TR: road trip to Olympic National Park (Aug-Sept, 2024)
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2024 3:55 pm
It took my wife and I some time to plan this trip; we left our home on Aug 14 and didn't return until Sept 18. The entire trip being way too much to cover, I'll mainly concentrate on our time spent in Olympic National Park itself (along with a few nearby spots outside the park).
We did the trip in our van, and spent zero nights in any hotel. We stayed most nights in state park (or national park) campgrounds, along with a few stays at "Harvest Host" locations (I'll explain that option at the end); with just 4 nights spent staying with family along the way.
Starting from our home (L.A. area), we stayed our first night in the Pismo Beach area and three more nights in Big Sur. Working our way up the coast, we detoured through Santa Rosa, then headed back to the coast for a stay at MacKerricher State Park (near Fort Bragg). Heading back inland to the 101; we took the Avenue of the Giants route (it would be criminal not to !) to enjoy the numerous redwood groves on our way to this night's stay at Sue-Meg State Park (formerly known as Patrick's Point).
We enjoyed seeing the Oregon coastline at various spots, and stayed at three nice Oregon State Parks (along with a night outside a small cheese maker in Tillamook); the city of Astoria made for a nice visit. Our final night in Oregon was spent at Fort Stevens S.P., which was a short drive away from Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. We enjoyed our visit (it was on my "must see" list for the trip); its main feature is a reconstruction of historic Fort Clatsop.
Once we hit Washington, we spent one night at a winery, then continued on (with a detour to visit Lake Quinault) to reach the campground at Hoh Rain Forest, where we stayed for two nights. Sorry for all the setup leading up this, here (first photo) is what the area around our campsite looked like:
nice view from our site at Hoh Campground
After our first night here, we spent the next day hiking a couple of the trails; it really was outstanding and not quite like anyplace else I've visited. Here's some of the cool stuff we saw on the trails:
most everything in the rainforest takes on a softer look
Vine Maple
moss everywhere
The predominant conifer species here are Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock, with some Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir. Many of these are really huge; with a few exceeding 300 feet in height. The deciduous tree species include Big Leaf Maple and Vine Maple, along with some Alder and others.
Lots of big trees here
Seeing young trees sprouting along dead logs (sometimes called "nurse logs") is something you can easily see in many places, but you can see it taking place everywhere here. But how about trees growing from dead logs high enough in the air that you can walk under them:
a nice "nurse log" (but suspended high above the trail)
Or this fine example of a tree that sprouted in debris that collected on the bark of a LIVE tree; this one is a Hemlock that sprouted on the trunk of a large Douglas Fir (maybe ten feet above the ground ?) and, once it grew a bit, sent a tap root downward to plant itself in ground-level soil:
tree ... growing on another tree
mosses and tiny ferns
lots of odd lichens; these are in the genus Lobaria. The living trees are filled with these.
the trees don't mind a little closeness here
fluffy-looking tree trunks, and nice ferns
almost more moss than there is tree
One of our hikes we did as a guided walk with a ranger; she went into detail about the beneficial relationship between all the moss/lichen species and the living trees that host them; at one time in the past, a biologist studying this relationship climbed up a particular tree and (with tarps spread beneath it), stripped off all this material to catalog it and weigh the total amount. The total non-tree biomass amounted to thousands of pounds (sorry, the number quoted by the ranger escapes me). Along with the knowledge of the various species collected, the researchers found that the tree actually went into decline due to the loss of benefits from the "hosted" species.
one of the taller specimens we saw here
photo op for the happy wanderers
We saw a few birds here, but (unfortunately) not a lot else; squirrels and other small mammals live in the Hoh forest, but were perhaps hard to spot in the dense tree canopy. There are larger species deep (and higher up) in the Olympic range; Roosevelt Elk, Black Bear, and Mountain Lion, but we weren't lucky enough to see anything the kind from our tourist-crowded vantage point. We DID see some Elk a few days later, but while driving along a highway - grazing out on some farmer's pasture. No photos
After leaving the Hoh Rainforest area, we proceeded to our next campground at Sol Duc. During our stay, we did a couple of nice hikes (one to Sol Duc Falls, and another a bit downstream from the campground, along the river. We also managed to squeeze in three sessions of soaking in the mineral pools at the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort; you typically need to reserve a session in advance (yes, gotta buy a ticket) but it was still a nice break from our more strenuous activities. We also did a day trip to visit Lake Crescent before returning to Sol Duc for our second night of the stay.
