Sunrise Visitor Center, Mount Rainier National Park

A pinnacle of natural beauty! Mt. Rainier is an episodically active volcano, but don’t let that scare you. The drive up to Sunrise was beautiful, and the view of Rainier from the visitor center is already picture perfect. But we decided to hike up Sourdough trail. For some extra fun, bring headlamps and hike the trail near sunset. When it falls dark, the stars (and even Milky Way) are fully visible. It was nice of the park to not install lights in the parking lot, which made the sky even brighter.

This is a very well kept visitor center with a great view of Mt. Rainier. The park rangers are nice and knowledgeable. Plenty of parking for compact and large vehicles. There's a variety of trails to take to get different views of Mt. Rainier. There's a bit of history posted around the visitor center. Friendly reminder to pack warm and prepared as nighttime can get chilly during the Summer and frigid during Fall and Winter into Spring.