MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK ASSOCIATES

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE OFFICIAL NPS WEBSITE FOR MOUNT RAINIER, CLICK HERE

With its lofty summit pushing up into the sky and its massive glaciers carving its flanks, Mount Rainier dominates the Pacific Northwest. Recognizing the scenic splendor of this magnificent mountain and the beauty of its high meadows and of the virgin forests that surrounded it, in 1899 Congress "dedicated and set it apart as a public park, to be known and designated as Mount Rainier National Park, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." Mount Rainier thus became the nation's fourth national park.

The world has changed in many ways since 1899. No longer is Mount Rainier National Park an outpost requiring days of serious travel to reach. No longer are the Park boundaries surrounded by seemingly endless forests. Today's Mount Rainier National Park is an island of wilderness surrounded by an encroaching developed world; a park visited by more than a million people each year.

Concerned about the present and the future of Mount Rainier National Park, a group of Mount Rainier devotees joined together in 1985 to form Mount Rainier National Park Associates (MRNPA), to foster preservation and protection of the Park’s natural state and to promote wise stewardship of its resources consistent with the original mandate that the Park exists for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. Today MRNPA continues to work toward those original goals.

Mount Rainier National Park Associates continues to be a committed group of Mount Rainier devotees. We are a citizen’s organization, totally independent of the National Park Service, although we maintain excellent relations with the staff at Mount Rainier National Park. Because we are independent, we are free to comment on, agree with, disagree with, and even criticize actions and decisions made by the park managers. But we do more than stand on the sidelines and make comments. We have an active program of volunteering our labor doing trail construction and maintenance, meadow replanting, and exotic plant removal.

If you share our passion for Mount Rainier National Park, concern for the Park's future, and a vision that Mount Rainier National Park should always be a wild and natural place for people to visit, we invite you to participate in one of our volunteer activities and to meet us and some of the members of our corps of volunteers.

Statement

The mission of Mount Rainier National Park Associates (MRNPA) is to support Mount Rainier National Park and we have remained committed to that mission since our founding in 1985. Our primary ways of supporting Mount Rainier National Park are through organizing volunteer work parties and funding small grants. While we have our typical schedule of work parties planned for 2025, we do not know what the impacts of recent staffing cuts will be. We may not be able to undergo planned activities if National Park Service (NPS) staff is not available to supervise. Volunteer efforts are vital to the maintenance of public spaces and we encourage you to seek out volunteer opportunities wherever and however you are able. Additional volunteer opportunities can be found on nps.gov/mora/getinvolved.

We are not currently involved in fundraising or advocacy efforts. If you would like to make a donation or take citizen action to support Mount Rainier National Park, some organizations to consider with missions similar to ours include:
Washington Trail Association
Washington's National Park Fund
National Park Foundation
National Park Conservation Association

MRNPA is an entirely volunteer organization and this is NOT the official website of Mount Rainier National Park. Any opinions expressed are entirely our own and are neither reflective of nor endorsed by the NPS.

Updates

Mount Rainier National Park has announced that it will implement the Timed Entry Reservation program for only the Sunrise corridor. The program will run daily between July 11th and September 1st, then weekends and holidays from September 2nd through the end of the season. Reservations can be made on Recreation.gov.

Due to the closure of the Fairfax Bridge over the Carbon River, public access to the Northwest corner of the Park (Mowich and the Carbon River Road) is unavailable to the public. MRNPA work parties scheduled for the Carbon River area will continue as allowed, but as always the location of a work party may change at the last minute due to access or need. Volunteers signed up for work parties should expect updates via e-mail leading up to the day of the work party. Keep in mind this closure will likely bring more visitors to the Nisqually entrance and other parts of the park, so plan your trip to the mountain accordingly. Also consider the impact this closure will have on the local communities along State Route 165 that served as a stopping point to and from the Park and if possible, show your support in whatever way you can.

This will be a difficult year for accessing Mount Rainier National Park as there are multiple construction projects taking place within the park. Please reference the Park Construction page for a list and status of projects, and the MORA home page before you go.