Discover Wildflowers

Penstemon wildflowers growing along the road to Sunrise.

NPS Photo

 

Mount Rainer's renowned wildflowers bloom for a limited amount of time every year. The "peak" bloom for wildflowers is heavily dependent on weather and precipitation patterns, so accurate predictions are difficult. In most years, many flowers will be blooming by mid-July, and by the first of August the meadows should be very impressive. Frost can occur by late August, but even after light frosts the meadows continue to be very beautiful, thanks to changing leaf colors and seed pod development that take the place of colorful blossoms.

For a better idea of what the wildflowers are doing this year, please see the Currently Blooming section below, which summarizes what's blooming where.

Explore further:

• Wildflower Guide - Unfamiliar with Mount Rainier's wildflowers? Photos and brief descriptions of some of the common wildflower species can be found in the park's online wildflower guide.
• Wildflower photo galleries - Collections of subalpine and forest wildflowers.
• Wildflower video gallery - Preview Mount Rainier's blooming wildflower meadows by watching these short videos.
• The Seasons of Mount Rainier - View short videos of different plants found in various parts of the park.
• Ecological Restoration - Watch short videos about the Ecological Restoration program's work in the park.

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NPS Photos of vanilla leaf around Longmire, 5/20/26.

NPS Photo

Currently Blooming

Last Updated: June 1, 2026
It’s hard to imagine the forests of Mount Rainier without vanilla leaf. Vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylia) carpets the forest floor with its green leaves. “Achlys” means mist in Greek, perhaps referring to the way the spikes of vanilla leaf flowers float above their leaves. Look for it blooming throughout the low elevation forests of the park.

Please stay on the trails.

As snow continues to melt away, it may be tempting to skirt remaining patches of snow or mud that are covering trails. However, by going off trail you are walking on and damaging the wildflowers that you may be coming to see! It is better to stay on the trail even if that means crossing snow, particularly in the high-visitation meadows around Paradise and Sunrise. Also, there are plenty of opportunities for the perfect mountain + wildflower photo from the trails! No need to step off trail and crush other flowers in your quest for the perfect shot.

 

Wildflower Reports

Longmire Area
Trail of the Shadows and around Longmire (5/29) - vanilla leaf, wild strawberry, three-leaf anemone, piggyback plant, bunchberry, trailing blackberry, thimbleberry, whitebark raspberry, salmonberry, black swamp gooseberry, Cascade Oregon-grape (late), kinnikinnick (late), leafy mitrewort, mountain-parsley, rusty saxifrage, heart-leaf twayblade, large-leaf sandwort, littleleaf miner's-lettuce, smooth alumroot, lupine, coralroot, coltsfoot seedheads, star-flowered false Solomon's seal (early) Nisqually Entrance-Longmire Road (6/1) - vanilla leaf, columbine, three-leaved anemone, cow parsnip, thimbleberry, lupine (around Kautz Creek) Christine Falls (5/12) - candy flower, yellow violets, trillium, large-leaf sandwort, salmonberry Longmire-Paradise Road (5/12) - wild strawberry, yellow violets, cliff paintbrush, phlox (near Canyon Rim viewpoint)
Paradise Area	Sunrise Area
Paradise Meadows (5/29) - Still mostly snow-covered, but early season wildflowers emerging in melted areas include: marsh marigold, subalpine buttercup, avalanche lily, magenta paintbrush, pasqueflower Bench & Snow Lake Trail (5/25) - trillium, marsh marigolds, avalanche lily, salmonberry, yellow violets, huckleberry	Not yet open for the season. Check back for updates later in the summer!

 

Red Columbine Flower

NPS Photo / Filo Merid

Wildflower Photos

The photos featured here are usually taken by park staff and volunteers from all over the park. Share your own wildflower photos in the Mount Rainier Flickr group! Higher resolution versions of wildflower photos are available on Mount Rainier's Flickr page.

Plan Your Visit

Paradise and Sunrise are two of the main visitor center areas at Mount Rainier National Park. Both areas are well known for their impressive wildflower meadows. The park also maintains dozens of trails perfect for wildflower viewing.

 

 

Meadow Preservation Enjoy wildflowers? Stay on trails