8
Ways to Make
Olympic National Park
Great
COVID-19
Due to the worldwide pandemic, please check for destination travel restrictions prior to visiting/booking
What a huge and diverse park. You can find mountains, ocean and rain forests here. With drive times so long you should plan your activities before heading out for the day.
Hurricane Ridge
3.2 mi RT hike
This hike is a must do. It is also pretty crowded. We parked at the overflow parking area, picnic area B. This added a few tenths of a mile uphill to the trailhead. The trail itself is uphill with 900 feet of elevation gain, but paved and well traveled. There were many deer that were not bothered by all of the people. At the top there are panoramic views of mountains and ocean.
Ruby Beach
This beach was better than Rialto for marine life and tide pools. The misty scenery was amazing and we spent an entire afternoon on the beach. Playing in tide pools, napping and just enjoying the view.
Sol Duc Falls
1.6 miles RT
Well worth the hike both for another rainforest experience and a waterfall.
Visit Lake Crescent
You can go hiking, paddling or see Marymere Falls, or you can just sit back and enjoy the view.
Hole in the Wall Rialto Beach
2.0 mi RT
This pleasant hike along the beach took us to this rock formation with a variety of marine life in tide pools.
Hall of Mosses
0.8 mi
This was a temperate rainforest hikes that demonstrated the variety of scenery available in this park. This hike is through lush green beauty and relatively easy.
Devil's Punchbowl, Lake Crescent
2 mi RT
We were confused by this hike because it is wide enough to be a road, we thought surely we haven't yet started the hike. We came to a really neat tunnel that was long enough to be pretty dark, but not too long to be scary for the kids. We unknowingly continued on but asked a trail worker where to find the bridge. It is actually a foot path around the tunnel. The bridge itself didn't look quite like the Port Angeles promotional brochure but we could see how it might be a nice place to float some afternoon. Lake Crescent is very scenic from many angles.
Stay at the KOA in Port Angeles
We were lucky to have the cabin right next to the playground so there were always kids to play with and we were very close to the bathrooms as well. The pool wasn't very warm (neither was the weather) so our kids didn't last too long in there. We rented little pedal go carts and cruised around the campground one afternoon.
Additional Tips
There were farmer's markets, festivals, live music and other fun things to do in the area. Look for a book of all the happenings at one of the tourist stops.
Eat at Turnip the Beet. This was a cute place with good food. I could see how the service being slow due to individually prepared foods could lead to long wait times but we were the only people there. They had acai bowls, rice bowls, wraps, toasted pita bread, etc. There was even a little couch area with games for the kids play while waiting on the food.