Sol Duc River
Sol Duc Falls
After leaving Sol Duc, we headed to the Port Angeles area, exploring in town a bit and also headed up to Hurricane Ridge (part of the National Park, but just outside of Port Angeles). There were tons of people there (apparently it's advertised as a "must see" place), but it was still nice to see the views from this high vantage point.
view from Hurricane Ridge (above Port Angeles) looking toward the Olympic Range
We had already planned to spent this night (and the next two nights after) outside the park at three different Harvest Host sites. After leaving Hurricane Ridge, we headed to our next stop; "Olympic Bluffs Cidery and Lavender Farm". The "Cidery" part of our visit was a bit unique - I'm not usually crazy about hard cider as it's either too sweet (or too sour) for me. This place had a tasting flight of various ciders - many made with heirloom apple varieties. Their ciders displayed way more complexity than the usual stuff I've tried, due to (per the owner's explanation) use of heirloom apples with higher percentages of phenolics and tannins; likening it to tasting better wines. Sadly, they had not yet been awarded a license to sell, so we couldn't get any to take with us.
The evening of our cidery/lavender stay, we walked around their grounds and reached the "Olympic Bluffs" part of their name; it had a nice view across the Salish Sea (yup, that's Canada over there) and also a decent sunset:
Port Angeles Sunset
We spent the next two nights at other Harvest Host sites; "Courter Country Farms", and "Harbinger Winery". The Courter property made for a pleasant stay; they specialized in supplying cut flowers to various businesses, and therefore had nice garden areas (many flowers in bloom); it also doubled as a wedding and events venue.
We spent our off day between these boondocking venues by exploring various spots in the area, such as the Dungeness Recreation Area (which featured some nice hiking trails) and also Fort Flagler (east of Port Townsend). I would highly recommend (if you are in the area) visiting Dungeness; the Fort Flagler visit was somewhat interesting but perhaps not worth a huge detour to visit it.
view from above Dungeness Spit
We headed next to visit Neah Bay (part of the Makah Indian Reservation); they have a really excellent museum displaying cultural artifacts and tribal history. Many of the artifacts were excavated from the Ozette village site, which had been partially buried by a landslide about 500 years ago. Items had been found in remarkably intact condition; not just simple tools. but also elaborately-constructed wood boxes, baskets and clothing. There was also a lot of information about the hunting tools and techniques of these people, and the importance of a good seal (or whale or otter) hunt to the well-bring of the ancient village. We found it well worth a 1-2 hour visit to see this collection.
We stayed that night at a campground in Neah Bay, and drove out the next morning to Cape Flattery ("the northwestern-most point in the contiguous United States", in case you wanted to know). This is still within the Makah Reservation boundary (not part of the National Park), but has a nice trail out to some great view points looking out on the rugged (and probably perpetually-foggy) coast:
Cape Flattery - getting close to the nice viewpoint
Cape Flattery - misty view
some cool cliff formations
Leaving Cape Flattery, we headed south to our final area of the National Park to visit, where we stayed at the Kalaloch campground. We visited various beaches here - Kalaloch beach #s 1 - 4, and Ruby Beach, and had some nice walks to see all the cool stuff here.
piled-up driftwood along the beach at Kalaloch
I spotted a large gathering of sea birds (my favorite pelicans well-represented among them), but didn't want to approach so close for a photo that I'd scare them off. So here is my woefully grainy photo of them, after a bit of fiddling with it:
monochrome sea birds
EVERYONE who goes to this beach has to get a photo of this tree, but I at least tried to get mine from a different angle:
"Tree of Life" - Kalaloch Beach
some cool rock formations at Ruby Beach
sandstone (and fog) along a beach at Kalaloch
I'm ending my report here; nobody wants to hear about our drive back home (we still saw lots of stuff without rushing home too quickly); hopefully I didn't drone on too much.
Also (as promised earlier), I'll give a quick mention of our experience using the Harvest Host app for booking overnight camping stays. We joined a couple of years ago and have great stays at nearly all the spots we booked; there is a yearly fee, but there is no "per stay" fee charged for staying on a given property, other than that you (as a guest) are requested to buy a suggested minimum dollar amount of whatever goods or services that the "host" offers. We have stayed at museums (just need to pay the museum admission fee), farms, wineries, a distillery; basically we just buy stuff that we might buy anyway on our travels. My wife and I enjoy dispersed camping ( i.e. "stay free with ZERO obligation") as much as anyone, but that isn't always possible, so this is at least a safe way to stay somewhere where you have essentially been invited by the owner. Even staying on farms, we have often gotten at least a brief tour of the property, and learned something about their operation. A final benefit is that (in most cases), we have enjoyed as much (sometimes more) quiet and privacy as one would experience in a busy campground, so it's really a nice option to consider.
We did the trip in our van, and spent zero nights in any hotel. We stayed most nights in state park (or national park) campgrounds, along with a few stays at "Harvest Host" locations (I'll explain that option at the end); with just 4 nights spent staying with family along the way.
Starting from our home (L.A. area), we stayed our first night in the Pismo Beach area and three more nights in Big Sur. Working our way up the coast, we detoured through Santa Rosa, then headed back to the coast for a stay at MacKerricher State Park (near Fort Bragg). Heading back inland to the 101; we took the Avenue of the Giants route (it would be criminal not to !) to enjoy the numerous redwood groves on our way to this night's stay at Sue-Meg State Park (formerly known as Patrick's Point).
