On our way back from Hawaii, we decided to stop over in Seattle for 8 nights and explore the Pacific Northwest.
You guys know how much we love exploring nature and the outdoors and after a quick morning in Seattle, we headed over to the Mount Rainier area!
No word can really do justice to either the Alta Crystal Resort, which very generously hosted us for 2 nights, nor the Mount Rainier National Park. Both totally exceeded our expectations and I need to share with you what we did, because you will need to visit this beautiful region very soon!
Alta Crystal Resort
Located 30 minutes from the Ohanapecosh entrance of the Mount Rainier U.S. National Park, the Alta Crystal Resort is the perfect resort to use as a base to explore the region!
We loved the charming log cabins backing up to a creek.
The private hot tub was wonderful after a day of hiking through Mount Rainier National Park!
And the smores night was a big highlight for everyone!
If you are looking for easy, family-friendly, hikes, you will find several starting right from the Alta Crystal Resort! In fact, the resort’s scavenger hunt takes you right up the trails, along the creek!
Mount Rainier National Park
We did three hikes with the kids inside the Mount Rainier National Park! We probably spent about 5 hours inside the park and all hikes are very manageable with children.
Silver Falls
This is the perfect hike to start the day.
If you enter the park at the Ohanapecoch entrance, you will quickly arrive at the Grove of the Patriarchs parking lot. We were told great things about Grove of the Patriarchs but did not hike it.
We headed over to the other side of the street from the parking lot and hiked the Eastside trail towards Silver Falls.
The trail was in perfect shape and quickly got us to a raging river. We hiked down from the path to this beautiful and impressive lookout!
About 0.2 mile further were the actual falls.
You will love this family-friendly, easily-accessible hike! If time allows, you could hike the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail.
Box Canyon
Head back to your car and continue up on Stevens Canyon Rd. When you see signs for Box Canyon, park your car and cross the street for the start of the trail, once more.
The trail to Box Canyon is mostly flat and very short.
Once you get to the bridge overlooking the canyon, you will be amazed by the narrow canyon and the raging river 115 feet below you!
Paradise Inn
The reason why we did not hike Grove of the Patriarchs is because we were told to first get up to Paradise Inn and we thought we’d stop for the Patriarchs trail on our way out… but had 2 kids sleeping in the car by the time we headed back down and decided to just skip it and drive back to Alta Crystal Resort for some much needed hot tub time!
Paradise is essentially the highest point you’ll reach inside Mount Rainier National Park! It is the base of the majestic Mount Rainier itself!
After parking the car, we headed to the visitors center. We loved learning more about the region and the history of Mount Rainier.
Once we came out, we were greeted by eternal snow! Since we were there in mid-June, much of the trails were covered in snow, making it super fun for our Florida kids!!
We decided to hike to Myrtle Falls, only 0.5 mile away from Paradise Inn.
It was totally surreal to be hiking in snow, in weather warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, and under the bluest sky possible!
Once we got to the falls, we watched the water rush below our feet and spent a fair amount of time building snowmen and throwing snow balls around!
Perfect Day In Mount Rainier National Park With Kids
We were impressed with Mount Rainier National Park.
Extremely lucky with the weather, the drive up to Paradise boasted incredible views of Mount Rainier. The hikes were very manageable with kids and we were surprised by the amount of snow left in Paradise!
A stay at Alta Crystal Resort is the most wonderful way to discover the region with kids. The resort doesn’t get any more family-friendly with everything geared towards families.
It is also perfectly located for easy access to hikes and the national park. The staff in the front office will be very happy to guide you to the best trails in the region. They knew about trail conditions and pointed us towards the best hikes for our family!
We loved staying at Alta Crystal Resort and discovering the Mount Rainier National Park with kids, and are very thankful to Alta Crystal Resort for hosting us and providing us with free accommodation. I highly suggest staying at least 3 nights because you will want to explore some more!
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ALTA CRYSTAL RESORT – PERFECT FAMILY GETAWAY NEAR MOUNT RAINIER
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