Paradise Accessibility

View of Mount Rainier and Myrtle Falls from the Waterfall Trail.

S D Redman

 

 

Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitor Center

S D Redman

Paradise is famous for its glorious views and wildflower meadows. The park's main visitor center, the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center, is located in the upper parking area. See the current Road Status for updated information about park roads. Paradise is located 19 miles (30 km) east of the Nisqually Entrance, 12 miles (19 km) east of Longmire and 21 miles (34 km) west of the Stevens Canyon Entrance.

Parking

Visitor center parking lot:

• around 200 standard spaces

• 5 van-accessible spaces

• 1 standard accessible space

Paradise Inn parking lot:

• around 40 standard spaces

• 5 van-accessible spaces

• 1 standard accessible space

Lower parking lot:

• around 200 standard spaces

• 8 van-accessible spaces

Public Buildings

Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center

There is a paved plaza in front of the entrance to the visitor center, bordered by a drop-off area. The asphalt parking lot slopes up to the plaza. Once inside via a wide entrance, the floors are even and smooth. There is an elevator to the second level. The visitor center can be crowded but offers an open floor plan and multiple places to sit and rest.

Information desk: There is an information desk in the center of the main room on the first floor, with a lower area on the right. Maps of Paradise including buildings and trails are available at the information desk. Manual wheelchairs can be checked out with photo ID for short-term use in Paradise. There is a braille version of the park brochure available at the desk.

Exhibits: Located on the second floor and accessed via the elevator, the exhibits are accessible to a person using a wheelchair. There is seating available for resting or enjoying the view of the mountain outside. The park film and exhibit videos are captioned, and assistive listening devices are available at the information desk. Audio description of the exhibits is available using devices checked out from the information desk or in the NPS App.

Gift Shop: There is a gift shop on the second floor. It can be crowded, with some narrow aisles at 29 inches wide. There is a card reader accessible by a person in a wheelchair. Staff are available to reach items on higher shelves.

Restrooms: Located on the first floor, the restrooms are entered from the vestibule, to the left of the main visitor center entrance. The restrooms have wheelchair accessible stalls.

Café: Located on the first floor, the Paradise Camp Deli offers snacks, lunch, and beverages. There is indoor seating in the café.

Wilderness Information Center / Guide House

There is an accessible entrance on the side of the building closest to the Paradise Inn parking lot. The counter inside the Guide House does not have a lower area for people who use a wheelchair.

Paradise Inn

The inn has a medium-sized asphalt parking lot that gently slopes up to the entrance. There is a drop-off area in front. The inn is accessible via the front entrance, but the doors are heavy and need to be manually opened, unless they are propped open (this is often the case in nicer weather). Once inside, the floors are smooth wood and carpet. The upper floor of the inn is not accessible due to the historic nature of the building. There is comfortable seating for lounging inside the inn, and two large stone fireplaces.

Front desk: The inn has a front desk near the entrance where staff are available to check out rooms and answer questions about the inn. The front desk is tall and not accessible to a person using a wheelchair. There is a detachable payment card reader accessible to a person using a wheelchair. There is an accessible water refill station behind the front desk.

Gift Shop: Near the front entrance, you will see the gift shop within the inn, enclosed in glass windows. The entrance is accessible but inside several aisles are narrow, with the narrowest at 29 inches wide. There is a card reader that can be accessed by a person using a wheelchair. Staff is available to reach items on higher shelves.

Restrooms: There is a family restroom and men’s and women’s restrooms located down the hallway behind the front desk. The restrooms have wheelchair accessible stalls.

Restaurant: There is a formal dining room with tables that are accessible to a person using a wheelchair. The restaurant is accessible from OUTSIDE the inn, to the left of the front entrance.

Café: The Tatoosh Café has snacks, coffee and beverages, lunch, and ice cream. If you are just inside the main entrance to the inn, the café is located past the gift shop, at the far-right end of the inn. There are two tables in the café with seating; one table is accessible to a person using a wheelchair, the other is high and has stool seating. There is also seating available outside on the flagstone patio.

Seating area: There is a large central seating area in the Paradise Inn with comfortable chairs. There is a piano towards the center of the room, with large stone fireplaces at either end of the room. The side of the room closest to the entrance has booth seating that is not accessible. There are tables accessible to a person using a wheelchair. There is seating for groups.

