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Top 10 Best Things to Do at Olympic National Park
Dec
Olympic National Park is a national park in the state of Washington and is also known as Olympic national forest, Olympia park, and Olympics park. It is large and has four regions, the Pacific Coastline, the alpine areas, temperate rainforests in the west, and dry forests in the east. Here are the Top 10 Best Things to Do at Olympic National Park.
Marymere Falls and Marymere Falls Trail
Marymere Falls and Marymere Falls Trail is a waterfall at the end of a hike. The hick is through a forest, and you cross log bridges and water streams. In the end, a 90-foot-tall waterfall falls into a ravine. The waterfall is powerful when the snow melts during the spring, feeding into the cascade.
Hurricane Ridge
Hurricane Ridge provides a fantastic view for seeing large parts of the park. You can even drive there in a car. You can see the Olympic Mountains, the Strait of Juan Fuca, and a whole bunch of other parts of Olympic National Park, and you can even see some details of Canada from the very top. The roads are not always in the best conditions (and are only open Friday-Sunday in the Winter), so you also can walk.
Hoh Rainforest
Hoh Rainforest is a sizeable temperate rainforest, one of the largest in the United States, and is one of the Best Things to do in Olympic National Park. There is a lot of rainfall throughout the year, about 140 to 170 inches of precipitation, leading to the lush canopy and Moss and ferns covering most of the surfaces. This rainforest has multiple trails of varying difficulty. The Fall of Mosses Trail is the shortest and most popular. It is 0,8 Miles long, and you go across Maples trees covered in Moss. Another familiar trail is the Spruce Nature Trail. This one is 1,2 Miles and offers various parts of nature you can see. There are two other trails, the Blue Glacier and Hoh River Trail to Five Mile Island, but these are much steeper, longer, and more challenging and are generally not for beginners.
Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach is a beautiful beach and is commonly used for photography. It is part of the Olympic Peninsula, and the beach is very easy to access and has lots of marine life, such as starfish and many birds. It is one of the best beaches in Washington State. The beach is located 4 miles from Destruction Island. The beach is named Ruby Island because of the Ruby-like crystals which can be found in the sand. There are also large amounts of sea stacks and, like other regional parks, lots of driftwood.
Enchanted Valley
Enchanted Valley is one of the longer options in Olympic National Park. It mainly consists of an 18-mile trail called the High Divide Loop Trail. During this hike, you will go through mountain passes, forests with Douglas firs, hemlocks, wildflower meadows, and more. The trail also has some of the best camping spots in all of Washington and is considered the “quintessential alpine experience” to making hikers and backpackers.
Sol Duc Falls
Sol Duc Falls is one of the best parts of Olympia park. It is part of the greater Sol Duc area, which itself has lots of hikes through mossy rainforests. One of the tails ends at the Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Falls is a roaring fall, a thin waterfall that goes through a split stream that divides a creek and falls into another creek. It is also near the Sol Duc Hotsprings. The term “Sol Duc” means Sparkling waters in the Quileute language.
Cape Flattery
Cape Flattery is a cape at the end of a short 1 mile each way Hike. It is one of the best views in the Olympic Peninsula and the northmost point in the Mainland United States. Part of the wilderness area is part of the Makah reservation, and in order to access it, you need a Makah Recreation pass. The Makah Recreation Pass can be purchased for 20$ and lasts one year.
SHI SHI Beach
SHI SHI Beach is another beach on the Makah reservation. It is a beach with large rocks rising out of the sand and is very popular with tourists, especially during holidays (so it is best you avoid holidays). If you want to stay overnight, you will also need a Wilderness Camping Permit. The drive there is long, so you can expect to spend the night there. Shi Shi Beach is close to Cape Flattery and Neah Bay.
Mount Ellinor
Mount Ellinor is a large mountain in Olympics Park. Mount Ellinor contains some of the best views in the whole park. You have two main options for hikes you could go on. One of them is 6,2 Miles combined both ways, but that is not that steep. The other is 3,2 miles combined both ways but is much steeper. Both have great views and great hikes. There are sometimes mountain goats climbing on top of the tops of mountains. There are a lot of tippy mountains on this one.
Spruce Railroad trail
Last but not least is the Spruce Railroad trail. Spruce railroad trail is a 10-mile round trip trail that goes through the forest and Olympic Peninsula. Unlike most trails, this trail is paved, and you can even ride your bike throughout the trail. There are many forest and lake views, and it goes to Lake Crescent and the Olympic Peninsula.
Of course, there are many great attractions at Olympic National Park, such as Mount Stork King, Lake Crescent, Rialto Beach, Hole-In-The-Wall, and many others. These are what we thought were the Top 10 Best Things to do at Olympic National Park, but many other attractions are just as good. Ideally, the best time to go is in the spring. There are fewer holidays in the spring, and you will still be able to see some snow while not being too cold. Large amounts of the park are still preserved, have all their natural beauty, and are still controlled by tribes. The park was created in 1909 as part of Theodore Roosevelt’s creation of national parks to protect the wilderness.
