Discover Wildflowers - Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (2024)

Discover Wildflowers - Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (1)

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.

Discover Wildflowers - Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (2)

Currently Blooming

Last Updated: June 7, 2024

Many wildflowers are starting to bloom at lower elevations in the park. The eastern half of Stevens Canyon Road (from Stevens Canyon Entrance to about Stevens Creek) already has good displays of paintbrush, penstemon, monkeyflower, and more. The western half of Stevens Canyon Road, climbing up to Reflection Lakes towards Paradise, still has snow though flowers like spreading phlox are starting to show as the snow melts back from the edges of the roadway. This patch of harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida) is one of several bringing color to the canyon. Paintbrush “blooms” are actually modified leaves, called bracts, and leaves along the stems can also have color.

NOTE: Always check current trail conditions before heading out!

Please stay on the trails. As snow melts away, it may be tempting to skirt remaining patches of snow 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

Stevens Canyon Road (6/6) - from east entrance moving west: bear grass, columbine, wild strawberry, harsh paintbrush, lupine, yellow monkeyflower, cliff penstemon, Menzie's penstemon, Sitka mountain ash, buttercup suksdorfia; west of Stevens Creek (higher elevations): trillium, spreading phlox, few early glacier lily
Ohanapecosh (6/6) - vanilla leaf, bunchberry, star-flowered Solomon's seal, large-leaved avens, devil's club, wild strawberry, Queen's cup, thimbleberry
Longmire (6/5) - leafy mitrewort, wild strawberry, kinnikinnick, salal (early), salmonberry (early), Cascade Oregon-grape, red huckleberry, miner's lettuce (early), lupine (few), smooth alumroot, osoberry, blue-eyed Mary
Nisqually Entrance to Longmire (5/22) - holly-leaf Oregon-grape, coltsfoot, trillium, skunk cabbage, yellow violets, salmonberry

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.

Photo Gallery

');if (end > results_length) {end = results_length;}for (var i = start; i < end; i++) {var asset = data[i];var $tile = $result_template.clone(false);var assetID = asset.AssetID;var asset_count = asset.AssetCount;var park_name = asset.NPSUnits[0].Name;var park_code = asset.NPSUnits[0].Code.toLowerCase();var asset_title = asset.Title;var asset_description = asset.Description;assetID = assetID.toUpperCase();$tile.find('a.PhotoGallery__CoverLink').attr({ href: galleryPageURL + assetID });$tile.find('a.PhotoGallery__TitleLink').attr({ href: galleryPageURL + assetID });$tile.find('img').attr({ src: npGalleryURL + '/GetAsset/' + assetID + '/proxy/hires', alt: asset_title, title: asset_title });if (asset_title.length > 30) {asset_title = asset_title.substring(0, 30) + "...";}$tile.find('a.PhotoGallery__TitleLink').text(asset_title);if (asset.Description.length > 2) {$tile.find('p.PhotoGallery__Description').html(asset_description);}$target.append($tile);$tile.find('div.PhotoGallery__Count').html('' + asset_count + ' Images');delete asset;}}} else {$('#PhotoGallery-Container' + controlID).html( 'The photo gallery you have chosen does not exist.');}function draw_paging(current_page) {var pages = Math.ceil(results_length / max_display);var current = parseInt(current_page);paging_target = $('#paginationWrapper' + controlID + ' .pagination-old');paging_html = '';paging_target.empty();if (pages > 1) {if (current == 1) {paging_html += 'Prev';} else {paging_html += '' + (current - 1) + '';}paging_html += '

' + i + '
' + i + '

';if (current == pages) {paging_html += 'Next';} else {paging_html += '' + (current + 1) + '';}paging_target.append(paging_html);}$('a.paging, a.prev, a.next').on('click', function (event) {event.preventDefault();var page_num = $(this).text();draw_paging(page_num);display_galleries(page_num);$('body').scrollTop(0);});}}).error(function (jqXHR, exception) {var msg = '';if (jqXHR.status === 0) {msg = 'Not connect.\n Verify Network.';} else if (jqXHR.status == 404) {msg = 'Requested page not found. [404]';} else if (jqXHR.status == 500) {msg = 'Internal Server Error [500].';} else if (exception === 'parsererror') {msg = 'Requested JSON parse failed.';} else if (exception === 'timeout') {msg = 'Time out error.';} else if (exception === 'abort') {msg = 'Ajax request aborted.';} else {msg = 'Uncaught Error.\n' + jqXHR.responseText;}});});})(jQuery);

Meadow PreservationEnjoy wildflowers? Stay on trails