Trip Ideas

At 922,650 acres, Olympic is large park and it requires a good amount of time and driving to see everything the park has to offer. The ideal trip to Olympic National Park would include a visit to the three major ecosystems: mountains, rain forest, and coast. If you do not have much time, it may be difficult to see all three ecosystems. Check the suggested itineraries below for some ideas.

Half Day

With a half day and starting from Port Angeles, visiting Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, and the Sol Duc Valley are your best options. Time may permit the opportunity to drive to Rialto Beach or a visit to a beach outside of the park, like Dungeness Spit and Salt Creek County Park.

Drive Times from Port Angeles

• Hurricane Ridge (mountains)- 45 minutes
• Lake Crescent (lake & mountains)- 30 minutes
• Sol Duc Valley (forest & waterfalls)- 1 hour, 15 minutes

Hurricane Ridge offers mountain views (on a nice day), easy to strenuous hikes, and the opportunity to see the park at 5,200 feet.

Lake Crescent offers mountain and lake views, a scenic drive along Highway 101, an easy hike to Marymere Falls (1.8 miles round trip) or Devil’s Punchbowl (2.1 miles round trip), plus moderate and strenuous hikes.

Sol Duc Valley is most popular for a visit to Sol Duc Falls (1.8 miles round trip) and the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort. Ancient Groves Trail is a great easy old growth forest hike (0.5 miles).

 

 

Full Day

If you have a full day to spend at the park, it may be possible to visit all three ecosystems but you won’t have too much time to spend at each. The other option is to choose two of the three ecosystems and allow more time for exploration.

The top areas to visit would be Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Hoh Rain Forest, and the Mora area.

Drive Times from Port Angeles

• Hurricane Ridge (mountains)- 45 minutes
• Lake Crescent (lake & mountains)- 30 minutes (this location is on the way to the rain forest or coast)
• Mora (coast)- 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Hoh Rain Forest- 2 hours, 15 minutes

Hurricane Ridge offers mountain views (on a nice day), easy to strenuous hikes, and the opportunity to see the park at 5,200 feet.

Lake Crescent offers mountain and lake views, a scenic drive along Highway 101, an easy hike to Marymere Falls, plus moderate and strenuous hikes.

The Hoh Rain Forest offers easy, moderate, and strenuous hiking options. Hall of Mosses (0.8 miles) and Spruce Nature Trail (1.2 miles) are the most popular. Please plan carefully since between May and September, the Hoh Rain Forest area is very busy and long wait times at the entrance booth are common. Click here for more information and visitation tips!

The Mora area offers easy beach access points at Rialto Beach and First Beach. Short hikes through the forest will let you visit Second Beach and Third Beach. Visiting at or near low tide is ideal since it will offer more beach to walk on.

 

 

Multiple Days

If you have 2-3 days to visit Olympic National Park you will be able to visit all three of the major ecosystems, spend more time at each area, and see some additional attractions.

Rangers often recommend trying to split your overnight accommodations between the north side of the park (Port Angeles area) and the west side of the park (Forks area, Kalaloch, or Quinault). This will help cut down on the amount of driving during your visit.

Top areas to visit would include Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Sol Duc Valley, Mora area, Hoh Rain Forest, Kalaloch area, and possibly the Quinault area.

Additionally, visitors often enjoy going to the Makah Indian Nation to see Neah Bay, the Cultural Museum, and Cape Flattery.

Drive Times from Port Angeles

• Hurricane Ridge (mountains)- 45 minutes
• Lake Crescent (lake & mountains)- 30 minutes
• Sol Duc Valley (forest & waterfalls)- 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Mora (coast)- 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Hoh Rain Forest- 2 hours, 15 minutes
• Kalaloch (coast)- 2 hours, 30 minutes
• Quinault (rain forest)- 3 hours

Hurricane Ridge offers mountain views (on a nice day), easy to strenuous hikes, and the opportunity to see the park at 5,200 feet.

Lake Crescent offers mountain and lake views, a scenic drive along Highway 101, an easy hike to Marymere Falls, plus moderate and strenuous hikes.

The Hoh Rain Forest offers easy, moderate, and strenuous hiking options. Hall of Mosses (0.8 miles) and Spruce Nature Trail (1.2 miles) are the most popular. Please plan carefully since between May and September, the Hoh Rain Forest area is very busy and long wait times at the entrance booth are common. Click here for more information and visitation tips!

The Mora area offers easy beach access points at Rialto Beach and First Beach. Short hikes through the forest will let you visit Second Beach and Third Beach. Visiting at or near low tide is ideal since it will offer more beach to walk on.

Kalaloch is great spot to spend some time along the coast. Ruby Beach is an easy destination to see some sea stacks. Beach 4 offers good opportunities for tide pooling at low tide. Plus the beach below the Kalaloch campground is where you can find the Tree of Life.