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| Paradise Inn in the 1920's and an artist rendering of the new Paradise Visitor Center. |
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Paradise is the most popular visitor destination in Mount Rainier National Park with its spectacular subalpine meadows, miles of hiking, and jaw-dropping views of the mountain, glaciers, and the Tatoosh Range and, on a clear day, Washington’s southern Cascade peaks.
We are now entering the fourth year of construction at Paradise. Our new visitor center is up and running and is beginning to face the challenges of its first summer season. A few kinks are being worked out in the new Visitor Center and the restoration crew will be finishing up some final planting, but construction is essentially complete in the Upper Lot. Work will now focus on finishing the demolition of the old Visitor Center foundation and reconstruction of the lower lot. Construction activities at the Lower Lot will begin when the snow melts and are expected to continue through much of the summer season.
Construction at Paradise
Demolition of the old Visitor Center foundation and reconstruction of the Lower Lot will resume in June and continue through much of the summer season. Once completed, the reconfigured Lower Lot will provide about 90 additional parking spaces to help make up for the spaces lost in the Upper Lot. However, for this summer the Lower Lot will be a construction zone and no parking will be available. This will put added pressure on the Valley Road to provide the necessary parking at Paradise. Due to the anticipated extra parking on the Valley Road, a shuttle will be provided on weekends to bring visitors from their cars to the new Visitor Center.
The Picnic Area will not be used as a primary parking area this summer as it has in the past three summers. The reason for this is that due to construction in the Lower Lot, it will be dangerous and difficult for users to find their way from the Picnic Area, through the construction zone, and to the Upper Lot and visitor center. Visitors will still be allowed to park and picnic in the Picnic Area, but it will not be signed for parking and visitors will not be directed to park there.
Parking in the Upper Lot has been permanently reduced due to the construction of the new Visitor Center. For this reason and to accommodate overnight guests of the Paradise Inn, the Upper Lot parking will be limited to: 1) guests staying at the Paradise Inn; and 2) Two hour parking for day use visitors. There will be a visitor drop-off area near the entrance to the Visitor Center where visitors can drop passengers before parking their vehicle. The Valley Road will be the primary parking area for all day and overnight parking.
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