Mount Rainier National Park Archives Photo of the White River Ranger Station, circa 1931, with the porte-cochère extending out over the road.

White River Entrance is in the northeast corner of Mount Rainier National Park and was built between 1929-1931 in anticipation of the opening of Sunrise Road in 1931. It replaced an earlier entrance station that had been built in 1915. The new White River Entrance was modeled after the Nisqually Entrance, the first entrance in the park located in the southwest corner. The White River Ranger Station, which served as a combined office and checking station, was constructed of whole logs with a cedar shingle roof in the NPS Rustic style of architecture. A large porte-cochère, a roof extending out over the roadway, was added to the design to help serve visitors during poor weather. A few years later, a very similar porte-cochère was added to the Nisqually Entrance checking station.

Mount Rainier National Park Archives Photos: a ranger handing out the first visitor permit, 7/15/1931, (left), and the ranger station in 1960 with the center kiosk (right).

The White River porte-cochère was altered three times over the years, at one point extending over two lanes with a fee kiosk in the middle, before ultimately being downsized to its current smaller configuration that no longer allows vehicles. The current entrance kiosks were built in 2001 and the historic ranger station now serves as the White River Wilderness Information Center. White River Ranger Station is a contributing building to the Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District.

NPS/E. Brouwer Photo of the White River Ranger Station in 2014.

Did you visit White River Ranger Station when it was still the checking station or have you stopped to get wilderness information there during the summer?

Scotland (2) (3) (4) (5) by Tobias Verfuss

Via Flickr:

Cambridge Battery Ditch - Tigne - Sliema

Mount Rainier National Park Archives photo of the Chinook Entrance Arch under construction in 1936.

If you’ve entered or exited the east side of the park via SR410, you may remember going under the historic Chinook Entrance Arch. First built in 1936, the “arch” is a pedestrian overpass for the Pacific Crest Trail.

NPS Photo of the arch in 1952.

It is 90 feet long and the deck of the bridge rests on two cedar logs, each 36 inches in diameter, with two more 30-inch-diameter logs serving as guard walls, all set into stone abutments that use stones gathered from the roadsides. The deteriorating original logs were replaced in 2012 with near-identical logs, using traditional carving methods to match the original rustic style (watch a video of the bridge replacement process). The Chinook Entrance Arch is part of the Mount Rainier Historic Landmark District.

NPS Photo of the arch in 2012 when the logs were being replaced.

In addition to historic wood structures and buildings in the park, there are also numerous historic stone bridges, walls, guardrails, and other rock features incorporated into the design of Mount Rainier National Park. An early park concessionaire, the Rainier National Park Company, constructed masonry walls and benches around natural mineral springs in the Longmire Meadow in 1920, using local river rock. Over the years, dedicated park staff trained in techniques for historic preservation have restored the stonework around the springs to their original condition. These photos show Iron Mike and Soda Springs along the Trail of the Shadows soon after some repairs were completed in 2015.

NPS Photos of repairs to Iron Mike in 2015 (left) and in 2024.

Since then, the repaired stonework has weathered and is nearly indistinguishable from the original work! While the repairs have generally held up well, the work is never done. Future projects will continue to preserve these historic structures for the next generation.

Mount Rainier National Park Archives courtesy Vicknair Album Photo of the Nisqually Entrance Arch in 1923.

The Nisqually Entrance has been the main entrance to the park at least since the Nisqually Road, originally called the “Government Road”, was first surveyed in 1903 and went as far as Longmire. Nisqually Entrance is the longest operating entrance station in the National Park Service and remains the busiest entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. Welcoming visitors to the entrance is a log portal, called the Nisqually Entrance Arch, that was first constructed in 1911. The current 1973 entrance arch is a reconstruction of a 1930s reconstruction of the original 1911 arch at the same location. The workmanship, materials, and feeling of the reconstruction are completely consistent with the original arch and the Nisqually Entrance Arch remains a historic structure in the park’s National Historic Landmark District.

NPS Photo of the snowy arch in February 2019 (left) and NPS/B. Burnett Photo of the entrance arch in August 2019 (right).

Visitors have been stopping at the entrance arch to take photos for over a century – have you?