Picnic area · Mount Rainier National Park
Pack a lunch for a tree-lined picnic with clear-day Rainier views.
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 place
Sunrise: Walk to Emmons Vista“Sunrise is ahead, with the visitor center and day lodge at sixty-four hundred feet. For a short visit, I'd take the half-mile round trip to Emmons Vista and continue past the first overlook to the second.”
Plays as you drive up to Sunrise Picnic Area 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
Sunrise Picnic Area is a summer picnic ground just north of the Sunrise Visitor Center, at the end of Sunrise Road. About 40 tables sit among trees, with Mount Rainier visible on clear days. Bring a packed meal; the nearby Sunrise Day Lodge has seasonal food service. The 1.5-mile Sunrise Nature Trail starts at the picnic area's upper end and loops through subalpine meadows with views of Rainier and the Cascades.
The site came out of Mount Rainier's Mission 66 program (1956–66), which planned 1,200 new camping and picnic sites—nearly four times the park's existing supply. At Sunrise, the smaller campground beside the visitor center was converted into a picnic area; the older CCC-built campground near Shadow Lake was rehabilitated separately. The surrounding meadows are called Yakima Park and were a summer hunting and gathering area for Yakama people, who relied on high-country plants and animals for thousands of years.
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
ChallengingMystic Lake Trail via Sunrise17.7 mi · 11 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long Wonderland walk to a lake between two glaciers.
EasySunrise Nature Trail1.5 mi · 45 min · 0.1 mi awayA short climb buys Rainier and Cascade views in under an hour.
ModerateBurroughs Mountain Trail6.2 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA high ridge walk puts Rainier and its glaciers front and center.
ModerateSunrise Rim Trail Loop to First Burroughs4.7 mi · 3 hr · 0.1 mi awayHigh loop to First Burroughs, with Shadow Lake and Emmons Glacier.
ModerateSourdough Ridge Trail West to Frozen Lake3 mi · 2 hr · 0.1 mi awayA short ridge walk with big Rainier views and a lake turnaround.
ModerateMount Fremont Lookout Trail5.6 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA rocky ridge climb to Rainier’s 1934 fire lookout.
ModerateDege Peak via Sourdough Ridge Trail4.2 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA short, open ridge walk to Dege Peak’s sweeping view.
ModerateSkyscraper Pass Trail7.4 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA rolling ridge walk to a sandy pass above alpine meadows.
Visitor center · 0.1 mi awaySunrise Visitor CenterA historic alpine trail hub with glacier exhibits and Rainier views.
Food · 0.1 mi awaySunrise Day LodgeA 1931 timber lodge for coffee or ice cream after a hike.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayEmmons Vista OverlooksA short meadow walk to Rainier’s biggest glacier.
Sight · 0.9 mi awayWhite River Patrol CabinA 500-foot walk to the White River area's oldest cabin.
Campground · 0.9 mi awayWhite River CampgroundSunrise-area hikes start right from this wooded riverside camp.
Picnic area · 0.9 mi awayWhite River Picnic AreaA wooded meal stop with eight grills and nearby trail access.
Scenic pullout · 0.9 mi awaySunrise Road White River ViewRainier and Adams rise above the White River Valley on Sunrise Road.
Sight · 2 mi awayMount Fremont Fire LookoutA long ridge hike to a 1934 wooden fire lookout.Parkwolf’s Mount Rainier ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
