Trip Ideas National Parks This National Park Gets Carpeted in Colorful Wildflowers Every Summer — and the Peak Bloom Is Coming Soon (Video) By Talia Avakian Talia Avakian Website Talia Avakian is a lifestyle reporter with nearly a decade of experience writing digital and print content for noted national and international travel publications. She began her career in travel reporting at BBC Travel, where she covered news and features of global destinations, later working as a travel reporter at Business Insider and as a digital news reporter for Travel + Leisure. During her time at Travel + Leisure, she has covered airlines, hotels, new product launches for travelers, natural phenomena travelers can witness, new experience launches, and more. Her work has also appeared in The Independent, Time, Food & Wine, Fortune, Essence, and Departures, among others. Talia is currently a freelance lifestyle reporter in Los Angeles, where she covers content ranging from outdoor getaways, hotels, and transportation to food and experiential offerings at destinations across the globe. She has gone behind the scenes with airlines to learn about flight attendant training, scaled remote mountainsides at far-flung hotels, gone inside the inner workers of Air Force jets, shared the history of Frank Sinatra's favorite New York restaurant hideaway, documented what life is like inside the world's largest residential airpark, and more. She loves discovering unknown perks travelers can access and adventures they can take part in no matter where they go, sharing inside looks at offerings from around the world to help every traveler get the best out of each journey. * 9+ years of experience working as a travel reporter * Stories published and syndicated across over 50 national and international publications * Appeared as a travel expert on Cheddar to discuss emerging travel trends * Received a master's degree in multimedia reporting from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on June 26, 2019 Share Tweet Pin Email Travelers who missed the wildflower blooms that hit California and Texas earlier this year are in for a treat as Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park will soon put on a dazzling display. The national park typically sees magnificent wildflower blooms for a limited time each year, starting in mid-July and peaking by the beginning of August. Getty Images The park is already starting to see the first blooms of the season, with early-season wildflowers like the avalanche lilies —known for their white petals and yellow centers — already blooming along the Stevens Canyon Road near Reflection Lakes. Lupine, Jeffrey’s shooting star, wild strawberries, and Calypso orchids can already be found on trails like the Wonderland Trail, while yellow violets, starflower plants, and salmonberries are blooming on the Longmire Trail. The park is home to hundreds of different wildflower species that blanket the park in shades of white, yellow, pink, red, blue, and purple. Getty Images There are dozens of trails that provide magnificent views of the wildflowers, including the Bench and Snow Lakes Trail, where visitors will also see two lakes and meadows. Meanwhile, the Naches Peak Loop Trail provides up-close views of the subalpine flower fields in the park and views of Mount Rainier itself, with late summer bringing in a large amount of huckleberries. Park representatives say the subalpine regions host the park's most impressive wildflower displays since snow tends to linger in the meadows into June and July, causing the flowers to “bloom profusely” and reproduce before the snow returns again. Getty Images The meadows of the Glacier Basin Trail also host a variety of wildflowers, with mountain goats on the surrounding slopes adding all the more to the dreamy scene. While frost can arrive by late August, park representatives say the meadows look mesmerizing after a light frost as the leaves change color and blossoms continue to bloom. Representatives from Mount Rainier’s tourism board also recommend locations like Grand Park to spot magenta paintbrush, asters, and gentians, and hikes through Sunrise Dege Peak to get 360-degree views of the park and its wildflowers. Visitors are asked to stay on designated trails and to avoid fragile flower fields and stream and lake banks to maintain the beauty of the blooms. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit