road trip through olympic national park

how to see the highlights of olympic national park and the olympic peninsula on a road trip

we spent 4 days driving through the olympic peninsula and olympic national park during the second half of our trip to washington. it is an amazing place with very diverse landscape and countless things to do and see. 

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ferry ride

as i mentioned in my post about seattle, which can be found here, we started our trip to the olympic peninsula with a ferry ride across the puget sound. we drove our rental  car right on the ferry and then spent the 30 minute ride exploring the ferry. everyone else seemed to do this regularly so they weren’t quite as excited as we were, but it was a pretty cool trip!

day 1 hurricane ridge

the first day of our journey consisted of driving from seattle to where we would be staying for the next few nights outside of forks washington. it wasn’t just a driving day, we got to do a lot of exploring on this day too! after our ferry ride we drove across this super long bridge as we continued our journey. we stopped in port angeles for a quick fast food lunch and to fuel up before heading into the park. 

the first thing we did was enter the park and drive hurricane ridge. there was a bit of construction throughout the peninsula and we had to be a little patient with traffic throughout the trip. the view on the drive to hurricane ridge as well as that from the visitor center was well worth it. the visitor center gives a view from a short hike on one side of mountains in canada and the olympic mountain range from the other side. 

day 1 lake crescent and marymere falls

after exploring hurricane ridge we drove back down and headed to lake crescent. again the drive was beautiful as  the road follows along this huge lake for quite a while. we stopped at lake crescent and walked around this beautiful old lodge. unfortunately it was not in our budget to stay here, but it was cool to walk around. the enclosed porch overlooking the lake was just my kind of spot for some reading and relaxing. we walked along the beach and watched a few brave people swimming in the chilly water. 

we also walked out onto the pier where you can see right through the crystal clear water into the depths of this lake. lake crescent is more than 600ft deep at it’s deepest, and the crystal clear water gives it a beautiful blue and turquoise color most like what i have seen in the caribbean. there are even boat rides from the lodge around the lake. 

from lake crescent lodge you can get to the trail for marymere falls. this is a nice easy hike with a steep incline just the last hundred feet or so is pretty steep. the falls were pretty small this late in the summer, but they are very tall and there are lots of beautiful things to see along the hike there. 

day 1 sol duc falls

from lake crescent we made our way to sol duc falls. this was another easy hike and a roaring waterfall well worth the hike. 

from here we headed to our airbnb to get settled for the night and find some dinner. we stayed a little in the middle of nowhere about 10 minutes outside of forks. if that sounds familiar to you it’s all thanks to the twilight series! for dinner there was a great diner just down the road called the hungry bear cafe where they don’t mess around with portions! we were both so stuffed but still managed to fit in some ice cream before calling it a night!

day 2 cape flattery

we started day two with a great fresh baked breakfast from our airbnb host. then we headed north to neah bay and cape flattery which is the most northwest point in the lower 48. 

this drive is again beautiful and takes you along the strait juan de func which is that part of water that separates washington from canada. there are lots of pull offs on the road and i recommend taking at least one to be able to take in the views, especially if you’re the one driving. we made one stop where we could walk along the beach and another where we got to watch a grey whale surface multiple times  very close to shore. we basically had a birds eye view of him and it was so cool!

this drive will take you through the small town of neah bay and to the trailhead for cape flattery. again this is a very easy hike. it is pretty cool because a lot of the hike is on a boardwalk of sorts keeping you off the ground.

the view from the end of this hike is more beautiful than any pictures could do justice. i just kept expecting a mermaid or something to appear to complete what felt like a fantasy. we also got to watch some helicopters taking supplies to tatoosh island where there is a lighthouse. the noise from the helicopter kind of ruined the isolation feeling, but we were assured it was an annual thing for work on the otherwise uninhabited island. 

day 2 makah museum

after taking in all we could from cape flattery we headed back into neah bay and had lunch at pat’s place right on the water. fishing boats were coming in and out of the dock and the seals were barking loudly as they got some fish and sunned themselves on the dock. we had fresh made fry bread tacos which were great and everyone was very friendly. 

from there we checked out the makah museum at the edge of town. this whole area is on the reservation and this museum is very well done and has a ton of very old artifacts from the makah tribe pre-contact. it does a nice job of walking through how the artifacts were obtained and how the makah tribe lived 500 years ago. 

