Visiting the Pacific Northwest has been on our bucket list for years. When our family got the opportunity to go somewhere for a week-long vacation, Olympic National Park was at the top of our list of choices. We wrestled for a long time about whether or not this destination should be done as a family vacation or just the two of us. My husband and I like to go on long, rugged, and sometimes challenging hikes. Our 11 year old daughter doesn’t. She admittedly enjoys a week with grandma more than trekking up a mountain every morning.
After doing some research about the area and seeing how diverse Olympic National Park is, we decided that this would be an experience we didn’t want her to miss. With so many things to do, I could see that there were plenty of things to experience that we were all going to enjoy.
We live in the Michigan. Just driving to the Pacific Coast from home was going to take us about 38 hours and that wouldn’t include all of the driving we had to do once we arrived. So, without an ounce of hesitation, we decided to fly. We arrived in Seattle at about 11pm PMT (which felt like 2am for us). We picked up our rental car and crashed in the closest hotel we could find to the airport. The adventures were about to begin!
Day One:
The first thing I always do on a longer vacation is put in a Walmart pick-up order so we have snacks, drinks, lunch supplies, etc. to get us through most of the week. We were only in Seattle to sleep, and I quite honestly couldn’t wait to get out of there. So, we planned our grocery pick-up for later afternoon at our first destination: Port Angeles.
Port Angeles is about 2 1/2 hours from Seattle. The terrain is so much different than Michigan, so the drive felt like it went by quickly!
We arrived in Port Angeles and stopped for an early lunch before heading to the Visitor Center. I like to get my bearings and hear tips from local park rangers before heading out on our adventures. There have been a couple of times we learned something that I hadn’t heard about while doing internet research. We went into this vacation knowing that the weather changes rapidly. Everybody packed rain gear and our schedule of activities was mostly flexible depending on the weather. If we ran into something more interesting, it wasn’t going to spoil anything to change plans.
Our first stop was Hurricane Ridge. The Hurricane Ridge visitor center was closed due to a previous fire. There was no real reason to stop there anyway since we had just stopped at the Visitor Center in Port Angeles. We took the road all the way up to the parking lot for the trailhead for Hurricane Hill.
I plan all of our hikes using AllTrails. The AllTrails app has this sucker rated as a 3.4 mile “easy” hike. I guess maybe if you were rating hikes based on the maintenance of the trail, sure. This one you could call “easy”. It’s paved. Did my body think it was easy? Uhm, nope. I might attribute it to being from Michigan. Maybe it’s because we just spent an entire day sitting down in various modes of transportation. Or maybe it’s because you have to hike uphill for a mile and a half. Regardless, Hurricane hill would be moderate in my book. My daughter thought I was trying to kill her. She was convinced I was lying when I said it was rated an easy hike until I pulled up the app to show her, haha.
Despite all of the complaining, there are plenty of animals to see and the views are spectacular. This little black-tailed deer was just off the edge of the trail and not afraid to get his photo taken.
I loved the different colors on the horizon. From lush greens to hazy blues in the distance, there was no lack of beauty.
By the time you get to the top, you forget about all the misery you just endured to get there.
You should absolutely not forget to bring binoculars with you for this hike, either. We could see groups of deer grazing on the mountainside as we were hiking up.
One of the critters I had on my list of things to see was a marmot. I would’ve thought he was a rock, but I caught him in my binoculars while looking for more deer!
At the top of Hurricane Hill overlooking the mountains behind, there is a rock that we HAD to climb for a photo-op. It was a sketchy little scramble back down, but totally worth it!
In the opposite direction, you can see the sea from the top.
Klahhane Ridge was meant to be our next hike, but when we spoke with the ranger at the visitor center she told us the two hikes are very similar in terms of what you see. Our daughter was not up for another trip up a mountain ridge so we took the Cirque Rim trail. This little walk was truly “easy” and had some cool things to see. There were plenty of deer hanging out in the meadow.
Another thing we wanted to do was drive the Obstruction Point Road, but that was closed. So, after that we drove back down to Port Angeles. We picked up our groceries and settled into our motel. Once everything was unpacked, we had something to eat and then drove to Harborview Park. Harborview Park rests on a hook of land that protects Port Angeles from the sea. It would be our daughter’s first experience touching the ocean on the west coast :). The weather changed rapidly and all of a sudden, it was windy, foggy and chilly. It made the shore feel so ominous.
While there, we saw some puffins. At least, I think they were puffins.
Day Two:
We had plans to spend some time going to little shops and doing general touristy things in Port Angeles that morning. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel like the town was geared toward that as much as I expected. There were a few, don’t get me wrong. I was expecting something reminiscent of Etsy Park in Colorado and Port Angeles just isn’t that. So instead, we hopped in the car and drove out to do some short hikes.
