Absolute Best Time to See Wildflowers at Mount Rainier + Where to Find Them 

Mount Rainier has an argument for the best natural wildflower show in the United States. Year after year diverse wildflowers sprout below Mount Rainier’s summit and become a sought-after display for photographers and visitors alike. The question is, when and where can you see these wildflowers in Mount Rainier?

The best time and place to see wildflowers in Mount Rainier is the last week of July and the first week of August, anywhere on or near the Skyline Trail Loop. The best time of day to view the wildflowers is between 9 am to 2 pm because the sun makes the colors pop and encourages flowers like lupines and paintbrush to open fully.

My name is Lukas Gott and I worked at Paradise Inn in Mount Rainier in the summer of 2024. I was privileged enough to watch the wildflowers begin blooming in mid-July and fade in early September. Follow along for my best tips on when, where, and what wildflowers to see at Mount Rainier! 

When to See Mount Rainier Wildflowers

As mentioned before, in my opinion, the prime wildflower season in Mount Rainier National Park to see wildflowers is the last week of July and the first week of August. 

Now you might ask, why not earlier in the summer?

This is why some visitors miss the wildflower show. Many visitors tend to view Mount Rainier’s summer season as similar to the perception of a Washington summer, where summer usually should start in late May. In Mount Rainier at the Paradise area and Skyline Loop, the hard-packed snow of the previous winter may remain until as late as July. The preceding snowmelt correlates directly to when wildflowers will bloom. After snow dissipates several species of wildflowers will quickly bloom and remain for several weeks. 

INTERESTING: Snowmelt is beginning earlier due to increasing world temperatures and therefore directly correlating to earlier wildflower blooms. Eventually, the wildflower bloom will happen before summer break, according to this research article from ScienceDirect

That means to see the wildflowers in full bloom, I recommend booking your Mount Rainier road trip three months ahead (at least), for late July. Go to recreation.gov to book a timed entry pass for the morning of the planned day of visit (Mount Rainier is hot in late July, book for early in the morning and bring ample sunscreen/water to avoid the heat). If you’re looking for exact information on how and when to get into the park, read my article Which Entrance Should I Use to Visit Mount Rainier?

5 Places to See Wildflowers at Mount Rainier 

Before we begin, I’d like to clear up a few misconceptions before mistakes are made. 

• The first is that while I’m naming 5 spots that are as close to surefire spots to see a great wildflower show, be aware that nature is constantly changing and the prime spot to see wildflowers may change on a year-to-year basis. 
• The second is that there is no wrong answer on where to look for wildflowers in Mount Rainier! Mount Rainier National Park runs rampant with wildflowers wherever you visit in the park, you couldn’t avoid them if you were trying to. So don’t stress too hard about missing a location, come visit the park and at some point, the wildflowers will find you. 

1. The Skyline Trailhead

Now technically the Skyline Trail Loop is the main featured trail above Paradise, but in my opinion in prime flower season, you can’t go wrong with anywhere near the Paradise area. The Skyline Trailhead next to the visitor center has several trails that feature gorgeous wildflower “gardens” where patches of several flower species call home.

The main trails I’ll highlight here are, of course, the Skyline Loop where the middle of the hike specifically features small streams and valleys bursting with diverse wildflower species and color. The top of this hike is tough and doesn’t quite feature as many wildflowers with the gaining elevation, but the view from Panorama Point is worth the extra effort. 

Myrtle Falls, which may be the easiest access point to view a valley of wildflowers, with a short 30-minute walk to reach the falls. The valley near Myrtle Falls also has wandering marmots and stunning views of Myrtle Falls and Mount Rainier. 

Lastly, the Nisqually Vista Trail, which is much easier to hike than the Skyline Loop and features small wildflower gardens in a similar fashion to the Skyline Loop.

But overall, if you walk around the Paradise area to find wildflowers, you won’t need to go far. For example, at the end of the loop driveway at Paradise Inn, there are normally vibrantly red paintbrush wildflowers that made my walk to work worthwhile. 

DON’T MISS: Quick and Easy Guide to Hiking in Mount Rainier

2. Berkeley Park Trail and Sunrise area

The Sunrise Corridor is equally full of wildflowers as the Paradise area and one hike stands out in particular to get the best wildflower display in Sunrise. The 7.6-mile Berkeley Park Trail features a stunning wildflower valley that should feature one of the strongest blooms in the park by early August. The park trail features wildflowers such as Lupine, both Scarlet and Magenta Paintbrush, as well as Sitka Valerian. 

The Berkeley Park Trail will also pass the trailhead to Mount Fremont lookout, which may be worth visiting for the panoramic views of Mount Rainier and the wildflower-littered valley below. 

If the Berkeley Park trail is a bit far of a hike for you, just know the Sunrise area and Sourdough Ridge (the main Sunrise trailhead and ridge just next to Sunrise Lodge) features plenty of wildflowers without the extensive hike. 

