There are actually 3 footbridges across the creek at mile 1.  The first has a handrail, so not too bad; the second is tiny and no handrail, so very dicey to cross if you don't have poles, I used my poles directly in the creek to keep balance, without poles I wouldn't even try, although it's pretty shallow so not all that dire.  The third was snow free and wide.

I got about 2 miles in and started having trouble finding boot tracks from others so I turned around at that point.  Probably could have kept going but as a solo hiker I don't risk it in winter.

Stats

• Distance: 3+ miles
• Duration: 2+ hours
• Vertical: 295 ft
• Weather: sunshine to sunset to near full moon; initial postholing gave way to hard icy surfaces by early evening
• Takeaway: Late day and overnight exploring near National Park Inn on two relatively short trails with partly obstructed views of Mt Rainier, right before the road closure gate which closes to uphill travel at 3pm (and downhill at 4pm); with the upper reaches of Paradise Road subject to an overnight road closure, one would need to winter camp to get sunset and overnight pictures higher up the mountain; near full moon

Late day arrival and staging at National Park Inn for Paradise hiking.

At the national park gate, the rangers will ask whether you have chains regardless of the weather and your car/truck traction. The entry fee is $30 per car if you do not have a National Park Pass (although free entry 1/17).

We were disappointed that the road was closed to uphill traffic as early as 3pm, but it is understandable. We did see some cars drive down and get stuck behind the closed gate, both around 9pm, and later around 4am. That would be challenge if not prepared to spent overnight in the car! :)

We decided to do some low-elevation hiking - both Trail of the Shadows directly across the street from the National Park Inn, and Kautz Creek about 10 minutes back west by car.

Trail of the Shadows is a quick loop with some information boards (pic below) and a beautiful partly flooded meadow area with fall color in the spent reeds (fed by springs I believe). On the other hand, Kautz Creek is quite wooded (map below), with periodic obstructed views of Rainier. The sunset picture is from near the turnaround point on that trail - a log bridge over a stream where one would be breaking trail on the other side, despite what seemed to have been quite a bit of snowshoe traffic on this trail earlier in the day. 

The National Park Inn has meals to go (including breakfast if you line up for the gate opening at 9am - pancakes make for a good carbo load), and there is a small shop as well (although if you are lining up to get up the road when the gate opens as 9am, the store will not yet be open).

Overall, a fun time exploring the woods in the area, where there remains a lot of snow despite the relatively low elevation and recent rains. The near full moon was up pretty much all night, making for more moon-lit rather than stary Rainier shots :)

UPDATE: We used our staging at the National Park Inn to hike Mazama Ridge and the Paradise Glacier Trail (trip report).

Snowshoed along the Kautz creek trail. The bridge was in at the one mile mark.  The first 1.5 miles of trail had a good boot path. We put on snow shoes and continued another mile breaking trail.

Boot packed snow for the first 3 miles made this an easy trail to follow. Microspikes were helpful but not essential for those first three miles. Everyone before us had apparently turned around after 3 miles so we put on snow shoes and broke trail for the final ascent to stunning views of Mt Rainier another mile up. Our trail line wasn’t perfect but we got pretty close to the actual trail. That required a lot of gps consultation but it was beautiful and well worth the work. Don’t try this trail in the snow without navigation equipment if it’s not clearly trod.

First, the GPS coordinates for the trailhead parking are incorrect on WTA.  We went past the parking lot, ended up at Longmire, turned around and then parked at the Kautz Creek Campground parking lot (the WTA description is correct, just don't map from the GPS coordiantes).

The trail starts across the street from the parking lot and starts off as an easy, flat snowshoe through a beautiful, peaceful forest.  At about 1.1 mile come to a log-bridged crossing of Kautz Creek. We got a peek-a-boo glimpse of Mt. Rainier through the creek drainage.  A bit after crossing the bridge the trail appears to end (as did the snowshoe track).  We realized that a tree has fallen directly down the center of the trail.  You can get around this by going up the left hillside and through the trees.  The trail reappears on the other side. 

You really need a GPS or map and compass skills as the trail is completely obscured by snow and there is no flagging or blazes to mark the way.   At about 3 miles you will cross another bridge over the creek. This one has about six feet of snow piled on top (see photo).  When we finally popped out of the trees, the clouds had come in and sadly we had no view.  But a great workout and peaceful day.  On a sunny Sunday, we saw nobody else once we left the parking lot.