Table of Contents:

• Tips for Your Wildflower Elopement
• Best Wildflower Elopement Locations in Washington
  • Mount Rainier National Park
  • North Cascades National Park
  • Mount Baker
  • Olympic National Park
  • Columbia River Gorge
• Best Wildflower Elopement Locations in Oregon
  • Columbia River Gorge
  • Central Oregon

Imagine you and your love walking hand-in-hand through a field of wildflowers, on your way to the spot where you’re about to exchange your vows. You have your ceremony in the middle of a stunning green meadow with dramatic mountain peaks in the background, surrounded by your friends & family who are cheering you on every step of the way. Sounds magical – count me in!! If you’re dreaming up a wildflower elopement, the PNW is the absolute best place to make it happen. I put together this list for y’all of 25 of the best wildflower elopement locations in Washington & Oregon, spanning across the North Cascades, Mount Rainier, the Columbia River Gorge, and more! 

3 Tips for Your Wildflower Elopement

First I wanted to give y’all a couple of important tips to keep in mind while you’re planning your PNW wildflower elopement.

1. Stay on designated trails

One of the quickest ways to destroy the beautiful wildflower meadows that we all get to enjoy is to go off-trail, and step into the flower fields. I know it’s easy to think that it’s “just one time” or that “nobody is around to see it,” but the more people who think that & go off-trail anyway, the more damage it causes year after year. Sadly, the impact of just a few people can be really significant on fragile ecosystems like wildflower meadows, so it’s our job to protect it as best we can by staying on trails & following Leave No Trace practices! It can be tempting to take a few steps off a designated trail to get a photo or see a certain viewpoint, but I promise we can find places with just as amazing views that are accessible without damaging the land, if we spend a little more time exploring. 

To learn more about how to Leave No Trace with your adventure elopement, head over to my full Leave No Trace Elopement Guide!

2. Check current trail conditions

It’s always a good idea to check current trail conditions before you head out on your adventure elopement to make sure you’re prepared, but you should also check to see what you can expect from the wildflowers at the time of your elopement. Sometimes wildflowers might bloom a little earlier or later than usual depending on the weather that spring/summer, so it’s best to check current conditions so you know what to expect. The last thing you want is to expect a full wildflower meadow at peak bloom, only to arrive and find out that they haven’t quite showed up yet!

3. Have backup locations 

On that same note, it’s a good idea to have backup locations in mind in case of unexpected weather conditions, or in case your original location doesn’t quite have the wildflowers you were envisioning. If you can, find a couple of different locations within driving distance of each other, at different elevations, so that if one doesn’t work out, you can go to a higher/lower elevation to hopefully find other wildflowers!

Best Wildflower Elopement Locations in Washington

Mount Rainier National Park

Let’s start with one of the most iconic wildflower destinations in the PNW: Mount Rainier! Hikers come from all over the country to see the picturesque wildflower meadows at Mount Rainier National Park, which is why it gets sooo busy in the summertime. There are a ton of subalpine meadows that literally overflow with wildflowers during peak bloom, which is heavily dependent on the weather each year + the amount of rain the area gets in the spring – so keep in mind that the “best time” to see the wildflower can change year to year. In general, however, the best time to elope at Mount Rainier to see the wildflowers is between late July & mid-August!

For a more in-depth look at how to plan your elopement in this epic park, check out my Ultimate Mount Rainier Elopement Guide!

Below are some of the best trails for a Mount Rainier wildflower elopement:

1. Deadhorse Creek Trail & Moraine Trail

Length: 3.25 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 5,820 ft

2. Pinnacle Saddle

Length: 2.5 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 1,000 ft

3. Spray Park

Length: 8 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate/hard

Elevation gain: 1,700 ft

4. Naches Peak Loop

Length: 3.2 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy/moderate

Elevation gain: 600 ft

5. Sheep Lake

Length: 3.6 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy/moderate

Elevation gain: 400 ft

6. Skyline Trail Loop

Length: 5.5 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 1,450 ft

North Cascades National Park

If you want to head further north, the North Cascades mountain range is a freaking amazing option, not only because of the wildflowers that bloom in the summer but also because of the dreamy scenery. Everywhere you turn you have beautiful views of the jagged mountain peaks, plus the lush forested valleys & turquoise alpine lakes are absolutely breathtaking! Wildflowers bloom in a ton of areas of the North Cascades, mostly along the exposed alpine ridges and on the grounds of moist rainforests. The best time to elope in the North Cascades for the wildflowers is usually between late June & August, but you may be able to find some colorful flowers in low elevation forests even earlier!

