Preparation for a mid-June 3-day family trip to ONP with little kids
My family of 4 will be heading to the national park next month. We are both mid-30s and the boys are 5 and 3 yo. We got a spot at the Mora campground during the week. Since this will be our first time at this park and first time camping with little kids, we would appreciate any advice and tips. Out main goal is to have fun and not intending to check off a list of places.
We live north of Seattle so this is our tentative plan for a 3-day/2-night trip:
• Day 1: Get up early and drive to catch ferries (either Mukilteo or Edmonds terminals) to the Olympic peninsula by mid-day. Then drive into the park and see the visitor center, then drive up to see the Hurricane Ridge. I thought I saw that Hurricane Hill Rd is closed M-Th, does that mean Hurricane Ridge is inaccessible during that time? My alternate plan is to go see Sol Duc Falls.
Check into hotel in Port Angeles and spend the first night in Port Angeles.
• Day 2: check out of hotel and head to Lake Crescent area to spend the morning there. Start driving around noon to Forks to check into the Mora campground. Set up camp, then head to Rialto or one of the nearby beaches, see sunset if we can. Then eat dinner and camp for the night.
Day 3: pack up early if possible and spend a few more hours at another beach if we can. We might visit the Hoh or Quinault rainforest if time allows. Then, it will be a drive heading back in the afternoon to get home by night.
I’m not sure if 3 days is enough or if we should reserve another hotel night at the end. Then it will likely be in Port Angeles since Forks doesn’t have many options.
- So does this seem feasible for a family with kids? The kids love beaches so that’s why we prioritize more beach time. They are also quite both capable little hikers.
- We haven’t camped in a long time, what are some essential items or gears we should bring along? Anything that might help with the kids? We plan on having no electronics the entire trip. So is a physical map necessary or using offline Google Maps sufficient?
- Any general precautions? We will have sunscreen and insect repellent. Any wildlife precautions we need to take, like potential bear encounters for example?
We hope to have fun primarily and I hope to be able to instill the love of camping and enjoying nature onto the kids. Thanks all!