Two National Parks · 130 miles apart
Mount Rainier or North Cascades
Mount Rainier drew 1,635,342 recreation visits in 2025, 34.9 times the 46,925 at North Cascades, so crowds are the largest difference. North Cascades has 10 campgrounds to 3 at Mount Rainier. North Cascades charges no entrance fee while Mount Rainier charges $30 per private vehicle. On the rest they match, since neither uses timed entry. The two parks are 130 miles apart in a straight line.
| Mount Rainier National Park | North Cascades National Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Designation | National Park | National Park |
| States | Washington | Washington |
| Recreation visits, 2025 | 1,635,342 | 46,925 |
| Entrance fee, private vehicle | $30 (Private Vehicle) | None, free to enter |
| Timed entry reservation | No | No |
| Campgrounds | 3 | 10 |
| International Dark Sky Park | No | No |
| Bird species, NPSpecies | 157 | 225 |
| Hours or season | Open all day, every day | Open all day, every day |
Mount Rainier visits by yearNorth Cascades visits by year
Fees, hours, campgrounds and timed entry from the NPS API. Visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics system. Dark sky status from DarkSky International. Bird counts from the NPSpecies inventory. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other pairs.