Save time by buying Mount Rainier passes online

Now you don’t have to wait in line — just print your pass and home and enjoy the majesty of the park.

Visiting Mount Rainier National Park is now a little bit easier, thanks to a new way for hikers, campers and general nature lovers to buy their park passes online.

The program, called YourPassNow, started last Tuesday, Sept. 11.

“We are pleased to offer this convenient new service for park visitors,” said Tracy Swartout, acting Mount Rainier National Park superintendent in a press release. “This exciting technology will allow people to save some time at the entrance station by purchasing a pass in advance.”

So far, visitors to the park can buy four different kinds of passes off www.yourpassnow.com: the $30 vehicle pass, the $25 motorcycle pass, the $15 individual or bicycle pass, or the $55 Mount Rainier Annual Pass.

However, the federal interagency annual pass, also known at the “America the Beautiful — The National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass Series,” cannot be bought through YourPassNow, but can still be bought at any federal national park or online.

Even though a pass can now be bought online, it’s still required for visitors to print their passes before visiting the mountain and its parks, and for passes to be clearly displayed when vehicles are parked at campgrounds or trailheads, since “connectivity is limited or non-existent in the park,” the release stated.