Guide to Olympic National Park

 Olympic National Park is one of the most popular parks in the US and competes with Mt. Rainier National Park for Washington's most visited park every year. 

Things to know about the park:

1. Olympic National Park is very spread out- I have broken it up into different sections but I would highly recommend planning on spending at least a few days in the park. It's difficult to get a good grasp of it in only 1-2 days just because you will spend most of your time driving 

2. As you get further and further into the park it is very remote- plan ahead have plenty of food, water and gas with you. Dress appropriately- one of the sections is a rainforest- be prepared for rain.

3. It costs $30 dollars to get into the park for 1 week or it's free with an America the Beautiful parks pass

Where to stay: 

The two main areas that you can stay in are Port Angeles which is the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula- there are plenty of hotels, air bnbs etc in the area. You can camp in the park but again it's very spread out and you will need to drive if you want to see the different sections. Your other option is Forks- which is famous for it's twilight roots- much to its dismay. This is a smaller town but there are places to stay in this area as well. 

Hurricane Ridge

This is by far the most popular place to visit within the park- and to be fair- it's gorgeous I would highly recommend it. You drive up to beautiful mountain views. Be prepared it is cold up there and plan accordingly. 

The park visitor center is located a the base of hurricane ridge- it is easy to access from Port Angeles 

Hiking Trails:

Hurricane Hill Trail- This is a 3.4 mile out and back trail with breathtaking views of hurricane ridge. It's considered a moderately difficult trail due to the elevation change but the views are amazing. Would highly recommend. 

Heart of the forest trail- this is located near the base of the ridge in the campground area. It is a 4.5 mile out and back trail through the forest. It is easy but very pretty forest hiking 

Lake Crescent  

Lake Crescent is a beautiful large lake.  It has lake Crescent lodge and small little cabins to stay in on the water. It is roughly a 30 min drive from Port Angeles

Hiking Trails 

Marymere Falls trail: very pretty 1.8 mile easy trail to a beautiful waterfall. We did this with two seniors, a toddler and I was pregnant and it was very doable and pretty 

Storm King: This is supposed to be one of the best hikes in the entire park but it's a challenge. (one that we weren't willing to take on-maybe another time). The pictures from the top look amazing of Lake Crescent. It is 4.1 miles out and back with a 2,000 ft elevation gain. It's considered moderate/difficult. 

Sol Duc Falls 

Beautiful cascading waterfalls. The falls themselves are about 1.6 miles from the parking lot but its an easy hike. Once you get to the falls you can choose your own adventure if you would like to continue on. It's roughly 1 hour drive west of Port Angeles

Deer Lake Hike: 3 miles out and back from Sol Duc Falls. It's considered a moderate hike. We were surprised to find snow at the lake when we did it over Memorial Day weekend. 

Hoh Rainforest 

Yes there is a rainforest in the middle of nowhere Washington. Part of the reason I love this state is it's diversity. 

Hoh Rainforest is roughly 2 hours from Port Angeles and an hour from Forks.

Hall of Mosses trail- 0.8 miles very easy- for sure a must do. 

The other hiking trail in this area is the is the Hoh River Trail which is 17 miles long. This would be a great backpacking trail but we just weren't prepared to do that. We hiked along the river until we got tired and then ate lunch and turned around. 

Ruby Beach 

1 hour 40 minutes from Port Angeles, 30 minutes from Forks. Famous for it's seastacks and driftwood this is a really neat place to explore. Warning this is not your typical "sunny white sand beach". The pacific ocean is rough waters and there really isn't much sand. Still it's neat to explore. We actually drove up here while we were staying in Ocean Shores- which is technically not part of Olympic National Park but still a cool place to explore. 

Overall

We love Olympic National Park and have come here multiple times. There is so much diversity and so much to explore. We plan to continue to come back and explore more over the years.