The Sunrise Corridor opens later in the summer season in late June or July due to the snowpack melting later in the season, so do ample research to ensure that the Sunrise Corridor is accessible before planning a visit.

3. Reflection Lake

Reflection Lake is one of the easier access points in the park to get wildflower viewing. The lake sits just beside Stevens Canyon Road and has wildflowers surrounding the perimeter of the lake. With Reflection Lake being at a lower elevation than the Skyline Trails it tends to have blooming wildflowers a few days to a week earlier than the rest of the Skyline area, which is always nice if you mistimed your entry date. 

This makes for a great picnic spot or a quick stop at the day-use area before continuing on Stevens Canyon Road east to get to the Sunrise Corridor of the park.

4. Narada Falls

Narada Falls sits between the Skyline Trails and Reflection Lake, with the trail starting at Myrtle Falls and finishing near Reflection Lake. If you’re looking for a diverse wildflower experience, this connecting trail features a wall of beautiful wildflowers on the hillside between Myrtle and Narada Falls. It also has small alpine lakes and wildflower gardens before reaching Reflection Lake. 

In the area between Narada Falls and Reflection Lake is where I saw the most Lorax Trees or Pasque Flower Seed Heads in the park as well as several bonus mushroom species when descending towards Reflection Lake.

5. Mowich Lake

Mowich Lake is one of two sections of the park that never reaches the Paradise or Sunrise Corridors (the other being the Carbon River). But while it is a relatively small and less visited area of the park, it’s a great place for a day hiking trip to view the wildflowers without the heavy crowds and chaos July brings to the inner corridors of the park. 

The Wildflowers of Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier National Park may have the best wildflower display in the U.S. Between the sheer volume of wildflowers blooming in late July, the breathtaking Mount Rainier background, and the unique colors of the park’s flowers, it arguably could take the top spot. 

Now what makes the wildflowers at Mount Rainier so unique? Well for starters, wildflower enthusiasts have accounted for hundreds of different species of wildflowers in the park, each naturally forming every year. But it isn’t the diverse species that brings so many visitors to the park. When all these species bloom in late July and in close proximity to each other, the results lead to beautiful color combinations that catch the eyes of wildflower lovers. The Mount Rainier National Park website features a downloadable color-organized guide to key wildflowers of the park. 

A Few of My Favorite Flowers

• Tiger Lily: This Lily just tends to stand out and contrast the lush greenery of the park. It’s hard to ignore and not want to take a closer peek at this flower.

• Jacobs Ladder: Now, I recently just found out about the name of this flower and I believe that is why it’s an addition to this list. Jacobs Ladder is the ladder from heaven to earth, or connection to God, which means this flower is technically God’s gift to the world, and that’s awesome.

• The Scarlet Paintbrush: A favorite of mine ever since I worked in Grand Teton National Park. I was always pleased to see these vibrant red flowers outside the doors of the Paradise Inn dining room. Scarlet and her cousin the Magenta Paintbrush are widespread throughout the park and easily found in the Skyline area. 

• The Pasque Flower Seed Head: During my time at Mount Rainier I never knew what these were called, but my friends and I always called them little Lorax trees due to their fluffy and droopy nature. 

Wildflower Viewing Etiquette 

While viewing all these gorgeous wildflowers, visitors tend to get a bit overzealous in their wildflower viewing and end up damaging the beautiful ecosystem that allows these wildflowers to come back naturally year after year. 

That means that it is our job as wildflower lovers to stay on all marked trails, thereby not damaging the wildflowers and the valleys they grow in. 

Now this may be implied, but that also means picking the wildflowers is a BIG NO and is considered federally illegal, meaning if caught a hefty fine will follow. 

Always remember the number 1 rule of visiting any National Park if tempted to pick a wildflower, take only pictures, and leave only footprints. 

The History of Wildflowers at Paradise Inn

The wildflowers at Mount Rainier have been a spectacle and attraction for decades worth of tourists. Traces of these wildflowers’ history heavily influenced the current design of Paradise Inn, the nationally protected Historic lodge that remains the only lodging available in Paradise. 

For starters, walk into the main hall from any entrance, and look up. On the ceiling of the Paradise Inn are several parchment lanterns with various wildflowers painted on them. These lanterns have remained since the 1920s and are repainted periodically to commemorate their beauty. 

If visiting the Paradise dining hall, take notice of the faded wildflower paintings on the wood pillars on either side of the restaurant. These paintings were done by Boy Scouts long ago and remain as another reminder of the wildflower beauty and history of Mount Rainier. 

While the dining room experience of Paradise Inn is a bit shaky (it’s a bit of a chaotic place in my summer working experience, so maybe just visit once), it’s designed to educate and commemorate the wildflower history of the park. Each table in the dining room may (big emphasis on “may”) be set with various pastel-colored napkins, representing the pastel colors of the wildflowers. Each menu should feature a wildflower identification guide on the back, which makes a good read while waiting an extensive amount of time for the subpar food served. 

DISCOVER: Paradise Inn: An Honest Review

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