Featured In: Day Hiking: Mount Rainier National Park Trails, by Dan A. Nelson and Alan L. Bauer.
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The open meadows above Paradise draw hikers from around the world. Countless opportunities for enjoying these flowers can be found in the maze of meadow trails, but heading up toward Panorama Point and beyond on the Glacier Vista Loop is the best of the bunch.


Hike up the steep meadow trail behind the climbers lodge. The network of trails in the lower meadows can be a bit confusing, but to make your routefinding easier, stay along the west side of the tree-covered crown of Alta Vista peak. The route rolls uphill through meadows and thin tree cover, with excellent views of the mountain when the weather is clear.

From the small saddle on the north side of Alta Vista, climb along the prominent ridge crest as it leads straight toward Mount Rainier. If you somehow get onto the Skyline Trail, that's okay; it rejoins your path. The route parallels the massive finger of Nisqually Glacier and, at 1.5 miles, crosses a flat bench aptly named Glacier Vista. This is the best place to find a panoramic view of the sprawling glacier as it stretches from high on the flank of the mountain nearly to the road to Paradise.

From Glacier Vista, the route climbs steeply northeast through open hillside meadows, with a few thin stands of wind-savaged alpine trees, reaching another broad bench nearly 1 mile farther up the mountain. Panorama Point lives up to its name, with grand views of the mighty mountain, its lower flanks, and the serrated ridge line of the Tatoosh Range to the south. On clear days, the rocky spires of the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area as well as the perfect cone of Mount Adams are visible to the southeast.

To return to Paradise, descend along the route you climbed.