I have some family coming in June and they want to spend a couple days at Mt. Rainier. Any suggestions on cool places to stay? Lodge or Cabins? I was going to suggest they also ck out Mt. St. Helens. I have always camped, but they will not be equipped for camping.

Thank you
Coho

Quite a few options for you. If they're from back east where it's flat, they will marvel at Mt. Rainier. Keep in mind that June is a little early for stable weather around the mountain.

http://www.mtrainierguestservices.com/

http://www.rainierlodge.com/

http://deepforestcabins.com/

http://www.cedarcabincreek.com/

Coho, I have taken a number of visitors up to Mt. St. Helens and they loved it. I have taken a few out on Coldwater Lake with a small boat and electric motor. The fishing can be good and the views around the lake of the blast zone are sure to please people who have never seen it.

I have stayed at Silver Lake Resort most of the time. From there it is about 30 miles or so up to the lake. There is a place about 18 miles or so from the lake that has Yurts (sp?). No power, but a knotch above camping. Other then that nothing close that doesn't involve camping.

There are also outfitters in the area that take people on horseback through the area.

Yep.

Even up thru early June I've ran into snowfall camping in the Cascades.

You have to keep in mind elevation & freezing levels. At 5000 feet, a lil rain down below will be snow up above.

A safe gauge is -10ºF for every 1k feet especially when the sun drops.

So if it's 80º in Seattle and you're camped at 4000ft expect temps to run about 40º-50ºF.

Now that's not any sort of law, it's just an insurance policy so you don't get caught in shorts when the temps drop below freezing.