Paradise — Local services in Graham

Paradise is a wonderful place, with tons of natural beauty, great trails, and options for every level of hiker and outdoor enthusiast. Unfortunately, that directly leads to its biggest issue.

The crowds, and the lack of appropriate facilities, can be frustrating and hard to navigate. Rangers and staff do their best to- but there is only so much they can do. The simple fact is that the park was designed for a third of the crowd on a random summer weekday, not even to mention those summer weekends.

My suggestion would be to plan to get to the peak by 9AM, at the very latest. Not to say you can’t arrive later and find a parking spot, but the experience will just be a lot easier the earlier you get there. Be aware that the very top parking lot has a two hour limit, that is (for obvious reasons) strictly enforced. So keep that in mind when planning your trip. In many cases, that will not be enough time to complete the skyline trail, and even if you do finish, will leave very little time to explore the visitor center or take in the other amenities.

There is a ‘long term’ parking lot that is right before the main area. My experience is that these parking spaces are in very high demand. Parking very often exceeds capacity and spills out to the sides of the road (which is definitely not planned), sometimes for over a mile, which can cause dangerous situations.

Last year, they required timed passes, and I have no clue why they did away with them for this season. As an avid hiker, I understand that requiring tickets for our public lands is not a great feeling, but from personal experience, it made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable (even if it was still hectic and obviously did not fix everything).

I know this review seems negative, but I want to make sure people are prepared. There is a lot here to enjoy. My biggest advice is to get in early, enjoy the hiking, lodge, and other Amenities offered at paradise, and then meander down the mountain stopping off at a couple other sites that interest you. There are tons of amazing views, interesting features, and nice hiking within the Paradise area that are worth exploring, and many of those areas are far less crowded. Box Canyon, several waterfalls, and many, many miles of hiking trails. Also, go on a weekday and...

There are some awesome views on of Mt Rainier in this area. We were lucky to be there on a cloudless day. It was very crowded in this area, so we departed from our campsite in the Ohanapecosh campground at about 7:00 am so we could nab a parking spot.

The National Park Service needs to do something to limit the number of visitors here in the peak summer months, such as the timed entry permit system in place for Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. When we visited in July 2022, the place was literally crawling with too many people, making for a less than enjoyable experience.

We hiked clockwise on the Skyline and Deadhorse Creek Trails (from the Skyline Loop Trailhead) as far north as Glacier View, returning to the trailhead via the Skyline and Alta Vista Trails. It took a little over 4 hours to do the 4 mile hike, with about 1,000’ elevation gain. Carry lot of water, as it is pretty hot in late July on the day we were there. Be aware that some sections are very steep, especially near the trailhead. Also, be prepared to walk on snow-covered trail sections. We found our trekking poles to be very helpful. Highly recommended.

5 stars for natural beauty. 1 star for...

To begin with, I would like to say that there are no signs indicating that there is one-way traffic in the parking lot, and the arrows indicating this are in a very bad condition, and some are completely invisible. And on a day when there is a huge influx of tourists, many people get a little confused because of this. And usually the Rangers who are there to serve the people help regulate the traffic and are very friendly. But today this Ranger, who is supposed to serve the people, seeing this situation, seemed to be very happy that he would be able to shout at people and threaten that he would cause towing, he ordered some people to get out of the car and threatened to arrest them, was prejudicial and showed that he had power over all the poor people. So, you know, you looked like a fireman who rejoices at a fire... It is very low because of such behavior that people stop respecting the Rangers. Others behaved very discreetly and did their best to help people in these last summer days. I hope this review will be seen by someone who can influence it!It was...