day 2 rialto beach, la push, and forks

we decided to head back to forks and explore some of the beaches. as i mentioned, forks is well known thanks to the twilight series, but it is still a small town in rural wahington. the visitor center has a replica of bella’s truck outside and cutouts of twilight characters inside, although we didn’t check it out. right next door is the timber museum. as we drove along the olympic peninsula we passed countless logging trucks so it is obvious this is still a huge industry in this area of the country. the museum is small but has a lot of artifacts and is fun to walk through. 

we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to rialto beach to enjoy the sun and sand. there were a lot of people with the same idea, so the beach was a little crowded. it is such a huge beach we were still able to find a quiet spot to watch seagulls diving into the water and relax. 

from here we drove to first beach of la push, which is just on the other side of rialto beach, but a drive is required to move between the two. la push is part of the quileute reservation (again famous from the twilight series). we ate dinner at the rivers edge restaurant which sits right on the water and gave us a beautiful sunset display over first beach. after sunset we headed home to call it a night.

day 3 hoh rainforest

day 3 again began with a fresh breakfast from our host. this day didn’t go as planned because our host informed us there was a road collapse on the road to the hoh rainforest and it was closed for repair for the next month. i had really been looking forward to this part of our trip, so i was clearly disappointed. she was able to point us towards the peterson property where we could do a little hike. 

the hike started by the gift shop/diner on the road to the park. it was a short trail but took us to the hoh river where we had a view of mount olympus. we spent some time skipping rocks and remembering how to use our tripod before heading back to the car.

day 3 quinault rainforest

we then headed to the quinault rainforest for an easy nature hike. it felt like being in jurassic park and i would not have been surprised to see a dinosaur pop out at any moment!

a quick drive and quick walk took us to see the largest spruce tree which was sooo big. i was thinking after seeing all these huge old trees it might not be that much bigger, but it truly stands out! it is more than 58ft in circumference and almost 200ft tall!

day 3 kalaloch beach and ruby beach

from here we headed back to the beach. first we stopped at kalaloch beach to see the tree cave. it is a stunning feat of nature that this tree is still growing and so large even after all the earth underneath it has left. it is now suspended by roots grasping on either side allowing us to walk right up under it. we also found an intact sand dollar on the beach along with a lot of crab pieces, shells, and seagulls. 

heading to ruby beach something weird happened. the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and it became extremely foggy. this change in weather only happened about 2 miles from ruby beach and again cleared within two miles once we left. it gave the beach a very eerie feel and added to how cool the formations are. 

for dinner we stopped back in forks at sullys burgers before heading to the hungry bear cafe for some ice cream and then home to bed. 

day 4 sequim and tacoma

our final day we spent driving back to tacoma for our flight out the next morning. we made a stop at the lavender farms in sequim since we had some extra time and explored this cute little town. all the lavender goods smelled great to me, but nick isn’t a fan. 

in tacoma we walked around the small but free botanical garden and down to firemans park where there is a great view of the port and mount rainier in the distance. we also checked out the bridge of glass for some more works by chihuly. we ate dinner at matador which is a hip mexican place with creative margaritas we enjoyed!

final thoughts

i would recommend travelling to the olympic peninsula any chance you get. we were able to see the highlights in four days, but i would recommend more time if you have it because there is so much more to do and see. a car is definitely a requirement for travel in this area, so keep that in mind. 

washington definitely has a reputation for being cloudy and rainy but we lucked out with amazing weather and sunshine every day of our trip. it truly could not have been better weather for all our activities!

we stayed in airbnbs for the whole trip which is a great way to get a more local and personalized experience compared to hotels and it is also more budget friendly. if you haven’t used it before, use my link to sign up here. you’ll get money and i’ll get money when you book your first trip. we have used airbnb all over the country and have never been disappointed. 

olympic national park was different from others i have visited because of how you get around. to see these different attractions there is only one road in and out. there are not roads connecting different parts of the park through the park. this is why there wasn’t another way to get to hoh rainforest or even close enough to park and walk from the road closure. it made for some extra and repeat driving, but the scenery was so pretty i didn’t mind. 

olympic national park also includes some of the beaches we visited, but not the land connecting the beaches to the rest of the park. these beaches are so pristine because they are either part of the national park or part of reservation land preventing commercial development. 

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what is your favorite part of the olympic peninsula? do we need to plan another trip to see more? ( i won’t be disappointed if you say yes!) let me know below.