Ultimate Guide to Plan Your Mt. Rainier Wildflower Elopement

Having a Mt. Rainier wildflower elopement can be so dreamy as you think about what you want for your elopement day. There are so many varieties and the colors (especially at sunset or sunrise) are incredible as Mount Rainier watches over in the distance. As beautiful as they are, wildflowers are very dependent on many factors and require couples to have an open mind when it comes to planning! So here’s everything I’ve learned from my time as a Washington Elopement Photographer for your best chance to see wildflowers at Rainier! 

What you can expect in this article

• Time of Year
• Leave No Trace
• Using an Elopement Photographer
• Elevation & Examples of Wildflowers you may see
• Permits & Timed Entry
• When to Start Planning

Time of Year 

If you’ve ever been to Mount Rainier National Park, you’ll know that to be able to access the park without snow is a very short period. Typically snow melts out fully by mid to end July which means wildflowers can start blooming at the end of July or early August. They may only last for a few weeks and it’s quite a popular time to visit! 

Snowpack determines the flowers. If we have a heavy snow year, chances are your wildflower experience will be better because there is more moisture up in the mountains, but that also means the season could be pushed slightly later. A dryer winter will still produce wildflowers, but you’ll find they bloom earlier since the snow melts earlier. Ultimately when planning a wildflower experience, please have an open mind as you never know what you’re going to get on your date!

If you want more in-depth info on snow and summer weather, check out my blog post on how to elope in Mount Rainier National Park! 

TLDR: Best chances to see tons of wildflowers for your Mt Rainier wildflower elopement is from the last week in July to maybe the 2nd week in August!

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace is something I want to share right away in this blog post. Protecting the wildflowers and fragile alpine meadows of Rainier is SO important. The park gets thousands of visitors per day and our park would be destroyed if people didn’t care. If you dream of running through meadows and having your Sound of Music moment, consider altering that view to a wide shot of running ON the trail through the fields! Trust me, it’s just as beautiful and you’re protecting the flowers too!

Here are some guidelines to make sure everyone can enjoy the flowers!

Stay on the trails

Mt Rainier has signs everywhere and they’ve recently added ropes to ask people to stay on the trails.

Did you know It’s required by law in the following areas of the Park for people to stay on the trails? If you work with a photographer please make sure you all stay on the trails. This is obviously to follow the park rules and to protect the environment, but also to allow us to keep photographing and allowing future couples to experience the wildflower beauty on their elopement day too! This is something I personally always follow if you work with me! Here is an excerpt from the Meadow preservation page on their website. 

“By law, hiking or pedestrian traffic is restricted to the trail in the following areas:

Paradise
Sunrise
Reflection Lakes meadow area
Tipsoo Lakes meadow area
Ohanapecosh Hot Springs area

ALL subalpine areas are delicate and see increased visitation every year. Even in areas not specifically listed, please practice Leave No Trace and STAY ON THE TRAIL to protect these unique ecosystems.”

Please don’t pick the wildflowers! 

Picking wildflowers disturbs ecosystems. Insects, small birds, butterflies, etc rely on the flowers for shelter and food. Picking a flower greatly reduces its ability to seed and grow back in the area for years to come.  It also can escalate quick- if everyone started doing it, there would be none left! Let’s let the flowers be so everyone can enjoy the beauty 🙂 Read more on wildflower ethics from the United States Forest Service here!

But take all the pictures you want 😉 

I usually add a ton of wildflower photos in my galleries for my couples so they can remember the beautiful things they see during their days! 

Using an Elopement Photographer

This brings me to my next point! I would highly recommend using an adventure elopement-specific photographer (hi that’s me!) to help you plan this! From finding gorgeous light, to knowing amazing spots, to also making sure you get the correct permits, to staying on the trail, we make sure all this happens so we can keep shooting in the park and other couples get to experience this too! Check out how I can help you here!

Elevation & Examples of Wildflowers you may see!

