Family Hike in Paradise, WA (Mount Rainier National Park)
We’ve been taking full advantage of the beautiful summer weather up here in the Pacific Northwest! We’ve been trying to get outside every weekend, and most of those outings are to go hiking. We’re starting to run out of cool close by hikes that our family friendly. Obviously there’s tons of different trails up here, but we’re getting to the point where a lot of them are longer hikes. And when you’re hiking with two toddlers, 4 miles is about our max. Especially since we are wearing them most of the time. We recently drove down to Mount Rainier National Park and went on a family hike in Paradise, WA. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Seattle.
Yes, Paradise really does exist! And it’s located near the base of Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park. Honestly, I’ve always pictured paradise to be a secluded white-sand beach with crystal clear, blue water with access to bottomless piña coladas. But this version of paradise was amazing too. It’s full of stunning views of mountains, Mt. Rainier, waterfalls, and fields of wildflowers. However, Paradise receives an average of 600+ inches of snow each year! And the record is over 1100 inches of snow one year in the 70s. There’s an adorable place to grab food, or stay the night, called Paradise Inn, and it’s central to a lot of the trails. It is only open from May – October due to the heavy snow that covers it the rest of the year.
This informational poster along the trail shows just how much snow the area gets. Notice the picture of a snow covered building is the same building in the background!
Where we hiked
There are a lot of different trails in Paradise, WA (see the map below). We decided to do the Skyline Trail, and then cut down the Golden Gate Trail to cut about a mile off of the 5mi Skyline hike. Due to the heavy amount of snow Paradise receives throughout the year, there was still a significant amount on the trails, even at the end of June. Since we had the kids with us, and didn’t have the right gear, we decided to turn back about 1.5 miles into the hike. But if the trails were clear, it would be a very family-friendly hike. The steepest part of the trail is the first almost-quarter mile stretch that’s paved. After that, it’s fairly smooth walking and not too steep.
Being from Florida, I’ve never seen anything like the forests up here. There’s so much land, so much greenery, and mountains everywhere. It’s just rolling mountains of beautiful, lush evergreen trees. It’s like you’re looking at a dark green sea. Which is why Seattle is nicknamed the “Emerald City” by the way. I can’t wait to keep exploring this beautiful state that we live in! Here and here are some other hikes we’ve done so far, but I’m working on a round up of family friendly hikes in Washington, so stay tuned. If Mount Rainier National Park is within driving distance for you, I’d definitely recommend this hike for a family-friendly adventure with great views of Mount Rainier and more!
xx
Kirsten
