Cougar Rock, Reflection Lake

September, 2025

There are a few other roads up here, other roads than the one that leads up to Paradise. But I had never been on any of those other roads. The maps of them always scared me with the drop offs and switchbacks. But a neighbor camper at Cougar Rock said that I MUST go to Reflection Lake, that it’s gorgeous! And yes there is part of the road that has a serious drop off along one side of the road but you must go!!

Sigh, ok, sigh, oh my. And so, today, off I went. I drove most of the way up to Paradise but then turned right onto another road before arriving at Paradise. And yes, there then was a stretch of that road where it did have a two-foot high THICK rock barrier. But it was only two feet high, and the drop off immediately on the other side of that barrier went straight down, straight down!, not even any trees. Oh my heart. But I crept along in the truck and got past that part of the road, and then the rest was easy.

In the photo below, the big white truck is parked facing Reflection Lake. You might wonder where everyone is, and why it’s called Reflection Lake. My camper neighbor said “do not stop at the first parking lot because it is always jam-packed full. Keep driving until you get to the second parking lot, there’s almost no one ever there.” So here I am at the second parking lot … yep, just me and one other car there the whole time I was here.

 

 

I walked along the road, further along the lake. You can see the big white truck in the distance in the photo below. The large boulders prevent people from trying to get down to the lake since the land there is so steep that people used to try to climb down there but many of them fell and got hurt. So now it’s protected and safe, and it’s beautiful.

I liked all the little trees. I heard another visitor say these little trees must be only a year or two old. Well, no, the weather here is so cold and dry that growth takes a long time here, this high up the mountain.

I was told by a park ranger that these small trees are about 20 years old.

In the photo below, I’m looking further yet down the lake, looking away from the parking lot. It was so quiet here! Just a tiny breeze, the birds, a few scurrying animals in the shrubbery.

And then I turned and looked across the road at the tall trees there. So skinny!

 

You can tell which direction the wind comes from in the winter storms here. The park ranger told me that trees like these are likely 150 years old, or more.

Then there was a place along that road where I could get a close-up view of some shallow water near the edge of the lake.

 

And then I looked up, and there she was, directly across the lake … Mt. Rainier! But, no reflection! The breeze was rustling the water there, so no reflection was happening. But back where my truck was parked, I had felt no breeze, so back up the road I trotted, hoping to find some smooth water for a reflection.

And I sure found it! 🙂

 

 

What a handsome mountain. And at 14,410 feet, it’s a powerful, majestic mountain!

 

I sure lucked out on having such a beautiful day, and on the day being almost wind-free so there was a reflection of Mt. Rainier on Reflection Lake. I stayed and walked along the road some more, and sat on a rock or two and just enjoyed the beauty for a couple of hours.

Ah, but then I needed to drive back up the road to get back to the campground, and I knew I had to drive along that really frightening part of the road. But I also knew that I would be on the “up hill” side of the road for this drive, not on the side of the road with the drop off. So I wasn’t quite as scared. I got back just fine.

Here’s the video (below) of the drive back to the main road. Somewhere in the middle of the video you will see the drop off on your left. But at the very beginning of the video, you will see the big/main parking lot here at Reflection Lake and you’ll see how packed it is. That camper neighbor of mine gave me very good advice … keep going to the second parking lot, and don’t tell anyone else about it! Shhhh, don’t tell anyone. 🙂