Mount Rainier National Park

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Mount Rainier National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)

Location:	Southern Washington, USA
Nearest city:	Tacoma, Washington
Coordinates:	46°51′10″N, 121°45′37″W
Area:	235,625 acres (953.5 km²)
Established:	March 2, 1899
Visitation:	1,173,897 (in 2005)
Governing body:	National Park Service

Mount Rainier National Park is a United States National Park located in southeast Pierce County, Washington. It was established on March 2, 1899, the fifth national park in the United States. The park contains 368 mi² (954 km²) including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,410-foot (4,392 m) stratovolcano. The mountain rises abruptly from the surrounding land with elevations in the park ranging from 1600 feet (490 m) to over 14000 feet (4,300 m). Ninety-seven percent of the park is preserved as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System, including Clearwater Wilderness, a designation it received in 1988. It is abutted by the Tatoosh Wilderness. The highest point in the Cascade Range, around it are valleys, waterfalls, subalpine wildflower meadows, old growth forest and more than 25 glaciers. The volcano is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow on the peak every year and hide it from the crowds that head to the park on weekends.

Mount Rainier is circled by the Wonderland Trail and is covered by several glaciers and snowfields totaling some 35 mi² (91 km²). Carbon Glacier is the largest glacier by volume in the continental United States, while Emmons Glacier is the largest glacier by area. About 1.3 million people visit Mount Rainier National Park each year. Mount Rainier is a popular peak for mountain climbing with some 10,000 attempts per year with approximately half making it to the summit.

Paradise Visitor Center recorded a world record 1122 inches (28.5 m) of snowfall in 1972. It also holds the Cascade Range record for most snow on the ground with 367 inches (9.3 m) on March 10 1956.^[1]. The park was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 18, 1997 as a showcase for the "NPS Rustic" style architecture (or parkitecture) of the 1920s and 1930s and a masterpiece of early NPS master planning. As an Historic Landmark district, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The park contains outstanding examples of old growth forests and subalpine meadows. It is a natural setting of the Pacific Northwest region.

Goat Island Mountain and the White River

Subalpine meadows at Sunrise

Whitebark Pine at Crystal Lake

Reflection lake and Mount Rainier

1 Flooding in November, 2006
2 References
- 2.1 Cited references
3 External links

[edit] Flooding in November, 2006

Mount Rainier National Park closed due to flooding on November 6, 2006. Over 18 inches of rain fell on the park in a 36 hour period. Campsites and roads throughout the park were washed away. Power to Paradise and Longmire was disrupted.^[2]

As of December, the park is still closed to automobile traffic, although some areas are open to skiing and hiking.