What is Mount Rainier National Park known for?
At a height of 14,410 feet, Mount Rainier is the highest volcanic peak in the contiguous United States. It has the largest alpine glacial system outside of Alaska and the world’s largest volcanic glacier cave system (in the summit crater).
Is Mount Rainier tallest mountain?
Mount Rainier, highest mountain (14,410 feet [4,392 metres]) in the state of Washington, U.S., and in the Cascade Range. It lies about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the city of Tacoma, within Mount Rainier National Park.
How did Mount Rainier get its name?
Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy observed the mountain while surveying the Pacific coast in 1792 and decided to name the mountain after his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. Mountaineers made some of the first non-native incursions on land, eager to summit the iconic peak.
What plants live in Mount Rainier National Park?
In addition to Sitka valerian, numerous wildflower species fall under this vegetation type including lupine, American bistort, pasqueflower, paintbrush, mountain daisy, gray’s lovage, glacier lily, and avalanche lily.
Does Mt Rainier have mountain lions?
Mount Rainier National Park contains a wide variety of wildlife species. Among the largest and most feared are the black bear and the mountain lion.
Are there grizzly bears in Mount Rainier?
The distribution of confirmed observations ranges from near Mt. Rainier in the south through the northern end of the range. Female grizzly bears have been observed with cubs, so we know some bears find each other to mate.
What is the history of Mt Rainier?
Around 500,000 years ago, Mount Rainier started to grow atop the eroded remains of an earlier ancestral Mount Rainier that was active 1-2 million years ago. The modern edifice grew as a series of four alternating stages of volcanic activity, averaging a little more than 100,000 years duration.