC and Vancouver BC. The guides provide excellent suggestions on what to see with starred (*) items and very practical tips on navigation, options for itinerary timeframes (1-2-3 days etc…), easy to follow maps, places to eat and stay!
We use them to simplify pre trip planning and during the trip – “game day” – trip execution. Two specific examples we loved from this guide: 1) We stayed 1 night at the “Humble” National Inn – Excellent location with awesome view of Mt Rainier from the front porch, excellent / helpful staff, ambiance of historic inn – quiet, clean, off the grid! 2) Glacier Overlook and Sourdough Ridge Hikes – Matt described them as “WOW” hikes – they were Awesome – one of the highlights of our two-week trip! These are couple of examples – the guides are loaded with useful tips like this.
The travel guides allow us to start “Anticipating our Trip” during a streamlined planning stage and then relax with confidence as we navigate during our trip! The travel guides allow us to maximize enjoyment / value / lifetime memories with our trips to different National Parks or regions of the USA/ Canada.
I’ve been planning family vacations for over 50 years, and I wish We’re in the Rockies guides had been available all those years! The Mt. Rainier Itinerary guide is the fifth of their guides that I will be using, because it is concise and to the point. It contains a flexible itinerary that can easily be modified to fit our time schedule and our abilities; it includes helpful hints about how far one destination is from another and the amount of time it will take to travel the park roads to get there; it recommends must-see places and provides detailed maps; it suggests budget friendly, well-reviewed places to dine and to stay; as well as much needed general information, such as reminding me that I’ll need a timed-entry reservation to enter the park during the peak visitor season. Matt and Cheryl of We’re in the Rockies have done the hard work by being to Mt. Rainer in person so that they could put viable, budget-friendly itineraries together for travelers like me. We’reintherockies.com Mt. Rainier Itinerary is the best! Purchase it today! You’ll be glad you did!
I got this just before I left for my “out west” trip, Sept. 24 – Oct. 5. Appreciated the way it is laid out with suggestions for 1 or several days. Hiking information is helpful, along with what are “must sees” and what is nice if you have time. Great help as all the guides I’ve purchase are. Well worth the money. Did Bryce, Zion and North Rim after Washington. Was GREAT!
We are planning a trip to Mt Rainier for next fall, and this guide has saved us so much time and effort. We know which towns to book the hotels and for how many nights. Since we are coming from the south, there is also detailed information on what to see on the way there. There are detailed maps of the hiking trails which we look forward to using when we go. Thank you Matt and Cheryl. Another excellent job.
We love the We’re in the Rockies itineraries! This is our third one, and they never disappoint. We thoroughly enjoyed our trips to Yellowstone and Grand Teton in large part to these itineraries.
Here’s what we love: They’re detailed, a great value for the contents, and filled with extra insider tips.
Feeling overwhelmed? Not anymore. Literally saved myself hours and hours of sifting through travel blogs and internet searches. Matt and Cheryl have every detail so organized, even down to the specific parking lots needed. Seriously, it makes your trip simple…unless you enjoy being stressed and grumpy with your spouse. Ha!
We also appreciate all the recommendations for lodging, excursions, and dining (or lack thereof) too! They’ll even tell you where there’s gas available and how reliable cell coverage is.
I have bought others’ itineraries before, and they don’t even remotely compare to these. This is worth the investment!