Paradise Loop, Washington, United States

4Violette54 5:00 PM Oct 2, 2018

It was a Wonderful Drive!
We drove parts of this road as we entered the park at the Nisqually Entrance. It was awesome and easy to drive with many areas to pull out. Enjoy the view and find many trail heads. There are rain forests and waterfalls and great viewpoints. The road is 83-miles long and if you do not stop, it should take about 2.5 hours, but nobody doesn't stop. One can expect the road to be open and snow free by Mid-June and stay open until the first heavy snow in October. This date varies, so it is wise to call ahead. Longmire Inn is along the way. There is a park service hotel, a restaurant, and several trail heads. Trail of the Shadows and the Wonderland Trail head follow Longmire. Two of the Parks waterfalls are along this road also: Christine and Narada. Both of these are before one reaches the Paradise Inn, a second park service hotel, with a restaurant, and the Jackson Visitor Center. A short walk brings you to the Nisqually Vista Trailhead. And then at the end, there is the Grove of the Patriarchs Trailhead. One does not need to hike the whole trail (1.5 miles) to enjoy the giant old-growth trees here, where it seems that you will want to talk in whispers. The road is easy driving and there are plenty of stops and viewpoints. Usually the viewpoints have rustic style restrooms too. And always in the background is the marvelous mountain that started all this. At every turn it looks different, as the light plays across its flanks and some of the 25+ glaciers that grace the slopes.

4HazelEyesFromTN 5:00 PM Jan 3, 2015

This rating is the loop road itself
Numerous people are getting confused with all this nomenclature of Paradise this and Paradise that. I would like to help out. Paradise Loop is the actual drive. If you go to NPS.GOV website and look for Mount Rainier it is clear what is what. When traveling west, this loop exits off Stevens Canyon Road and loops around Paradise. This loop area consists of Nisqually Vista Trail, Skyline Trail, Golden Gate Trail, Myrtle Falls (half of it can be seen from the road), Paradise Inn, Jackson Visitor Center, Paradise Park (this is encompassed by the Skyline and Golden Gate trails) and then Paradise Valley which is down the hill in back of Paradise Inn. Paradise Valley is another people are getting confused with Paradise Park. Some people have Reflection Lakes posted as a pic here and that is incorrect. Reflection Lakes is before the loop on Stevens Canyon Road. The loop is nice but by no means a destination itself. It simply provides the access to all the beautiful things within it. The total time to drive it (in August high season with no stops) is about 30 minutes to one hour. Parking is horrendous anywhere on the loop so go EARLY or be prepared to drive around a while. It took me 20 minutes to find parking for Paradise Inn where I was staying 2 nights. Ended up parking at the visitor center located next door to the inn. Hope this helps.