Paradise Glacier, Glacier in Mount Rainier National Park, United States.
Paradise Glacier is a glacier on the southeast flank of Mount Rainier in Washington, bounded west by the Muir Snowfield, Anvil Rock and McClure Rock. Its single main lobe runs from 9,000 feet down to 7,200 feet and joins the larger Cowlitz Glacier. With Stevens Glacier included it covers 0.4 square miles and holds 0.8 billion cubic feet of ice. Meltwater drains into the Cowlitz River.
Paradise Glacier lies on the southeast flank of Mount Rainier in Washington and drains into the Cowlitz River. Its southern lobe, near the Cowlitz Rocks and the small Williwakas Glacier, held the Paradise Ice Caves until the 1990s; that lobe melted away between 2004 and 2006. The Williwakas was declared a dead glacier in the 1930s, and in a June 2023 National Park Service report the Stevens Glacier was dropped from the park's glacier list for lack of ice flow and size.
The glacier's name comes from the Paradise area of Mount Rainier, and its meltwater drains into the Cowlitz River. The southern lobe once held the Paradise Ice Caves, which drew visitors until the ice was lost in the 1980s. The Williwakas Glacier nearby was declared dead in the 1930s.
The area is accessible from June through October, when snow coverage is manageable for hiking. Access starts near Paradise Inn, which offers parking and visitor facilities in the park.
The glacier's lower southern lobe, near the Cowlitz Rocks, held the Paradise Ice Caves until the 1990s. That lobe melted away between 2004 and 2006, and the caves were already lost in the 1980s. The nearby Williwakas Glacier had been declared dead in the 1930s.
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