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Passing through an entrance arch into Mount Rainier National Park takes you into a
new world.
In this park buildings of rough-hewn rock
and natural timbers match the rugged terrain of their surroundings.
Roads follow the curves of the landscape through old growth forest
and along lava ridges. Bridges span glacier fed
rivers and frame waterfalls.
From simple patrol cabins to grand lodges
from tunnels to bridges, rock walls and wooden arches,
the park was built to celebrate the natural environment.
This principle is a key component of the National Park Service
Rustic style of architecture. Mount Rainier National Park
exists as one of the best examples of the National Park Service, or "NPS",
Rustic architecture in the country. It is one of the main reasons
the park is recognized as a National Historic Landmark District.
The designation preserves not just the buildings and the roads, but the
ideals of the past.
The value of building for
the experience of the journey, not just to pass through.
An appreciation for the natural world that extends not only into where buildings
and roads were built, but also into how they were designed.
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First constructed in 1911, the Nisqually
Entrance Arch stands as a literal as well as symbolic gateway to the mountain.
Pre-dating the 1916 creation of the National Park
Service, the Entrance Arch with its massive rough-hewn logs
helped establish the authority of the young park.
Modeled after the Nisqually Entrance, other
entrances to the park also boast impressive log gateways, inviting visitors
into the natural world.
The Oscar Brown Cabin at the Nisqually Entrance was built in
1908 and was the first ranger station in the park.
Decorated with wood tracery, the building appears relatively delicate in
comparison to other park buildings. Its wood construction and low
profile design, represents the first signs of NPS Rustic
architecture style in Mount Rainier National Park.
From the Nisqually Entrance Arch, trace
the path of generations of visitors as you follow the road to Longmire.
Large trees remain right at the edge of the road, left there
to preserve the integrity of the forest experience.
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With 58 recognized historic buildings, from
the iconic Administration Building, to simple wood cabins that house employees,
Longmire remains as one of the most extensive collections of
NPS Rustic architecture in the country.
Constructed with locally sources boulders and wood, the buildings in Longmire
blend into their forest surroundings.
The Longmire Suspension Bridge, built in 1924,
is the only suspension bridge for vehicles remaining in the National
Park Service. The bridge is still used today.
The road to Paradise was designed
to guide a visitor's experience of the park. Curves in the road
reveal unexpected and dramatic views of the mountain and its glacier carved valleys.
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Bridges over Narada and Christine Falls
frame waterfalls with stone faced arches.
The arches were built without extra adornment, so the eye is drawn to
the waterfalls and not to the bridges.
Pullouts provide
opportunities to savor the journey.
As the primary visitor destination in the park,
buildings in the Paradise area strayed from the ideals of National Park
Service Rustic architecture. Instead, the borrowed from the styles of
popular mountain resorts. This so-called "Resort Architecture" is
higher profile, with steeply pitched roofs to shed snow,
and is less uniform in style from building to building.
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From Paradise,
Stevens Canyon Road leads to the east side of the park, connection to
State Routes 410 and 123.
Following the standards of NPS Rustic architecture, the roads were constructed to look
as natural as possible. Rocks used in wall construction
had to be large, but variable in shape to disrupt any
sort of uniform pattern. The weathered sides of the rocks
were places outwards to hide fresh cuts in the stone, so that the rock walls
looked as natural as the surrounding hillsides. The tops of
the walls were often uneven or had crenulations to further disguise
any straight lines that may catch the eye of the visitor.
Tunnels in the park were constructed in a similar design.
Built in 1939, the tunnel on State Route 123 is
512 feet long with rock-clad entrance portals.
Some of the stones in the portal are more than six feet wide
to match the massive scale of the surrounding rock face.
After construction, natural vegetation was replanted on the slopes around the
tunnel entrance to help it blend into the hillside and to hide scars
from the road cut.
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At Sunrise Point, large rock capstones along the walls
roughly mimic the shape of Mount Rainier.
This subtle design feature reinforces
the views of the many peaks visible from Sunrise Point.
Opened in 1931,
Sunrise was developed to provide access to the eastern slopes of the mountain.
While Paradise might be the resort of the mountain,
it's also disorganized in design. The park builders took
a different approach with Sunrise, modeling its layout after early
territorial outposts of the Pacific Northwest.
Tucked in at the end of the subalpine meadows of Yakima Park,
the Sunrise stockade buildings are a tightly contained bundle, minimizing
the impact of the meadows and keeping the focus on the views of the mountain.
Utilities are tucked out of sight
behind the stockade fence and the log construction returns to the values
of the National Park Service Rustic style.
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With Paradise Road and Stevens Canyon crossing the park in the south,
and State Routes 410 and 123 in the east,
the park's early builders aimed to create an around-the-mountain network
of park roads by construction Carbon River Road in the north,
and Westside Road in the west.
Debris flows and floods repeatedly damaged both Westside and Carbon River roads,
eventually closing them to vehicles.
The goal of an encircling road system was abandoned.
The park founders did succeed in creating an around-the-mountain
trail, that came to be known as The Wonderland Trail.
This impressive 93-mile route, is marked by a ring of historic ranger cabins
also constructed in the style of NPS Rustic architecture.
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From the local materials used in park buildings, to the carefully designed
path of the road through the landscape, the ideals of harmony
and enjoyment with the natural world valued by the park's creators remain
in the structures they left behind.
Designated as a National Historic Landmark District, the park's buildings,
roads, and developed areas are preserved and maintained
so that they remain true to their original construction.
Through this protection,
future visitors will travel roads and paths as the first visitors
to this park. Lean against the same rock walls,
and marvel at the same views.
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