Mount Rainier national park has a large elevation range. Longmire sits at 2,760 feet, Paradise sits at 5,400 feet, and Sunrise sits at 6,400 feet. Elevation will greatly influence the types of flowers you will see as each elevation will experience different growing patterns due to exposure to natural elements.  

Forest

This is exactly what you think it is! Denser, tree-covered areas! in terms of elevation, this will usually be at the base of the park, at lower elevations.

Subalpine

This area is from the forest level to the treeline in the alpine regions. Trees thin out and get smaller at this “line!” You’ll find most of the Paradise area is considered the Subalpine and is very popular for all types of wildflowers. Here are some examples of flowers I’ve seen on elopements in the Paradise area!

Alpine

This is anything above where the trees start to thin out! You’ll get access to the Alpine area at Sunrise! It’s a bit more arid, but there are still a few trails that have gorgeous wildflowers! There’s not a lot of protection or cover up here so ground plants have an easier time surviving where trees do not.

Alpine Aster

For a comprehensive list of flowers, here’s a very in-depth resource on all types of flowers!

Best Locations for wildflowers

At Mt Rainier, there are two general locations you’ll find wildflowers for your Mt Rainier wildflower elopements: Paradise & Sunrise. If you work with me, I’ll help you find a length and an area that makes sense for your day! Not all trails equal the best photographic experience in terms of you + flowers! 

Paradise

Ahhh, paradise is exactly that: Paradise. It’s gorgeous and is influenced by all the snow melt from Mt Rainier. (Did you know Tahoma is the original name from the Puyllaup Tribe and means mother of all waters? It makes sense now!!) Paradise is in the Subalpine zone. You can see a wide variety of flowers here! It’s very popular for a reason! 

You walk off any of the parking areas, you’re going to see wildflowers. As a photographer I have my favorites but here are a few examples where you will see wildflowers: 

Skyline Trail Loop
Length: 5.5  miles loop
Elevation gain: 1,450 feet

Reflection Lakes
Right off of a parking area on the road, no hiking required! 

Sunrise

Sunrise is a beautify all on it’s own. It’s a lot more open than paradise which does still have a fair amount of trees! Here we enter what I’m considering an alpine area. You’ll see very little trees here and mostly ground plants that survive! It’s less popular than Paradise, so you might find privacy here!

Silver Forest Trail
Length: 2.7  miles out and back
Elevation gain: 321 feet

Tipsoo Lake Loop
Length: 0.7 miles  loop
Elevation gain: 19 feet

**It’s really tempting to go off-trail because the trail is very narrow. Please stay on the trail to prevent meadow damage.

Naches Peak Loop
Length: 3.5 miles  loop
Elevation gain: 659 feet

Permits & Timed Entry

Permits

To have a wildflower elopement in Mt Rainier National Park, you will need a special use permit. To apply for your permit, follow this link to their website for the application. It costs $250 for your application! 

In 2023 Mount Rainier updated their permit system and made each allowed location available on an interactive map which I love! On any spot you can see group size limits (which includes any vendors you may bring) and time of day and week they allow ceremonies. For Paradise, they’ve limited popular areas to weekdays and towards the beginning or ends of days. On the Sunrise side, you have more options in timing. 

***Even though it has up to 60 people for “pre-determined locations”, the options for 15 and under get extremely limited and up to 24 people are not my favorite experiences for couples looking to elope. My best suggestion: keep your guest count and any vendors under 12 people, (8 for best chances). Alternatively, utilize the wildflower trails for amazing portraits! If you’re interested in working with me, I’d love to help! 

Timed Entry

For the 2024 tourist season, the park implemented Timed Entry reservations from 7am to 3pm. Luckily for eloping couples, an entry reservation does come with your permit! However, I still recommend budgeting 45 min up to an hour to enter during peak times depending on your entrance location as lines still built up last year!

When to start Planning?

I would highly recommend planning as soon as you can! While some couples can get away with planning in a few short months, to get the best chance of lodging and your permitted spot, I’d plan up to a year in advance!