By 7:20 a.m. Friday the parking lot at Mount Rainier National Park’s White River Wilderness Information Center already was packed.

By 9:50 a.m. 26 hikers clogged the 1.3-mile trail to the Mount Fremont lookout near Sunrise. And by 11:30 a.m. the line just to enter the park at the White River Entrance was half a mile long.

Expect those scenes to be typical at recreation hot spots around the South Sound this summer, especially this holiday weekend, as more and more people are eschewing traveling vacations in favor of budget-friendly trips closer to home.

“We expect every place in the park to be really crowded,” Donna Rahier of Mount Rainier National Park said.

Veteran hiker Audrey Drucker of Puyallup has a tip for avoiding the chaos: Get there early.

Drucker left Puyallup at 3:15 a.m. Friday. She watched the sunrise at Sunrise Point, then spent the morning hiking among the wildflowers. At 9:45 a.m., while most everybody else was still arriving at the park, she was perched at the Fremont Lookout reveling in the in-your-face view of Mount Rainier. “I came early for some solitude and some quietude,” Drucker said.

Brandon Cossel and Jackie Kajdzik of Maple Valley had a similar plan. They beat the masses to Sunrise, but that wasn’t necessarily their goal.

“We’re just trying to beat the heat,” said Kajdzik, whose husband was hiking with a pack on his back and their 3-month-old daughter strapped to his chest.

Friday was the first day of operation for the Sunrise Visitor Center. Rahier suggested summer visitors to the park use the free shuttle service to help reduce congestion. Shuttles leaving from Ashford on weekends and Longmire on weekdays make several stops on the way to Paradise.

“Any site that is reservable is reserved,” Sandy Mealing, state parks spokeswoman said. “Both for the fourth and every other weekend this summer.”

Mealing said reservations at state parks are up 9 percent the first half of the year compared with last year and cancellations are down 15 percent. “We are expecting more people to stay closer to home,” Mealing said.

Pierce County Parks don’t track visitors, recreation superintendent Scott Hall said.

“But judging by how much more clean up we have (to do on) weekends, a lot more people are using our parks,” Hall said. “Especially any park with water attached to it.”

Hall said he has seen parking lots at some parks that usually fill up at 2 p.m. now filling up by 10 a.m.

“You might end up disappointed if you don’t go there early,” Hall said. “My advice is to plan to stay for the day.”

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

craig.hill@thenewstribune.com

blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure

YOU CAN STILL CAMP

These campgrounds offer first-come, first-served camping. Get there early.

1. White River Campground, Mount Rainier National Park, www.nps.gov/mora

2. Big Creek Campground, Olympic National Forest, www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic

3. Big Creek Campground, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, www.fs.fed.us/gpnf

4. Brown Creek Campground, Olympic National Forest, www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic

5. Kaner Flat Campground, Wenatchee National Forest, www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee

6. Joemma Beach State Park, parks.wa.gov

7. Old Fort Townsend State Park, parks.wa.gov

8. Twanoh State Park, parks.wa.gov

9. Potlatch State Park, http://parks.wa.gov

10. Dispersed camping: Camping is allowed anywhere in national forests unless otherwise posted. www.fs.fed.us