 

Restrooms

There are restrooms off the vestibule of the main entrance of the visitor center, on the first floor of the inn, and outside near the ranger station. Restrooms are designated ‘men’ and ‘women’, except for two ‘family’ restrooms located on the first floor of the visitor center (accessed from outside) and first floor of the inn. Note that there are also accessible restrooms nearby at the Paradise Picnic Area.

Jackson Visitor Center

Family restroom:

• wheelchair accessible
• baby changing table

Women’s restroom:

• 6 stalls total, 1 is wheelchair accessible
• running water, with covered pipe under the sink
• flush toilets
• no changing table

Men’s restroom:

• 2 stalls total, 1 is wheelchair accessible
• 3 urinals
• running water, with covered pipe under the sink
• flush toilets
• no changing table

Paradise Inn

Family restroom:

• wheelchair accessible
• baby changing table

Women’s restroom:

• 5 stalls total, 1 is wheelchair accessible
• running water, with covered pipe under the sink
• flush toilets
• no changing table

Men’s restroom:

• 2 stalls total, 1 is wheelchair accessible
• running water, with covered pipe under the sink
• flush toilets
• no changing table

Plaza Restrooms (also called the Slate Restrooms)The Plaza Restroom is located off the main plaza, next to the Paradise Ranger Station. It consists of a long, covered stone corridor that leads to restrooms; there is bench seating inside the corridor. The restrooms are long and narrow.

Women’s restroom:

• 8 stalls total, 1 is wheelchair accessible
• baby changing table
• running water, pipe under sinks is not covered
• flush toilets

Men’s restroom:

• 5 stalls total, 1 is wheelchair accessible
• baby changing table
• running water, pipe under sinks is not covered
• flush toilets

 

Water Fountains and Refill Stations

There is a water refill station on the first floor of the visitor center, on the wall opposite the information desk. There a water refill station behind the front desk of the Paradise Inn. There is a water fountain outside in front of the Paradise Ranger Station.

Wifi and Cell Service

There is cell service at Paradise, it may be intermittent if you are traveling on the area trails. There is public wifi at the visitor center. The Paradise Inn does not have public wifi available, and cell service may not be available from inside the inn.

Paths

Walkways leading from the parking lots to the public buildings in Paradise are generally smooth asphalt and cement with a gentle slope. There is a sidewalk leading along the north side of the road from the lower parking lot to the visitor center. There are many paved trails leading away from the parking lots into the meadows and beyond; these get steep quickly and can be confusing. If traveling on the paved trails, it is a good idea to get a map from the visitor center or photograph the map on one of the signs outside the visitor center for reference. There are signs on the trails, but the map can help orient you to the larger trail network.

Lodging

The Paradise Inn has:

• 2 accessible rooms, with roll-in showers with grab bars
• 5 standard rooms, with roll-in showers

Dining

Restaurant: The Paradise Inn Dining Room is accessible and located on the first floor of Paradise Inn via an entrance outside the inn (to the left of the main entrance). The restaurant serves a breakfast buffet, lunch, and dinner.

Snacks/ Lunch: Available at the Tatoosh Café on the first floor of Paradise Inn and at the Paradise Camp Deli on the first floor of the visitor center.

Coffee/Espresso: Available at the Tatoosh Café on the first floor of the Paradise Inn.

 

A typical table at Paradise Picnic Area

NPS Photo

Picnic Areas

Jackson Visitor Center has a wide paved area next to the visitor center with several picnic tables. It is sometimes crowded and there is little shade in the area.

Paradise Picnic Area is located downhill from the lower parking lot:

• If walking from the lower parking lot, take the gravel path below the rock wall at the downhill end of the lot. This leads to a stairway, and across the street via a crosswalk.
• By car, it is 11 miles northeast of Longmire on the Paradise Valley Road on the right side; 0.5 mile southeast of the Jackson Visitor Center and 0.2 miles southeast from the lower parking lot at Paradise.

Three accessible picnic tables and an accessible picnic area with grills are located next to the accessible parking spots, in a flat area with gravel. There is a cement sidewalk leading from the accessible spots to an accessible restroom.

Parking in the Paradise Picnic Area

• around 80 standard parking spots
• 2 van-accessible parking spots

Restrooms in the Paradise Picnic Area
There is a small building with accessible restrooms close to the accessible parking spots. Restrooms are designated ‘men’ and ‘women’.

