7 Underrated National Parks That Are Better Than Mount Rainier

Abstract

• North Cascades Nationwide Park provides beautiful mountain views and pristine wilderness with minimal crowds – solely 40,351 guests in 2023!
• Crater Lake Nationwide Park showcases the great thing about a caldera lake fashioned by volcanic exercise, offering breathtaking surroundings and serene environment.
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nationwide Parks shield the world’s largest Large Sequoia bushes and supply spectacular mountain peaks, rivaling Mount Rainier’s magnificence.

Of all the numerous, many mountains throughout the USA, few lower as iconic a profile as Washington’s Mount Rainier. At an elevation of 14,410 feet, Mount Rainier is the very best peak in each the state of Washington and your entire Cascade Vary of the Pacific Northwest.

Mount Rainier is much more notable than even many peaks with a better elevation, largely resulting from its excessive stage of prominence. Due to its almost symmetrical pyramid form and stark ascent over its surrounding forests, Mount Rainier is probably the most topographically distinguished peak in your entire contiguous United States. This, plus its proximity to Seattle, makes the activity-rich Mount Rainier National Park a prime vacation spot for anybody who needs to get pleasure from the great thing about the Pacific Northwest.

After all, the park’s standing as a prime journey vacation spot does have some downsides as properly. Annual visitation numbers for the park have steadily elevated over the previous a number of many years. In 2023, an estimated 2,523,376 people visited Mount Rainier National Park, probably the most of any 12 months within the park, and that quantity is simply projected to go up within the coming years.

Consequently, many guests who wish to get pleasure from the great thing about nature in peace could also be considerably leery of visiting Mount Rainier. In spite of everything, what good is an exquisite mountain peak if you need to wade via thick crowds and heavy visitors to see it?

The excellent news is that Mount Rainier is way from the one nationwide park to supply beautiful mountain views and scenic forests. Many comparable nationwide parks have sights, surroundings, and trails which can be pretty much as good (or higher!) with out the massive crowds. Listed here are a number of glorious nationwide parks within the US the place guests can discover even higher journeys than they might possible expertise at Mount Rainier.

7

North Cascades Nationwide Park

The Cascade Vary’s lesser-known however properly worthwhile vacation spot

Mount Rainier would be the most well-known nationwide park within the Cascade Vary, however it isn’t the one one. Farther north, Washington additionally comprises the vastly underrated North Cascades National Park. As its identify suggests, the park protects a beautiful wilderness among the many state’s beautiful North Cascade Mountains.

One of many primary benefits that North Cascades has over Mount Rainier is that it isn’t centered round one single mountain. Somewhat, the park protects a big wilderness of a number of lovely peaks, the encompassing alpine meadows, and considerable pristine mountain lakes. In distinction to Mount Rainier, guests to North Cascades are unlikely to all gravitate to 1 central vacation spot, so every individual there’s extra more likely to get pleasure from totally different areas of the park with out too many crowds.

All the pure magnificence folks affiliate with Mount Rainier can also be present in abundance at North Cascades. Lakes, valleys, alpine forests, and snowy peaks lie in each nook of the park, and most of the park’s mountain climbing trails carry guests on scenic excursions of among the greatest surroundings Washington has to supply.

Notable locations inside the park embrace the magnificent Stehekin Valley and the equally beautiful Hozomeen part close to Ross Lake. Guests who wish to discover the park’s surroundings from their automobiles can even head out to the North Cascades Freeway for a scenic drive. One space the place North Cascades has an enormous leg up over Mount Rainier is the shortage of crowds – the park solely acquired 40,351 visitors in 2023!

6

Crater Lake Nationwide Park

Maybe probably the most lovely lake in the USA

Given its standing as a probably energetic stratovolcano, Mount Rainier ought to point out that the Pacific Northwest has greater than slightly historical past of volcanic exercise. Generally, the area’s geological exercise fashioned the spectacular mountain peaks which can be so well-known right this moment. However mountains will not be the one issues that previous volcanic eruptions have created within the Cascade Vary.

A bit additional south of Mount Rainier, Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park showcases one other (and arguably much more lovely) facet of the area’s volcanic historical past. Crater Lake, the park’s centerpiece, was fashioned from an enormous eruption of a volcano referred to as Mount Mazama round 7,700 years in the past. The eruption was so violent that your entire volcano collapsed right into a volcanic crater referred to as a “caldera.” Now, a number of thousand years later, that caldera lies as a deep and picturesque lake that’s unsurpassed by way of sheer magnificence.

The rain and snow of the Pacific Northwest have stuffed the park’s volcanic crater with excellent blue waters that stretch out in a near-circular rim. Across the lake’s shoreline, stark cliffs ascend to the sting of deep alpine forests marked with tranquil evergreen bushes. The lake’s sheer peacefulness makes it onerous to consider that this whole scene was solid by a violent volcanic eruption!