The first place we stopped was Merrymere falls. Being from the mid-west it was easy to be awake and ready to adventure before many of the crowds. We were in the parking lot by 7am (which was 10am for us if we had been home). While hiking out to the falls, we only saw one other group of people. This hike was easy and we all agreed it was a pleasant way to start our day. There was a stark difference in the scenery from what we had seen the day before.
At this point in my life, this was one of the biggest trees I had ever seen. Until just a few minutes later when I saw another one. I’ll show you more from later in the week that made this one look like a baby.
Merrymere falls had pretty bridges, too.
And of course, the waterfall.
Many people spend an entire day or more at Lake Crescent. I have read that you can rent kayaks or bikes there. Aside from driving around it, this was the most time we spent there. Not that it wasn’t beautiful, it’s just that we spend a ton of time kayaking and biking at home. We wanted to spend time doing new things. I loved the little wildflowers, though!
Our next quick stop was Madison Falls. This trail is only about .2 miles long.
After that we still had about 2 hours to burn before we had to be at the docks to catch the boat for the whale watching tour. On the way back to Port Angeles, we found this cute trail that lead to the mouth of the Elwha River. It was a short walk to get there and we happened to arrive at low tide. I was fascinated by the black sand.
There were loads of driftwood washed up on the shore.
After that, we ate a quick lunch and headed to the dock for our whale tour with Pugent Sound Express. The Wharf where the tour agency is located had some cute shops and a small museum to visit. The staff on our tour was extremely friendly and kind. The boat was warm and they served food and drinks. However, we chose to stand outside the whole time and look for critters.
As with any animal tour, getting to see what you are actually looking for is not a guarantee. Our captain and crew took us all the way to the shores of Victoria, B.C. to see an orca. It was incredible!
The naturalist on board was super informative. He identified this whale as T057. They pulled up photos of this whale from 1993 and displayed them on the screen for us to see. On the way back, they took us to see an area called Race Rocks. It was covered in seals and hidden in the kelp we could see a sea otter.
Being out in the weather for 4 hours on a boat made us all tired. So we called it a day after that.
Day Three:
We packed up our things, checked out of our motel, and headed past Lake Crescent in the morning. Sol Duc Falls was our destination and we had heard it would get fairly crowded. We were at the trailhead 7:30am and it was drizzling rain. It was the perfect recipe for a people-less hike. We were back in a beautiful moss covered forest. By this time, we were really enjoying how we could be in the mountains, dense forest, or a beach all in one day.
Sol Duc Falls trail was easy and well worth it. We had planned to turn this hike into a 5-ish mile loop by combining Lover’s Lane and the B-loop, but we opted not to as the rain came down. I think the mist made the forest look even better somehow.
We did go by Sol Duc Falls to Lover’s Lane falls, but turned around there to head back to the car.
Just down the road are a few stops. Although the salmon weren’t running while we were there, we stopped to see the Salmon Cascades. We did stop to walk down a short trail called Ancient Groves. There are many very large trees down this trail and some that have grown out in interesting ways.
After that, we headed up toward the Neah Bay. The road to get there is twisty and follows closely along the shore. There are many places to pull off and check for critters. Part of the Whale Trail is along this route, and occasionally you can see whales from the shore. We didn’t see any whales at any of our stops but at one point we counted seven bald eagles in one place.
In order to visit the Neah Bay, you have to purchase a Makah Recreation Pass. It costs $20 per vehicle and can be purchased in multiple places on your way through.
Although we had been lucky enough to run into very few people for our morning hikes, it was about 1:00 by the time we reached the Cape Flattery Trailhead. The parking lot was full when we arrived and we had to park on the road. It wasn’t far, but definitely not a people-less experience. Is it obvious yet that I like to go into nature to experience nature with less humans around?
Regardless of the traffic, I loved this place. It was our first glimpse of pure Pacific Ocean. I hadn’t laid my eyes on the Pacific in 15 years. It felt like such a treat.
I didn’t check the tide schedule for this. We just went when it was convenient. I would bet if it wasn’t such a calm day and the tide was high, the ocean would roar as it beat up against those rocks.
We could see a cruise ship way out there, heading into the Salish Sea.
There are picnic tables set up in the forest near the point that would be a great place to have lunch. I didn’t know there would be, so we had peanut butter sandwiches in the steamy car that afternoon :).
After PB sandwiches, we were headed to Forks for the night. It was just over an hour drive so we stopped at Hobuck Beach before leaving the Mahak Reservation. This was fun because the tide was low and the water seemed to recede forever. We took our shoes off and chased the water back and forth.
On the way to Forks we saw a herd of Roosevelt Elk. Something in the forest frightened them and they all stood up at once and stared into the trees. The mothers must have called their calves because one by one, the little ones started popping their heads up out of the tall grass.
