Paradise, Washington

Paradise is the name of an area at approximately Convert|5400|ft|m|-2 on the south slope of Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, United States. The area lies on the border of Pierce and Lewis counties and includes the Paradise Valley and the Paradise Glacier which is the source of the Paradise River.Cite map
publisher = Stanley Maps
title = Mt. Rainier National Park
scale = 1 : 30,000
year = 2000
edition = Centennial
cartography = Charles B. Kitterman / Kulshan Cartographic Services
isbn = 0-9662209-4-3] Virinda Longmire named Paradise in the summer of 1885 while she viewed the wildflowers in the alpine meadows there. cite book
last= Haines
first= Aubrey L.
title= Mountain fever : historic conquests of Rainier
origyear = 1962
year = 1999
isbn = 0295978473
publisher = Original publisher: Oregon Historical Society; Republished by University of Washington
pages = p. 81] cite book
last = Pitcher
first = Don
title = Moon Handbooks Washington
edition = 7th edition
series = Moon Handbooks
date = June 12, 2002
publisher = Avalon Travel Publishing
pages = pp. 615-616
isbn = 1566913861]

Paradise is the most popular destination for visitors to Mount Rainier National Park. 62% of the over 1.3 million people who visited the park in 2000 went to Paradise.cite web
url = http://www.nps.gov/mora/current/VSP.pdf
title = Mount Rainier National Park Visitor Study Brochure
accessdate = 2007-05-22
date = March 31, 2003
format = PDF
work = Visitor Services Project
publisher = National Park Service] The road from the Nisqually entrance of the National Park to Paradise (State Route 706) is one of the few roads in the park open to automobiles in the winter.

Paradise is the location of the historic Paradise Inn (built 1916), cite book
last = Barnes
first = Christine
coauthors = Pfulghoft, Fred (Photographer); Morris, David (Photographer)
title = Great Lodges of the National Parks: The Companion Book to the PBS Television Series
publisher = W W West
date = April 2002
pages = pp. 48 – 57
id = ISBN 0-9653924-5-7] Paradise Guide House (built 1920) and Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center (built 1966). cite web
url = http://www.nps.gov/features/mora_cenn/sixties/sixties.htm
title = Mt. Rainier National Park Centennial Timeline 1960s
accessdate = 2007-05-22
year = 1999
work = Mount Rainier National Park Centennial Celebration
publisher = National Park Service
quote = 1966: The Paradise Visitor Center (in 1987 dedicated as the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center), is opened to the public in September.] The inn is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1931, a golf course was built in the area and in 1936 a ski rope tow was installed. These were both added as facilities for use by the guests of the inn.From 1942 to 1943 the U.S. Army used the inn to house troops training for winter mountain conditions.

The National Park Service says that "Paradise is the snowiest place on Earth where snowfall is measured regularly."cite web
url = http://www.nps.gov/mora/faqs.htm
title = Mount Rainier National Park - Frequently Asked Questions (U.S. National Park Service)
accessdate = 2007-05-22
date= created August 4, 2005 modified January 19, 2007
publisher = National Park Service] nowrap|1,122 inches (93.5 ft, 28.5 m) of snow fell during the winter of 1971-1972, setting a world record for that year. The minimum annual snowfall at Paradise was 313 inches (26 ft, 8.0 m) in the winter of 1939-1940, and the maximum snowpack was 357 inches (30 ft, 9.1 m) in March, 1955. No snowfall measurements were made from 1943 to 1946 as the road to Paradise was closed during World War II.cite web
url = http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/upload/annual%20snowfall.pdf
title = Annual Snowfall at Paradise 1920 to 2002
accessdate = 2007-05-22
date = January 12, 2007
format = PDF
publisher = National Park Service]

The National Park Service is undertaking a two-year, $30 million project to perform renovations and structural work to allow the inn withstand a large earthquake and to replace the "flying saucer-shaped" Henry M. Jackson visitor center with a new building that will complement the historic lodge. The National Park Service expects to save $600,000 by combining the two projects at Paradise. The inn is currently closed as part of this work and is scheduled to reopen in 2008.cite news
last = Carlton Harrell
first = Debera
title = Mount Rainier's Paradise Inn to undergo a two-year face-lift
work = Seattle Post-Intelligencer
date = October 11, 2005
url = http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/244142_lodge11.html
accessdate = 2007-05-22] cite news
last = Renée Casavant
first = Vanessa
title = Paradise Inn to close for two years
work = The Seattle Times
date = September 8, 2005
url = http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=paradiseinn08m&date=20050908
accessdate = 2007-05-22]

References

Bibliography

* cite book
title = A Year in Paradise: A Personal Experience of Living on Mount Rainier in the Early 1900's
last = Wilfred Schmoe
first = Floyd
edition = 2nd edition
origyear = 1959
year = 1999
month = July
publisher = Mountaineers Books
isbn = 0898866537

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/paradise.htm Mount Rainier National Park - Paradise (U.S. National Park Service)] - Paradise area of the National Park from the National Park Service.
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/mora/ParConst/default.htm Paradise Construction Projects: Mount Rainier National Park] - Construction at the Paradise Inn and the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center.