Yes, you can -- camping at Mt. Rainier in the winter

When most boondockers think boondocking, they think of the national forests and snowbirding in the warm southwestern deserts.

But if you can't get away for the winter but still want to do some winter camping, Mount Rainer National Park is opening up some areas of the park for RV camping without hookups.

RVs will be allowed in the Paradise lower parking lot or the upper parking lot across trom the Paradise Inn as well as at Narada Falls and Longmire. A new webcam went online last week showing the view of Longmire.

Mounted on the second floor of the administration building, the camera looks toward the Longmire Museum and the road leading up from the Nisqually Entrance, with the National Park Inn hidden behind the trees in the distance. There also are six additional webcams at Paradise and one at Camp Muir. You can find the webcams here.

Extreme cold weather RV camping requires some extra safety precautions and planning to stay both safe and warm. Some tips and adv ice for winter camping can be found here.

Winter snow camping is not for all of us, but Mount Rainier makes it possible to try it out under favorable conditions with help--if needed--near by.