Sight · Mount Rainier National Park
A cedar-log gateway added decades after the road opened.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mount Rainier Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mount Rainier National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Mount Rainier audio tourRecorded for this area
A Lichen's Living Partnership“On a forest walk, look for pale, hairlike strands hanging from branches. Some of those dangling growths are lichens.”
Plays near SR 123 South Entrance Arch in the Parkwolf Mount Rainier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
SR 123 South Entrance Arch is a peeled-cedar gateway at Mount Rainier’s southeastern entrance, where SR 123 carries drivers into the park’s east side. Treat it as a quick landmark along the drive rather than a stop that needs a separate hike. If you can stop legally and safely, frame the hanging park sign inside the log span with the road beneath it.
The East Side Highway, now SR 123, was completed in 1940. The arch came 36 years later, in 1976: peeled cedar logs built to echo the historic Nisqually Entrance. It marks the entrance but was not part of the highway’s original construction.
Ohanapecosh is 1.5 miles north along SR 123; the Stevens Canyon Road junction toward Paradise is another 1.8 miles beyond. SR 123 is seasonal, with a usual May-through-November season; opening depends on weather and snow removal. Check current road status before setting out.
Wildlife
466 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
383 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
10 sightingsWolverineMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
58 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
574 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
1,853 sightingsHoary MarmotMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mount Rainier. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyHot Springs Nature Trail0.6 mi · 30 min · 1.3 mi awayA shaded walk to bubbling springs and an old resort site.
ModerateSilver Falls Loop Trail2.7 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayAn old-growth river loop to a 75-foot waterfall.
ChallengingLaughingwater Creek Trail12 mi · 6 hr · 2.5 mi awayA steady forest climb to backcountry lakes and an old patrol cabin.
ModerateCowlitz Divide Trail8.5 mi · 5 hr · 2.7 mi awayAn old-growth creek walk ends at a backcountry junction.
ModerateEastside Trail to Ohanapecosh Falls7.4 mi · 4 hr · 2.9 mi awayA forest walk to a nearly 70-foot, two-tier waterfall.
EasyGrove of the Patriarchs Trail1.1 mi · 1 hr · 2.9 mi awayAn easy island loop under some of Mount Rainier’s biggest trees.
ChallengingIndian Bar Trail14.5 mi · 11 hr · 4.2 mi awayA hard ridge crossing opens into a waterfall-filled alpine basin.
EasyBox Canyon Loop Trail0.5 mi · 30 min · 4.2 mi awayA short paved loop peers into a deep, river-cut canyon.
Scenic pullout · 1.2 mi awayBackbone RidgeA roadside stop for Rainier and Tatoosh views when skies cooperate.
Picnic area · 1.3 mi awayOhanapecosh Picnic AreaEight tables and grills in the old-growth Ohanapecosh forest.
Visitor center · 1.3 mi awayOhanapecosh Visitor CenterTrail advice and deep local history under old-growth trees.
Campground · 1.3 mi awayOhanapecosh CampgroundOld-growth shade, river access, and hikes right from camp.Sight · 2.5 mi awaySilver FallsA 60-foot drop and a footbridge in an old-growth gorge.
Entrance station · 2.7 mi awayStevens Canyon EntranceGet a map before setting out on the cross-park road.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayGrove of the PatriarchsOld-growth conifers on a small island in the Ohanapecosh River
Sight · 4.2 mi awayBox CanyonThe river squeezes through a 13-foot slot in the granite.Parkwolf’s Mount Rainier ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
