Reservations open for Mount Rainier trips

• Reservations are not required outside of those peak hours.

Each reservation is for one personal vehicle and costs $2, but does not include the cost of entrance passes, which are required for all visitors accessing any area in the park, regardless of the day and time.

• The reservation provides a two-hour entry window.
• For instance, visitors with a 9am reservation could enter the park between 9 and 11am. There is no required departure time, per Mount Rainier National Park.

Catch up quick: Park visits have grown from just over 1.1 million in 2013 to about 1.6 million in 2022, per park officials.

• 70% of those visits occur between July and September and many of them are concentrated at a small number of destinations, including the Paradise and Sunrise areas.
• The park reservation system is intended to reduce crowding and traffic congestion and spread visits more evenly throughout the day,

What they're saying: "We believe the timed entry system will not only reduce overcrowding but will also help protect special places like the wildflower meadows at Paradise and Sunrise that so many folks enjoy," superintendent Greg Dudgeon said in a written statement.

The fine print: Visitors with in-park reservations for lodging or camping in one of the two corridors will not require an additional reservation.

Worthy of your time: If you don't get a reservation on the day you want, you could try one of the state's less crowded parks.