Narada Falls to Reflection Lake – Mount Rainier Family Snowshoe Adventure

We set off on our first real family snowshoe adventure in Mount Rainier National Park. We chose what we thought to be a perfect (although somewhat ambitious) first snowshoe adventure of about 3 miles round trip starting from the Narada Falls parking lot (map).

Another snowshoer directed us to the preferred trail head right beside the closed for the season bathrooms. Lucky for us, the first part was the most challenging and our 7 year-old thrives on a challenge. We all managed to get up the very steep embankment onto the trail, after which we followed the trail through a peaceful, quiet winter wonderland. We only saw 3-4 other parties during our trip.

We made it about a mile, at which point we had to give the kiddo kudos for his first pretty challenging day on the snowshoes and turn back down the mountain.

We stopped at Copper Creek restaurant for a late lunch our way back to the house. We were welcomed along with many groups of other hikers by a lovely waitstaff and a good selection of food and local beer, cider, and wine. A mom and son hiking duo we had seen out on the trail said they only went a smidge further than we did, which made us feel pretty good about our efforts!

Our kiddo ate about half a dozen coconut shrimp with the best blackberry lemonade ever. The burgers and chicken strips were solid, and the parmesan fries were super tasty.

We left with a fresh baked blackberry pie for later, which made a quick stop by the Elbe Junction for ice cream a must. Picked up a vanilla malt ice cream by Olympic ice cream to enjoy by the warmth of the fire. It was a lovely way to top off a beautiful snowy day.