My Travel Diary and other random stuff: Camping at Mt. Rainier

I live in Greater Seattle and being a trekking enthusiast have visited Mt. Rainier National park at least 4 times in last 2 years. But I have always entered the park through Nisqually Entrance and followed the same route to Paradise and beyond in all my previous visits. This time we decided to take the White River entrance and camp at White River Campgrounds. White River Campgrounds mostly are a first-come first-serve and hence the chances of getting a good campground in summer are high during peak summer season. You could find more information about various campgrounds within Mt. Rainier National Park and reservation information at National Parks Service Website (Opens in new window).

Pic 1. By the White River
We started early enough so that we were there at White River Campgrounds by 8.00am on Saturday morning, after two and a half hours of drive. Though it was peak summer camping season, we could easily find many vacant campgrounds and even pick one of our choice. You definitely have to be there before noon to get good camp sites, as we found that by evening all camp sites were taken.

Pic 2. Bridge over White River and Mt. Rainier
This campgrounds is near to the Sunrise point and by the side of the White River, as the name suggests. There are beautiful trails, easy and tough around the campgrounds. There is a long trail to Sunrise point as well.

We took a couple of trails there and spent peaceful evening by the White River.

Next day morning, we started early to the Sunrise point, which is about 20-30mts drive from the campgrounds, of course to catch the Sunrise. Beleive me, it was amazing. I bet not many people would have seen Sunrise and only Sunsets. My aim was to get a few good pictures, which I was successful at.

Pic 3. Sunrise Point.
The sunrise itself and the Mt. Rainier lit in the rising sun's colors were beautiful. After the sunrise watch, we came back to the campsite, spent some more time there and started back.