When we arrived in Forks we stopped at the Visitor Center. The logging museum is in the same parking lot as the visitor center and Bella’s truck from the Twilight series. There is a gigantic tree with a hollow center.
Day Four:
Day four was all about the beaches for us. If you’re spending any time on the beaches, you should get your hands on a tide schedule. We knew ahead of time that we wanted to go to the Hole in the Wall on Rialto Beach to search the tide pools. Low tide was at 9am on Rialto Beach that day. Being who we are as human beings, we got there at about 7am. It was eerily foggy which made the hike out there 100% cooler.
What a way to take your morning coffee.
The fog was so dense that when the sun finally could peek through the trees, it felt like magic. Since we were in the land of Twilight, my husband thought it would be hilarious to pretend he was Edward from the story. He looks kind of sparkly to me!
The iconic stacks started poking up through the fog.
Being alone on this beach was mesmerizing. It was especially amazing when we started finding critters.
There were tons of starfish of all different colors.
We made it to the Hole in the Wall without another human in sight. I can see how this place could get dangerous with the tide rising. The rocks were slippery going through.
We stayed for about an hour looking at all of the sea critters and listening to the ocean.
On the way back, the throngs of people coming out of the fog toward us was like watching a scene from the Walking Dead. It was an endless stream. We passed SO MANY people and couldn’t believe how the perfectly groomed sand from earlier that morning was completely covered in footprints. If there was any hike we did where getting up early in the morning was worth it – it was this one.
After Rialto, we headed toward the LaPush Beaches. I had read that First Beach was the best for easy access. It was. The beach was right off the parking lot, which was perfect for just relaxing and letting our daughter play in the water.
After the fog cleared up a little, surfers started showing up. I don’t have any surfing knowledge whatsoever, so I can’t say whether or not we were there at the right time for surfer watching. There were enough of them there to be entertaining, though.
That afternoon we spent some time in Forks. It was a cute little town that we enjoyed more than Port Angeles. My husband tried to make a new friend and we shared a chocolate bigfoot 🙂
Day Five:
Our last day in the Olympic National Park started off with us visiting the Hoh Rainforest. We were at the parking lot again by 7am. We were too early to get to go into the Visitor Center, but we were told by one of the park rangers that if you don’t get to the gate by 9am, there will be a line to get in.
Everything was covered in moss. This forest was like nothing we had ever seen.
We started with the Hall of Mosses and then did the Spruce Nature Trail. Both are loops and both are easy trails with plenty of interesting things to see.
After the rainforest, we stopped at the Duncan Cedar. This was without a doubt the biggest tree I have ever seen.
Our next stop was Ruby Beach. I didn’t plan to stop here at any particular time, although I heard visiting at sunset is spectacular. It was going to be a stop we made whenever we happened to be driving by. Luckily for us, it was low tide again. We couldn’t resist the temptation to lay our eyes on another starfish.
We found a vibrant purple little one!
Just a short drive away is the Tree of Life at Kalaloch. The root system was massive and worth the stop on it’s own.
The best treasure we found was at this beach. There were dozens of intact sand dollars spread all over the place. Our daughter spent a good chunk of time running back and forth to put the live ones back in the ocean.
By the time we left Kalaloch, it was only noon. I felt like we put in a whole day of adventures already. We stopped for some pizza and to take a break then headed to Lake Quinalt. This is another place where you can rent kayaks and spend much more time. For us, this was meant to be just another stop. We didn’t have a real plan for when we got there, but we found a ranger station and a hike called Maple Glade.
It was a nice walk through the forest, and we found a banana slug. My guess is that there are slugs all over the Hoh Rainforest, but we were there before the sun came out to wake them up.
Just down the road was another of the World’s Largest Trees. It’s just a short hike from the road, easy to get to and worth the sight.
Our Olympic National Park adventures ended in Moclips. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. The nicest place we stayed during our entire vacation was here on the Pacific Ocean.
We were exhausted from all of the hiking and adventures. It was so nice to lay in a bed with the windows open while the sound of the ocean lulled us to sleep.
I think some of the most important things to keep in mind while planning a trip to the Olympic Peninsula is to plan for all types of weather. We dressed in layers because even in June when we visited, the mornings were chilly and the afternoons were quite warm. Spending any time on the ocean or on the beach significantly reduces the temperature. We also had rain jackets packed in the backpack every time we hiked.
Bring sturdy shoes for all types of terrain. I wore my Keens everywhere, but kept a pair of cheap sandals in the car because there’s nothing worse than sticking a wet sandy foot back in your socks.
Wake up early. Get there early. We visited in early June, which I’m sure is busier than the true shoulder season. I can’t imagine how busy this park would be if we were there in July.
Be sure to have a tide schedule and plan your trips to the beach around the tides.
I hope our vacation and experiences helps you plan your own!