Mount Rainier National Park Trivia
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60 free Mount Rainier National Park trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Mount Rainier National Park trivia quiz covers the 1899 park that wraps a 14,410-foot glaciated volcano an hour and a half from Seattle. It ranges over the developed areas (Paradise, Longmire, Sunrise, Ohanapecosh and the Carbon River rainforest), the record-setting snow at Paradise, the 93-mile Wonderland Trail, and the glaciers that give the mountain the biggest ice cover of any peak in the lower 48. There is plenty of history and geology too: George Vancouver naming the peak for a Royal Navy friend, the long fight over 'Tacoma' versus 'Rainier', the 1870 first ascent and Fay Fuller's 1890 climb, the Osceola Mudflow that sheared off the old summit, the lahar sirens that now guard Pierce County, and the 1947 sighting over the mountain that gave the world the phrase 'flying saucers'. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one, so it works for a car game on the drive to Paradise or a serious park-nerd challenge. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries its citation. If you enjoy it, try our Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and US National Parks quizzes next.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Mount Rainier is the highest peak of which mountain range?
Cascades
The Cascades: Mount Rainier is the highest summit of the Cascade Range, which runs from British Columbia to northern California and also includes Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood.
Q 02By what other name, from Indigenous languages, is Mount Rainier widely known?
Tahoma
Tahoma: the Coast Salish (Lushootseed) name for the mountain survives in park place names such as Tahoma Glacier and Little Tahoma Peak, the satellite summit on Rainier's east flank.
Q 03Mount Rainier National Park lies in which U.S. state?
Washington
Washington: the park sits about 59 miles south-southeast of Seattle, and Rainier's summit is the highest point in Washington state.
Q 04In what year was Mount Rainier National Park established?
1899
1899: the act establishing Mount Rainier National Park became law on March 2, 1899, after a campaign backed by the Sierra Club and the National Geographic Society.
Q 05Which president signed the bill that created Mount Rainier National Park?
William McKinley
William McKinley signed the act creating the park; Theodore Roosevelt, the president most associated with conservation, did not take office until September 1901, after McKinley was assassinated.
Q 06Mount Rainier is what kind of volcano?
Stratovolcano
Stratovolcano: Rainier's steep, layered cone is built mostly of andesite lava flows and debris, and the present cone is more than 500,000 years old.
Q 07What summit elevation do the National Park Service and USGS officially cite for Mount Rainier?
14,410 ft
14,410 ft (4,392 m) is the official figure, though a 2024 survey found the Columbia Crest ice cap had melted so much that a rock point on the southwest crater rim stood higher.
Q 08Which marmot species whistles its alarm call from Mount Rainier's subalpine meadows?
Hoary marmot
Hoary marmot: the largest North American ground squirrel, named for the silver-grey fur on its shoulders, lives on the park's rock slopes and meadows and whistles sharply when alarmed.
Q 09Which explorer named Mount Rainier after his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier?
George Vancouver
George Vancouver, surveying Puget Sound for the Royal Navy, named the peak on May 8, 1792, for his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, on the same voyage on which he named Mount St. Helens and Puget Sound.
Q 10The map from the Lewis and Clark expedition labels the mountain with which name?
Mt. Regniere
Mt. Regniere: the expedition's map rendered the peak's name with this French-looking spelling, a drift from the Royal Navy name given in 1792.
Q 11What year did the U.S. Board on Geographic Names rule the mountain would be called Rainier?
1890
1890: the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, created that same year, ruled for 'Rainier', reaffirmed the choice in 1917, and Congress was weighing a rename resolution as late as 1924.
Q 12Which glacier on Mount Rainier is the largest by volume in the contiguous United States?
Carbon
Carbon Glacier holds about 0.2 cubic miles of ice, is some 700 feet thick, and reaches down to about 3,500 feet, the lowest glacier terminus in the contiguous United States.
Q 13Which Rainier glacier is the largest by surface area in the contiguous United States?
Emmons
Emmons Glacier covers about 4.3 square miles on the northeast flank above the White River and carries the second most popular summit route, via Camp Schurman.
