The quintessential photo of Mt. Rainer National Park is the sunset photo with the mountain covered in a soft pink glow of the day’s last bits of light. I wanted my own version of this photo of Mt. Rainier at sunset. As always when visiting this famous Washington park, I was trying to find the best spot for sunset in Mt. Rainier. I found a few good ones, a few were obvious and the others I stumbled upon. These are all accessible from a car and not hike in spots. I am sure there are number of other best sunset spots in Mt. Rainier, but these are the ones I found and hope it helps you plan your visit to the park.
Reflection Lak
The Lake is a good place to go just about any time of day, but it’s a good place to head for sunset too. From the parking and trails right around the lakes, you can get nice sunsets. The easiest access to the lake is north facing and give great reflections of the Mt. Rainier as it turns pink as the sun goes down. There are spots around the lake where you can be more west facing to get all the sunset colors with Mt. Rainier in the frame, depending on what you want from your best sunset spot in Mt. Rainier National Park.
Kautz Creek
About 5 miles into the park from the Nisqually south-west entrance are a picnic area and pull-off with a nice eastward facing views of Mt. Rainier at sunset. With a horizontal shot, you can get the mountain as it beings to turn pink with the creek in the foreground. Although this sunset spot is somewhat obscured views of the Mt. Rainier, it’s still a good sunset spot in the National Park, especially for the westside.
Cougar Rock
The best spot to see the sunset in Mt. Rainier National Park is the Cougar Rock pull off. Just to the east of Christine Falls, there is a pullout that looks over cougar rock and the Rampart Ridges. This pullout gives excellent westward views of the sunset. The only unfortunate thing about this spot is that you won’t be able to get Mt. Rainier in the frame from here. There are a number of other rock formations that make for some interesting photos. However, I think to be called the best sunset spot in Mt. Rainier National Park, it should have the mountain in view.
Where To Stay In Mt. Rainier National Park
On our last visit to the park, we stayed at a great little B&B near Mt. Rainer National Park. Just a few miles outside the park gates on the outskirts of Ashford, Washington is a 6 bedroom place named Mountain Meadows Inn. Ralph and his wife Chris are great and took very good care of us when we visited Mt. Rainier. The Mountain Meadows Inn is a good spot to base yourself if you are looking for the best sunset spot in Mt. Rainier with Kautz Creek just 10 minutes away, the overlook about 25 minutes, and Reflection Lake about 35 minutes to the hotel. You can’t stay too much closer to sunset spots in Mt. Rainier that this little gem.
Where is your best place for sunset in Mt. Rainier National Park? Share your photos in the comments below if you have a new good sunset spot.
