Natural History Wanderings

Mount Rainier National Park  reports

Currently Blooming – Updated August 19, 2016
Hiking is an excellent way to explore the wildflower meadows of Mount Rainier. However, hiking is not for everyone! There are plenty of opportunities for those prefer roadside wildflower viewing. Paradise Valley Road, a one-way road leaving Paradise, is an easy drive offering views of subalpine meadows, the Tatoosh Range, and Mount Rainier. Keep an eye out for marmots, bears, elk, and birds that frequent the area as well.

Please note that the park is very busy on summer weekends and parking fills quickly, particularly in Paradise. Tips to avoid summer congestion include visiting on weekdays or coming early or in the evening to avoid the crowds.

Wildflower Reports

• Paradise Valley Road (8/18) – cascade aster, pearly everlasting, harsh paintbrush, magenta paintbrush, corn lily, arrowleaf groundsel, rosy spirea, lupine, goat’s beard, gray’s lovage, sitka valerian, slender bog orchid, American bistort, thistle, fireweed, pink monkeyflower, partridgefoot
• Sunrise (8/11) – grays lovage, small-flowered penstemon, bear grass, magenta paintbrush, cusick’s speedwell, subalpine daisy, mountain dandelion, aster, American bistort, alpine buckwheat, partridgefoot, white-flowered sickletop lousewort, pearly everlasting, sitka mountain ash, pink mountain heather, white mountain heather, shrubby cinquefoil, hellebore
• Carbon Glacier Trail (8/4) – lower: candyflower, foam flower, bunchberry; upper: stonecrop, fireweed, oregon sunshine, harebell, pearly everlasting, yarrow, columbine
• Tipsoo Lake (8/4) – lupine, magenta paintbrush, sitka valerian, beargrass
• Mowich Lake (7/27) – lupine, rosy spirea, subalpine daisy, bear grass, pink mountain heather, white heather, grays lovage, birds beak lousewort, sitka valerian, jeffrey’s shooting star, partridgefoot, wild strawberry, slender bog orchid, fringecup, arrowleaf groundsel, white rhododendron

See photos and more information on Mt. Rainier Wildflowers at Discover Wildflowers – Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)