Q 21Which ski area broke the park's seasonal snowfall record in the 1998-99 winter?
Mount Baker
Mount Baker Ski Area, east of Bellingham, measured 1,140 inches (95 feet) of snow in the 1998-99 season, taking the single-season world record that the park's snow station had held since 1972.
Q 22In what year was the park's grand timber hotel at 5,400 feet on Rainier's south slope built?
1916
1916: the inn was built that summer by the Rainier National Park Company and opened on July 1, 1917; it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Q 23The south-slope inn's Alaska cedar timbers came from trees killed by what in 1885?
A forest fire
Q 14Which trail makes a complete loop around Mount Rainier?
Wonderland
The Wonderland Trail circles the mountain through forest and subalpine meadows, crossing every major river valley that drains the volcano; most hikers take about 10 days to finish it.
Q 15Roughly how long is the trail that circles Mount Rainier?
93 miles
93 miles: the loop trail climbs and drops constantly over the mountain's ridges, for a cumulative elevation gain of roughly 22,000 feet, and crosses every major glacial river draining the peak.
Q 16In what year was the loop trail around Mount Rainier built?
1915
1915: the loop trail was completed that year, mainly as a patrol route for rangers, and was designated a National Recreation Trail in 1981.
Q 17What is the highest point on the loop trail that circles Mount Rainier?
Panhandle Gap
Panhandle Gap, at about 6,750 feet on the mountain's southeast side between Summerland and Indian Bar, is the loop's highest point and often holds snow into July.
Q 18Roughly what share of the climbers who attempt Mount Rainier's summit each year actually reach it?
About 50%
About 50%: of the roughly 10,000 people who attempt the summit each year, about half succeed; weather and fitness are the most common reasons for turning back.
Q 19Which area does the National Park Service call 'the snowiest place on Earth where snowfall is measured'?
Paradise
Paradise, at about 5,400 feet on the mountain's south slope, averages roughly 640 inches of snow a year, and its meadows often keep snow into July.
Q 20How much snow fell at the park's snowiest station in the record 1971-72 season?
93.5 feet
93.5 feet, or 1,122 inches, fell in the 1971-72 season, a world record for a single measured season that stood until the winter of 1998-99.
A forest fire: the inn was framed with Alaska cedar salvaged from a stand that burned in 1885 below the inn site, logs that had weathered for three decades to a silver sheen.
Q 24Which architect designed the park's famous 1916 timber inn on the south slope of the mountain?
Frederick Heath
It was originally planned for Longmire; the site moved up the mountain after the original financier backed out.
Q 25Descending from the summit in 1883, James Longmire discovered what at the site that now bears his name?
A mineral spring
A mineral spring: looking for his strayed horse, Longmire found warm, carbonated mineral springs in the meadow, filed a mineral claim and opened a small resort and bathhouse there.
Q 26Which lodging is the only one at Mount Rainier open all year round?
National Park Inn
National Park Inn at Longmire, 6.5 miles inside the Nisqually Entrance, keeps its 25 rooms open through winter, when the higher inn on the south slope is closed.
Q 27Which developed area is the highest point in the park you can reach by vehicle?
Sunrise
Sunrise, at about 6,400 feet on the mountain's northeast side, is the highest point in the park reached by road, and trails to Mount Fremont, Burroughs Mountain and Sourdough Ridge fan out from it.
Q 28Which is the only developed area in the park without a view of Mount Rainier?
Ohanapecosh
Ohanapecosh, in the park's southeast corner, sits in a deep river valley below any view of the peak; it compensates with hot springs, Silver Falls and the Grove of the Patriarchs.
Q 29The park's only rainforest is found near which entrance?
Carbon River
Carbon River: the park's northwest corner is wet enough to support an inland temperate rainforest of moss-draped cedar and hemlock; the road beyond the entrance washed out in the 2006 floods and was closed to cars.
Q 30What is the largest and deepest lake in Mount Rainier National Park?
Mowich
Mowich Lake, in the park's northwest corner at about 4,900 feet, is the park's largest and deepest lake and a common starting point for the loop trail and the high route through Spray Park.