Sunrise is located on a ridge northeast of Mount Rainier. The name "Sunrise" has been applied here in general to the North East quadrant of Mount Rainier National Park. The images in this gallery has been taken from a number of locations including the top of Dege Peak, the trail to the Emmons Glacier Overlook, the shore of the White River and just outside of the park in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The Sunrise Visitor Center is located at the highest elevation reachable by highway in the park. Since this area lies in the moisture shield of Mount Rainier, it is drier and melts out earlier than locations such as Paradise. The southfacing slope above the Visitor Center can be snow-free and dry while Paradise is snow-covered or muddy. And it can be cloudy and cool at Longmire and Paradise and sunny and warm at Sunrise. Also, considerably fewer visitors come Sunrise than to Paradise.