Easiest Way to Travel and Tour Mount Ranier while Visiting Seattle?
May 12, 2013 10:47 AM Subscribe
Can anyone recommend a group tour that takes you from Seattle to Mount Ranier and back all in one day?
My SO and I are visiting Seattle for a few days and have put together a nice itinerary. Once thing we would like to do is something outdoors and we thought of going to Mount Ranier. We won't have a car and were looking for some sort of tour group that takes you from Seattle. I'm currently having trouble finding something like this which makes me believe that this might not be doable without a car. Any suggestions?
My SO and I are visiting Seattle for a few days and have put together a nice itinerary. Once thing we would like to do is something outdoors and we thought of going to Mount Ranier. We won't have a car and were looking for some sort of tour group that takes you from Seattle. I'm currently having trouble finding something like this which makes me believe that this might not be doable without a car. Any suggestions?
Haven't done it before, but the Visit Mount Rainier website lists a bunch of options.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 10:56 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Pandora Kouti at 10:56 AM on May 12, 2013
Response by poster: Wow! Thank you. That didn't take long.
posted by modoriculous at 10:58 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by modoriculous at 10:58 AM on May 12, 2013
You might want to consider renting a car for 24 hours. Should be significantly cheaper than two tour tickets.
posted by grouse at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by grouse at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seconding grouse. This totally doesn't answer the question you asked, but there's not much to "tour" at Mt Rainier. What people do is drive up and get out of the car and take a hike. There's a visitor center at Paradise and a short hike that is totally non-strenuous from Paradise that gives you amazing views of the mountain and its many glaciers. If you are a bit more fit, I would recommend my favorite day hike in the world, Spray Park. Check conditions before you go. Paradise is open nearly year round and the trail should be accessible most of the time. Spray Park has snow on part of the trail through July, but you should be able to hike it without any special gear from mid June. But there's not like a huge number of "must see" spots in Mt. Rainier National Park that you need a tour bus to take you to and you might be disappointed spending the day on a bus behind tinted glass. There are car rental companies in downtown Seattle and any $25 a day compact car will get you there.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:32 PM on May 12, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:32 PM on May 12, 2013 [4 favorites]
Agreeing with grouse and suggest you take a picnic lunch/supper; there's not much in the way of refreshments up there.
posted by The otter lady at 1:44 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The otter lady at 1:44 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also if you have a Zipcar account, we do have Zipcar in Seattle, if you don't want to rent a car for a day or so.
posted by mephron at 1:56 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mephron at 1:56 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Hertz also has car rentals by the hour ("Hertz 24/7"). It looks like Seattle Westlake Hertz would be the closest location.
posted by WestCoaster at 8:48 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by WestCoaster at 8:48 PM on May 12, 2013
Seattle also has Car2Go, if you happen to be a user of the service in one of the other cities it serves. But $35/day rental would probably be a better deal if you can get that.
If you do have a car, the Mt. St. Helens visitor center is just over 2 hours from Paradise, or 3 hours to the Johnston Ridge outlook to the north of St. Helens. These are long drives not because they are far, but because they are winding roads through wooded areas. You can probably work out some awesome scenic routes in the Spirit Lake area (roughly between the two mountains) if you head west from Rainier.
Keep an eye out for Bigfoot while you're down there!
posted by Sunburnt at 9:22 PM on May 12, 2013
If you do have a car, the Mt. St. Helens visitor center is just over 2 hours from Paradise, or 3 hours to the Johnston Ridge outlook to the north of St. Helens. These are long drives not because they are far, but because they are winding roads through wooded areas. You can probably work out some awesome scenic routes in the Spirit Lake area (roughly between the two mountains) if you head west from Rainier.
Keep an eye out for Bigfoot while you're down there!
posted by Sunburnt at 9:22 PM on May 12, 2013
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Your problem might be that it's "Rainier".
posted by LionIndex at 10:55 AM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]