Log cabins and shaded RV sites rest beneath towering old-growth cedars and firs, a half-mile from Mount Rainier's Nisqually park entrance.
Mounthaven Resort occupies seven heavily forested acres of giant cedar and Douglas fir trees, located just a half-mile from the Nisqually entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. The property began its life in 1920 as Billings Lodge, built by Ann Billings and a carpenter friend as a private residence and vacation home for Ann and her five daughters. During the Great Depression in 1932, needing a reliable source of income, Billings converted the main lodge into a boarding house and began constructing the first rental cabins on the property. Today, the resort is owned and operated by James and Zandy Ball, who purchased the property in 2013 after running a hospitality business in Minnesota. Under their stewardship, the historic resort has retained its rustic, deep-woods character while providing modern comforts for travelers exploring the Cascade Range.
The lodging options at the resort consist of nine historic cabins, three larger vacation rentals, and sixteen full-hookup RV campsites. Each of the individual cabins has its own unique layout, accommodating between two and nine guests. Inside, the cabins feature wood-burning fireplaces or stoves, gas heaters, and fully equipped kitchens or kitchenettes stocked with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. During the colder autumn and winter months, the resort provides a daily allotment of firewood for the cabin hearths. The sixteen RV sites are carefully integrated into the mature forest canopy to offer privacy, each equipped with its own picnic table and fire ring. On-site amenities for all guests include clean restroom and shower facilities, a laundry room, and charcoal barbecue grills.
The resort grounds are defined by their natural, undisturbed landscape, featuring two mountain creeks and a tranquil pond that wind through three-hundred-year-old western red cedars. Black-tailed deer are frequent visitors, often seen browsing on the undergrowth near the cabin porches at dawn and dusk, while the calls of varied thrushes and owls echo through the canopy. The close proximity to the national park makes the resort an ideal basecamp for visiting the Longmire historic district or heading up to the high country of Paradise. After a day of hiking the Skyline Trail or viewing the Nisqually Glacier, guests return to a quiet sanctuary where the only sounds are the rustling of cedar boughs and the gentle flow of the creeks.
The resort's smaller cabins, like the cozy Cedar Cabin, are ideal for couples and often have better availability than the larger multi-bedroom units. They offer the same deep-forest immersion and quick park access, just in a more compact footprint for two. Book well in advance for summer weekends.
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