Mount Rainier Tipsoo Lake Fall Colors
Upper Tipsoo Lake Fall Colors

Mount Rainier Tipsoo Lake Fall Colors

Tipsoo Lake is an amazing place, especially when fall colors are popping. Countless iconic Mt. Rainier photos have been taken with the lake in the foreground and the mountain behind it. (Example photo below.) Unfortunately, on a recent October day I planned to photograph Tipsoo Lake, but the mountain wasn’t out. Like not at all. Nothing but fog and clouds. Fortunately, amazing fall colors were abundant and I was able to photograph some colorful foliage and a new to me smaller lake, Upper Tipsoo Lake.

An early morning shot of Mount Rainier and Tipsoo Lake in Mount Rainier National Park. Photograph by Michael McAuliffe
An early morning shot of Mount Rainier and Tipsoo Lake in Mount Rainier National Park. Photograph by Michael McAuliffe

The photo above is the classic Tipsoo Lake shot and an easy one to take if the weather cooperates. I took this photo just after sunrise on a July morning in 2023. The weather was great and the mountain was on full display. What’s really amazing is that you can get this shot by pulling over to a parking area on Highway 410 and shooting from your car. No hiking required, and if you want, an iconic Mt. Rainier shot from out your car window. (I got out of the car and setup a tripod so I could get steady shots in low light as the sun came up.)

Upper Tipsoo Lake

Last week I returned to Tipsoo Lake and the weather didn’t cooperate–the mountain was completely fogged in. So I explored the “other” Tipsoo Lake for the first time. There’s a second smaller lake just above Tipsoo Lake on the other side of the highway that I had never photographed. Upper Tipsoo or Little Tipsoo Lake as it’s called can’t be seen from the road. But a very short walk up the Naches Peak Loop trail which begins across the road gets you there. The opening photograph of this post and the photo below are of Upper Tipsoo Lake.

Upper Tipsoo Lake at Mount Rainier and fall colors.
Upper Tipsoo Lake and Fall Colors.

Mount Rainier would be on full display behind Upper Tipsoo Lake (just like bigger better known Tipsoo Lake) on a clear day. The weather was anything but clear last week so I instead “settled” for some fall foliage photography. The fall colors at Mount Rainier in October are stunning. I can’t think of any landscape prettier than the October mix of reds, oranges and yellows, along with the evergreens, at Mount Rainier.

Fall foliage above Little Tipsoo Lake at Mount Rainier.
Fall Foliage above Upper Tipsoo Lake.

Those colors are on full display in my photo above from the trail above Upper Tipsoo Lake. Mt. Rainier might be my favorite place on the planet to visit and photograph and views like this are one of the reasons.

You can find some of my other Mount Rainier photographs in my Mount Rainier photo gallery. Any of these photographs are available as matted prints or prints on canvas or metal that could look great on one of your walls! Contact me for more information.

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