r/OlympicNationalPark

Thank you in advance!

Arriving Seattle Tuesday, July 14.

Tuesday

• Arrive Seattle airport 1215pm, get rental car
• Visit Pike Place Market (grazing lunch), gum wall
• Check into hotel
• Visit Space Needle and surrounding area

Wednesday

• Drive Seattle to Port Angeles via Bainbridge Ferry
• Buy a skimboard (Walmart?)
• Crescent Lake area for lunch (picnic or Lodge)
• Hike to Marymere Falls
• Hike to Salmon Cascades
• Drive to Forks, check into Forks Motel, get groceries

Thursday (interchangeable with Saturday depending on weather)

• Tide pools at Kalaloch Beach 4
• Beach time, skimboarding, exploring – Beach 4, Beach 2, Ruby Beach, Tree of Life (one or more)
• Evening activity TBD - options: visit Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center area (to avoid crowds), La Push / First Beach, Second Beach sunset, wildlife drive, dinner and wander in Forks, or relax if needed

Friday

• Guided fishing trip on Hoh River 6am-1pm
• Light evening – rest and laundry, Second Beach sunset, dinner in Forks, cook salmon we caught, or drive around to find wildlife

Saturday (interchangeable with Thursday depending on weather)

• Bogachiel River hike, cook lunch on the hike
• Evening activity TBD – options: visit Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center area (to avoid crowds), La Push / First Beach, Second Beach sunset, wildlife drive, dinner and wander in Forks, or relax if needed

Sunday

• Lake Quinalt area hike – probably Maple Glade, or other
• Drive to Seattle airport for 620pm flight

Edit: formatting.

My husband, 7 yo daughter and I will be spending 5 days in/around Olympic National Park the week of July 12. Our itinerary includes a lot of driving and 1 night stays to maximize location. It’s a highlights tour - built based on great feedback from here - to choose what we’d want to spend more time doing next trip.

I’d love feedback - anything unreasonable, anything you’d skip, tips for food in remote areas?

Jul 12:
Arrive in Seattle at 11:20, Quick Lunch
Drive to Anacortes (~2 hrs); ferry to San Juan Island (plan to leave car since passes are sold out)
Check in at Roche Resort
Dinner / Sightseeing

Jul 13:
Lime Kiln Park, Sightseeing, Lunch
Shuttle to Friday Harbor; ferry to Anacortes
Drive to Port Angeles (~2.5 hrs) via Port Townsend / Coupeville ferry
Check in at Olympic Lodge; Dinner

Jul 14:
Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Hurricane Ridge (Hike: Meadow Trail)
Drive to Lake Crescent; find lunch spot. Hike (Marymere Falls, Devils Punchbowl)
Dinner outside Lake Crescent
Drive to Forks (~1 hr); Check in at Woodland Inn

Jul 15:
Quick breakfast
Drive to Hoh Rainforest (arrive by 7 am; Hall of Mosses)
Quick Lunch at Hard Rain Cafe
Drive to beaches ~1 hr (would like to do tide pooling at Fourth Beach or Ruby Beach, but don’t know if we can do that and Hoh in same day and avoid rush / catch low tide unless we do this in the AM and Hoh after 4 pm)
Dinner on drive back to Olympic Lodge (~2 hrs)

Jul 16:
Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Paradise Inn / Mount Rainier (~4.5 hrs); lunch in Tacoma
Hike (Pick: Skyline Trail, Myrtle Falls, Nisqually Vista, Sunrise Trail), find a place to catch Sunset
Dinner at hotel

Jul 17: Head to airport early

Staying 5 days, 2 nights in Forks and 2 in Port Angeles. Wife and I don’t mind driving and yes we know this is a lot of driving, with that being said is all this still doable? Is there something I should take out or add? I’d like to check out hurricane ridge but don’t think I’ll be able to squeeze it in.
What’s some recommendations on food spot?

Day 1
- fly into Seattle, drive to forks
- dinner and sunset at second beach
- stay in forks
Day 2
- tree of life
- Rialto
- Cape Flattery
- stay in forks
Day 3
- hall of mosses
- sol duc
- merymere falls
- lake crescent
- stay in Port Angeles
Day 4
- storm king trail
- whale watching tour
- stay in Port Angeles
Day 5
- Drive from Port Angeles to Seattle airport

Just wondering if anybody knows what was going on out there today. As we were leaving around noon, there were at least two NPS law-enforcement ranger vehicles, one Clallam Co. fire department pick up truck, one Jefferson County sheriff, a Forks ambulance, and an actual fire engine that all went in towards the visitor center with lights flashing. We did not see anything obvious as we were on our way out, but clearly something happened that was both an emergency and serious enough to warrant multi agency support.

I don’t think it had anything to do with the Mount Toms Creek fire, since it seems like that fire activity is dwindling, and we saw a forest service fire crews on the Spruce nature Trail doing some routine trail maintenance because they were not actually needed at the fire just 30 minutes before all of this happened.

Hopefully this goes without saying, but if this was some sort of medical emergency, I’m not asking for specifics necessarily. I don’t wanna be able to identify who was involved, just what the situation was.

Why is this obviously untrue?

Timing recommendations/ resources would be greatly appreciated

planning on hurricane hill hike, some of the la push beaches, hoh, marymere falls, sol duc falls, and Madison falls. Will be there Friday through Sunday. I’ve seen conflicting things online about crowds at this time of year. Some say it thins out a lot by then! Others say parking at trailheads and getting a spot without waiting for an hour are still going to be next to impossible. Which is the More realistic thing to expect? Thanks!