If you want help planning your North Cascades elopement, I def recommend checking out my Ultimate North Cascades Elopement Guide, where I give you all the best places to stay, info about getting the proper permits, & more.

Here are some of the best trails in North Cascades National Park for a wildflower elopement:

7. Heather-Maple Pass Loop

Length: 7.2 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate/hard

Elevation gain: 2,020 ft

8. Winchester Mountain

Length: 3.4 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 1,300 ft

9. Cutthroat Lake

Length: 3.8 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy/moderate

Elevation gain: 400 ft

10. Sourdough Mountain

Length: 10.4 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Hard

Elevation gain: 4,870 ft

Mount Baker 

Mount Baker is usually a *little* bit less crowded than the popular spots at Mount Rainier or in the North Cascades, and it’s seriously just as beautiful. With a ton of trails to choose from at all different levels of difficulty, gorgeous alpine meadows, rocky peaks, and stunning lakes, this wilderness area looks freaking magical when the wildflowers begin to bloom. The meadows fill up with heather in the summer along with plenty of summer alpine wildflowers, and there are plenty of trails you can take that boast a variety of beautiful flowers! Wildflowers bloom from June to September at Mount Baker, but the best time to elope at Mount Baker for wildflowers is typically between August and September. 

Here are three of the best trails to check out at Mount Baker for a wildflower elopement!

11. Heliotrope Ridge

Length: 5.5 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 1,400 ft

12. Chain Lakes Loop

Length: 6.5 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate/hard

Elevation gain: 1,820 ft

13. Skyline Divide

Length: 9 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Hard

Elevation gain: 2,500 ft

Olympic National Park

Y’all already know I adore the Olympic Peninsula and all of the amazing Twilight-inspired elopement locations it has to offer, but did you know that Olympic National Park also boasts some pretty dang amazing wildflowers in the summer?! The alpine ridges and open meadows boast a variety of alpine flowers in the summer, including vibrant lupines, lilies, and Indian paintbrush that look absolutely stunning with the mountains in the background. The best time of year to elope in Olympic National Park for wildflowers is typically during July & August, especially at higher elevations such as Hurricane Ridge.

For more info about eloping in Olympic National Park, be sure to read my full Olympic National Park Elopement Guide!

Here are two of the best trails in Olympic National Park for wildflowers:

14. Hurricane Hill

Length: 3.2 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy/moderate

Elevation gain: 650 ft

15. Switchback Trail

Length: 1.2 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain: 500 ft

Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is truly an area that has it all: beautiful river views, cascading waterfalls, massive basalt cliffs, lush forests, tons of amazing overlooks, and of course, wildflowers! The gorge is home to a variety of types of wildflowers, blooming along the highway in the spring & starting to appear on mountain slopes around May, with prime wildflower season being from around April to June each year.

Click here to see a few more of my fav Columbia River Gorge elopement locations 🙂 

Here are some of the best locations on the Washington side of the Gorge for a wildflower elopement!

16. Dog Mountain

Length: 6 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Hard

Elevation gain: 2,800 ft

17. Columbia Hills State Park

Best Wildflower Elopement Locations in Oregon

Columbia River Gorge

Now, here are two of my favorite spots on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge where you can see some breathtaking wildflowers for your elopement:

18. Rowena Crest

19. Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail

Length: 4.9 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain: 387 ft

Central Oregon

Finally, let’s talk about central Oregon, which is honestly such an underrated area! I freaking love this part of my home state, with the beautiful high desert, the 14 Cascade Lakes, the mountainous backdrop, and the many small towns to explore. Wildflowers bloom all over central Oregon, across the forests, canyons, grasslands, and even throughout the high desert between March and August, starting in the sagebrush in early spring and into the alpine meadows of the Cascades later into the summer. If you want to elope in the central Oregon high desert during wildflower season, March-April is probably the best time to do it. And if you want to elope in the mountains, elope closer to July-August for the most wildflowers!

20. Suttle Lake Lodge

21. FivePine Lodge

22. Canyon Creek Meadows

Length: 7.4 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 1,607 ft

23. Coffin Mountain

Length: 2.5 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain: 1,013 ft

24. Crooked River Trail

Length: 4.5 mi, roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain: 321 ft

25. Painted Hills

There you go y’all! Those are my top 25 location recommendations for a wildflower elopement in the PNW. If you want further help planning your dream adventure elopement in Washington or Oregon, I’d freaking love to give you my best tips – check out the blog for all kinds of resources + guides I’ve put together for you!

Ultimate Adventure Elopement Packing List + Essentials

15 Meaningful Ways to Include Your Kids in Your Elopement

9 Best Waterfall Elopement Locations in the Pacific Northwest