With a lake this lovely, there aren’t precisely any “dangerous” viewing spots. However explicit locations within the park, like Cleetwood Cove, are supreme spots for getting the very best views of the lake. The park additionally consists of the unforgettable Scenic Rim Drive, a well-maintained highway that enables drivers to go to most of the park’s greatest overlooks from their automobiles.

Away from the lake itself, the park additionally consists of many enchanting alpine meadows of the type which have made Mount Rainier so well-known. The Pumice Desert, probably the most well-known dry meadow within the park, is a very picturesque meadow that provides any scene at Mount Rainier a run for its cash.

5

Sequoia & King’s Canyon Nationwide Parks

California’s tranquil giants

Mount Rainier and the Cascades normally are well-known for his or her near-perfect mixing of mountain peaks and deep forest surroundings. However additional south, California’s Sierra Nevada range provides Washington’s Cascades fairly stiff competitors in the case of mountain forests. And in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the forests of the Sierra Nevada have a specific trick up their sleeve which will give them the sting over even the formidable Mount Rainier.

The forests inside these two collectively administered nationwide parks shield the world’s greatest examples of the superb Large Sequoia bushes, believed to be the most important bushes on Earth. With each Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks, guests can discover each giant groves of titanic bushes and particular person bushes which have achieved fame in their very own proper. Sequoia Nationwide Park’s General Sherman Tree and Kings Canyon Nationwide Park’s General Grant Tree are two of the most important bushes on the planet and have rightly achieved international fame as social media legends.

However these two parks are extra than simply forests. The adjoining Sierra Nevada Mountains supply extremely lovely mountain peaks that rival even these of the Cascades. And plenty of guests think about the Sierra Nevada even extra spectacular than Mount Rainier itself. Sequoia Nationwide Park comprises a portion of Mount Whitney, the very best peak in all the decrease 48 states (and which exceeds Mount Rainier’s elevation by nearly 100 ft!).

4

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison Nationwide Park

The West’s different superb canyon nationwide park

Alongside Mount Rainier’s Cascades and Mount Whitney’s Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains take the third spot among the many 3 nice mountain ranges of the American West. As with each of these ranges, the Rocky Mountains characteristic considerable nationwide parks that rival Mount Rainier by way of sheer magnificence and grandeur.

Locations like Rocky Mountain National Park (which offers epic tours) and Grand Teton Nationwide Park are well-known worldwide for his or her beautiful views, distinguished peaks, and pristine forests. However one criminally underrated Rocky Mountain vacation spot might be present in Colorado’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Just like the extra well-known Grand Canyon, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison was fashioned by a river carving its approach via a deep rocky gorge over thousands and thousands of years. On this case, the central canyon arose through the Gunnison River, which ran via rocks that had been solid in historical volcanic eruptions in an excellent earlier geological epoch. Consequently, the steep rocky crags discovered all through the canyon are among the oldest uncovered rocks within the nation.

The precise canyon is definitely a sight to behold. The canyon partitions kind large, imposing cliffs that drop sharply to depths of round 2,700 feet at certain points. Across the canyon’s steep partitions, guests can view towering craggy peaks and deep, mysterious forests indicative of the Colorado Rocky Mountains normally.

The park’s mixing of steep rock, deep forests, mountainous rivers, and dramatic views rivals Mount Rainier’s in each approach. And in contrast to Mount Rainier, Black Canyon of the Gunnison is unlikely to undergo from too many crowds. In all of 2023, Black Canyon of the Gunnison only received about 357,968 visitors, in comparison with the thousands and thousands who flocked to Mount Rainier that very same 12 months.

3

Lassen Volcanic Nationwide Park

California’s volcanic wonderland

Mount Rainier is a shocking peak in its personal proper, and its surrounding alpine forests and huge meadows paint one of the crucial eye-catching scenes wherever within the nation. However Mount Rainier can also be a volcano, and subsequently it owes its existence to the highly effective volcanic forces which have been at work within the Cascade Vary for thousands and thousands of years.

A lot of the West Coast of North America lies inside what’s referred to as the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” an unlimited ring of volcanically energetic areas circling your entire Pacific Ocean. The volcanic exercise within the Cascades particularly has created some superb sights to behold, however for vacationers who’re particularly within the area’s volcanic historical past, Mount Rainier isn’t essentially the perfect vacation spot to go to.

For true volcano junkies, California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park is the true place to be. Situated on the southern fringe of the Cascade Vary, the park comprises a particularly spectacular catalog of the consequences of long-term volcanic exercise, all etched into the panorama like a curated museum of the area’s pure historical past.