Women’s restroom:

• 2 stalls total, 1 wheelchair accessible
• running water, with covered pipe under the sink
• flush toilets
• no changing table

Men’s restroom:

• 1 wheelchair accessible stall, 1 urinal
• running water, with covered pipe under the sink
• flush toilets
• no changing table

There are several additional sets of other restrooms located in the Paradise Picnic Area, but they do not have wheelchair accessible stalls or changing tables. The paths leading to the other restrooms are steep and uneven. There are many additional picnic tables, but most have steep uneven paths with several stairs at the start of the paths.

Water in the Paradise Picnic Area
There is a drinking fountain and water spigot located near the restrooms that are furthest uphill in the picnic area. The paths to get there are paved but are steep and have several stairs.

Camping

There are no campgrounds at Paradise, the nearest is Cougar Rock Campground.

Trails

Paradise area trails are mostly paved and steep. Trails are often snow-covered through early summer. It can be hot on the pavement, bring extra water, sunscreen, and dress in layers. Plan for changing weather. There are no accessible trails. There are several trails with less elevation gain:

• Nisqually Vista Trail is a 1.2 mile (1.9km) loop trail beginning with a set of stairs at the far left end of the Paradise lower parking lot (as you are facing the mountain). The elevation gain is 200 feet, with a long steep area near the beginning of the trail.
• The Skyline Trail can be taken northeast from the upper parking lot to reach Myrtle Falls. There are several steep sections that lead to Myrtle Falls and an open view of Mount Rainier. A full view of the falls is reached via a stairway and steep dirt path. The upper part of the falls can be viewed from a small bridge, there is one stair leading to the bridge. 1 mile (1.6km) round trip with an elevation gain of 200 feet.
• A relatively flat 1 mile hike can be found beginning at the visitor center upper parking lot. Take the Skyline Trail towards Myrtle Falls. Instead of walking all the way to the falls, take a left at the junction to join the Waterfall Trail. Traverse the meadows on the Waterfall Trail until it ends at Deadhorse Creek Trail. Look for marmots at this junction. Then return the way you came. The elevation gain is about 200 feet.

Things to Do

• Join a Ranger-led program.
• Take an audio described tour of the Jackson Visitor Center exhibits – devices are available at the information desk or by downloading the NPS App.
• Visit viewpoints along Paradise Valley Road, and at Reflection Lakes and Inspiration Point.
• Relax in the Paradise Picnic Area, which has several views and is usually a less crowded area in which to enjoy the subalpine environment at Paradise.
• Enjoy the view from the deck of the Paradise Inn, perhaps with a beverage from the Tatoosh café.

 

Winter at Paradise

Many of the facilities are closed in winter at Paradise. The road to Paradise closes nightly and can remain closed during the day depending on the weather and current conditions. Check Alerts and current road status during the winter. The Paradise Inn, Wilderness Information Center, and Paradise Ranger Station are closed in winter. The visitor center is open on the weekends only. The Plaza Restrooms (Slate Restrooms) stay open year-round. There is winter camping at Paradise.

 

NPS Mobile App

The NPS App is accessible and includes alt text for images. Mount Rainier National Park does not have cell service in many areas; download the NPS App prior to coming to the park. Features available include:

• Audio descriptions of exhibits along trails and roads
• Things to do in the park
• Details about amenities
• News, calendar, and passport stamp locations
• Audio description tours of the visitor centers
• For audio description of films in the theaters at the Paradise Visitor Center, there is a separate app called ListenWifi available:

App store: ListenWIFI on the App Store (apple.com)
Google Play: ListenWIFI - Apps on Google Play

It is recommended to download the ListenWiFi app before coming to the park for the best experience. To listen to park film audio description, connect your phone to the visitor center wifi channel called "Audio Description - No Internet" and open the Listen Wifi app. Tap the option for "Mount Rainier" for the main theater or "Human Use" to play the audio description for the small exhibit theater upstairs in the visitor center. Instructions for using the ListenWiFi app are also included in the visitor center audio description tour in the NPS app.

 

 

Area Maps

 

Map showing the accessibility features around Paradise's upper parking lot, visitor center, and inn.

 

A map of the accessible features of the Paradise Picnic Area and lower parking lot.

 

Accessibility in Park Areas of Interest