Washington State · Olympic Peninsula · Est. 1938
Olympic
National Park
Field Guide
Three ecosystems in a single park — temperate rainforest, alpine wilderness, and 73 miles of wild Pacific coast. One of the most ecologically diverse places in North America, and one glacier-carved valley barely anyone finds.
Classic Experiences
01.
Hoh River Valley · West Side of Park
Walk the Hoh Rain Forest
One of the largest temperate rainforests in the Western Hemisphere and the wettest place in the contiguous United States. The Hall of Mosses trail is a short 0.8-mile loop through a grove of big-leaf maple draped in club moss so thick the canopy glows green even in overcast light — which is most of the time, and by design. Visit in the rain for the full effect. The Hoh River Trail continues 17 miles deep into the interior to the Blue Glacier on Mount Olympus, one of the most remote backcountry routes in the Pacific Northwest.
02.
Olympic Coast · US-101 Mile 165
Ruby Beach & the Sea Stacks
The most accessible and most dramatic stretch of Olympic's 73-mile wilderness coast. Ruby Beach sits where Cedar Creek meets the Pacific — a wide cobble-and-sand shore scattered with enormous sea stacks rising from the surf, driftwood logs the size of buildings, and one of the richest intertidal zones on the Pacific coast. The reddish garnet sand gives the beach its name. At low tide the exposed reef shelves reveal purple sea urchins, giant green anemones, and ochre sea stars in pools deep enough to wade. Come at dusk when the stacks turn black against the sky.
03.
Port Angeles · 17 miles south
Drive to Hurricane Ridge
The most accessible alpine experience in the park — a paved road climbs 17 miles from sea level at Port Angeles to a 5,242-foot ridge with unobstructed views of the glaciated Olympic Range to the south and the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island to the north. The meadows in July and August are carpeted with lupine, paintbrush, and endemic Olympic wildflowers found nowhere else on earth. Black-tailed deer graze the parking lot with uncanny indifference. The Switchback Trail and High Ridge Loop offer short walks with disproportionate views. Check road conditions before visiting — the road is subject to closure from fire and weather damage.
Little-Known Gem
The Quinault Rain Forest & Lake Quinault Loop
Southwest Corner · Quinault Valley · Lake Quinault Lodge · Est. 1926
The Hoh Rain Forest receives the visitors. The Quinault Rain Forest — in the park's remote southwest corner — receives almost none, despite containing the world's largest known Sitka spruce, the world's largest western red cedar, and the world's largest mountain hemlock, all within a few miles of each other. The Quinault Valley is the only place on earth where all three of the world's temperate rainforest conifers grow in the same watershed. A 4-mile loop trail circles Lake Quinault through old-growth forest so structurally complex — nurse logs, multilayered canopy, standing snags, moss-draped understory — that ecologists use it as a reference standard for intact temperate rainforest. The Lake Quinault Lodge, a 1926 timber-frame National Historic Landmark on the lakeshore, operates year-round and is almost never full midweek. Presidents Roosevelt and Clinton both visited; most park visitors have never heard of it. The drive from Hoh is 90 minutes south on US-101 — almost no one makes it.