One of many park’s primary claims to fame is that it is likely one of the few spots on Earth the place guests can see examples of each of the four main volcanic types. Mount Rainier is a powerful instance of a stratovolcano, however Lassen Volcanic Nationwide Park additionally comprises glorious examples of protect volcanoes, cinder cone volcanoes, and plug dome volcanoes, way over something Mount Rainier can boast!

The park’s namesake peak, the prominent Lassen Peak, is the world’s largest instance of a plug dome volcano. Elsewhere within the park, the Cinder Cone volcano is likely one of the greatest and most picture-worthy examples of the kind of volcano from which it will get its identify.

And Lassen Volcanic Nationwide Park is extra than simply volcanic peaks. The park additionally comprises the remnants of big lava flows which can be nonetheless burned into the panorama, in addition to several hydrothermal pools that talk to the area’s ongoing geothermal exercise. In comparison with the extraordinary panorama of Lassen Volcanic, the beautiful alpine meadows of Mount Rainier appear nearly quaint!

2

Pinnacles Nationwide Park

The rugged remnants of California’s volcanic previous

In the present day, the geologically energetic areas of the West Coast of the USA are discovered primarily inside Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, the place the Cascade Mountains nonetheless characteristic many energetic volcanoes and different geothermal spots. However thousands and thousands of years in the past, the panorama that’s now Central California additionally erupted into terrifying volcanic exercise. California’s volcanic previous remains to be seen throughout its panorama, nowhere extra so than in Pinnacles National Park.

The “pinnacles” of the park’s identify seek advice from the towering rock formations jutting sharply over the park’s arid floor. These formations are the remnants of an enormous (however fortunately extinct) volcano that erupted thousands and thousands of years in the past. Lengthy after the volcano died off and collapsed, its rocky ridges eroded below the wind and fashioned the sharp rocky pinnacles that now mark the park’s dramatic panorama.

As with Lassen Volcanic Nationwide Park, Pinnacles Nationwide Park is probably a greater vacation spot for many who are most fascinated with exploring the area’s volcanic historical past particularly. Although the park’s volcano is not energetic, its distinctive “fossils” supply distinctive and informative journeys again via thousands and thousands of years of geological historical past.

Pinnacles’ extra arid and rocky panorama might not be fairly as “postcard-worthy” as that of Mount Rainier. However the sparse, crimson rocks and jagged hills supply a novel magnificence in their very own proper and function extra memorable reminders of the violent geological processes that fashioned even probably the most lovely pure wonders.

Pinnacles additionally has an enormous benefit over Mount Rainier for guests fascinated with cave exploration; the park has several intriguing caves which can be typically open for exploration. Not solely that, however Pinncales is one of the few places to see endangered wildlife, including condors.

1

Katmai Nationwide Park & Protect

Alaska’s huge mountain wilderness

For all of the competitors, Mount Rainier and the Pacific Northwest normally have few rivals for sheer pure magnificence and grandeur inside the decrease 48 states. However wanting farther north, it is a totally different story. Alaska, with its towering mountains, large wildernesses, and forests bigger than many states, is the one vacation spot that really surpasses the sweetness and majesty of the Cascades.

Alaska’s 8 nationwide parks all characteristic unimaginable scenes that rival Mount Rainier in a technique or one other. The adventure-rich Denali National Park, for instance, comprises the very best mountain in all of North America, the 20,310-foot peak that dwarfs even the spectacular elevation of Mount Rainier. Wrangell-St. Elias Nationwide Park, the nation’s largest nationwide park by complete space, protects its vary of rugged coastal mountains, huge forests, and pristine meadows unfold out over large areas.

However when searching for formidable comparisons to Mount Rainier, Katmai National Park & Preserve options the perfect mixture of beautiful peaks, beautiful surroundings, volcanic historical past, and enchanting wildlife.

Situated on the base of the Alaska Peninsula about 290 miles southwest of Anchorage (a “brief” distance by Alaskan requirements), Katmai protects greater than 4 million acres of Alaska’s Aleutian Mountain Vary and surrounding coastal areas and forests.

Volcanic peaks are the park’s main attraction. Mount Katmai, the park’s namesake, is a big stratovolcano like Mount Rainier. Alongside the eponymous peak, the park comprises a minimum of 17 different particular person volcanoes, all of which forge a distinguished scene as they rise over the huge Alaskan forests round them.

Katmai Nationwide Park & Protect has the excellence of bearing the scars of geological historical past extra clearly than another nationwide park. One of many park’s most dramatic locations is the ominously named Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. This area of the park lies inside the radius of the Novarupta Volcano, an energetic volcano whose 1912 eruption was probably the most highly effective volcanic eruption of the twentieth Century.

However apart from the spectacular volcanoes, Katmai can also be well-known for its unimaginable forest scenes as properly. Among the many park’s different claims to fame is its well-known inhabitants of brown bears. Many areas of the park, most notably the well-known Brooks Camp, are nice spots to look at the wild brown bears from a secure distance.