We enjoyed seeing the Oregon coastline at various spots, and stayed at three nice Oregon State Parks (along with a night outside a small cheese maker in Tillamook); the city of Astoria made for a nice visit. Our final night in Oregon was spent at Fort Stevens S.P., which was a short drive away from Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. We enjoyed our visit (it was on my "must see" list for the trip); its main feature is a reconstruction of historic Fort Clatsop.
Once we hit Washington, we spent one night at a winery, then continued on (with a detour to visit Lake Quinault) to reach the campground at Hoh Rain Forest, where we stayed for two nights. Sorry for all the setup leading up this, here (first photo) is what the area around our campsite looked like:
nice view from our site at Hoh CampgroundAfter our first night here, we spent the next day hiking a couple of the trails; it really was outstanding and not quite like anyplace else I've visited. Here's some of the cool stuff we saw on the trails:
most everything in the rainforest takes on a softer look
Vine Maplemoss everywhereThe predominant conifer species here are Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock, with some Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir. Many of these are really huge; with a few exceeding 300 feet in height. The deciduous tree species include Big Leaf Maple and Vine Maple, along with some Alder and others.
Lots of big trees here Seeing young trees sprouting along dead logs (sometimes called "nurse logs") is something you can easily see in many places, but you can see it taking place everywhere here. But how about trees growing from dead logs high enough in the air that you can walk under them:
a nice "nurse log" (but suspended high above the trail)Or this fine example of a tree that sprouted in debris that collected on the bark of a LIVE tree; this one is a Hemlock that sprouted on the trunk of a large Douglas Fir (maybe ten feet above the ground ?) and, once it grew a bit, sent a tap root downward to plant itself in ground-level soil:
tree ... growing on another tree mosses and tiny fernslots of odd lichens; these are in the genus Lobaria. The living trees are filled with these.the trees don't mind a little closeness herefluffy-looking tree trunks, and nice ferns almost more moss than there is treeOne of our hikes we did as a guided walk with a ranger; she went into detail about the beneficial relationship between all the moss/lichen species and the living trees that host them; at one time in the past, a biologist studying this relationship climbed up a particular tree and (with tarps spread beneath it), stripped off all this material to catalog it and weigh the total amount. The total non-tree biomass amounted to thousands of pounds (sorry, the number quoted by the ranger escapes me). Along with the knowledge of the various species collected, the researchers found that the tree actually went into decline due to the loss of benefits from the "hosted" species.
one of the taller specimens we saw herephoto op for the happy wanderersWe saw a few birds here, but (unfortunately) not a lot else; squirrels and other small mammals live in the Hoh forest, but were perhaps hard to spot in the dense tree canopy. There are larger species deep (and higher up) in the Olympic range; Roosevelt Elk, Black Bear, and Mountain Lion, but we weren't lucky enough to see anything the kind from our tourist-crowded vantage point. We DID see some Elk a few days later, but while driving along a highway - grazing out on some farmer's pasture. No photos
After leaving the Hoh Rainforest area, we proceeded to our next campground at Sol Duc. During our stay, we did a couple of nice hikes (one to Sol Duc Falls, and another a bit downstream from the campground, along the river. We also managed to squeeze in three sessions of soaking in the mineral pools at the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort; you typically need to reserve a session in advance (yes, gotta buy a ticket) but it was still a nice break from our more strenuous activities. We also did a day trip to visit Lake Crescent before returning to Sol Duc for our second night of the stay.
Sol Duc RiverSol Duc FallsAfter leaving Sol Duc, we headed to the Port Angeles area, exploring in town a bit and also headed up to Hurricane Ridge (part of the National Park, but just outside of Port Angeles). There were tons of people there (apparently it's advertised as a "must see" place), but it was still nice to see the views from this high vantage point.
view from Hurricane Ridge (above Port Angeles) looking toward the Olympic RangeWe had already planned to spent this night (and the next two nights after) outside the park at three different Harvest Host sites. After leaving Hurricane Ridge, we headed to our next stop; "Olympic Bluffs Cidery and Lavender Farm". The "Cidery" part of our visit was a bit unique - I'm not usually crazy about hard cider as it's either too sweet (or too sour) for me. This place had a tasting flight of various ciders - many made with heirloom apple varieties. Their ciders displayed way more complexity than the usual stuff I've tried, due to (per the owner's explanation) use of heirloom apples with higher percentages of phenolics and tannins; likening it to tasting better wines. Sadly, they had not yet been awarded a license to sell, so we couldn't get any to take with us.
The evening of our cidery/lavender stay, we walked around their grounds and reached the "Olympic Bluffs" part of their name; it had a nice view across the Salish Sea (yup, that's Canada over there) and also a decent sunset:
Port Angeles SunsetWe spent the next two nights at other Harvest Host sites; "Courter Country Farms", and "Harbinger Winery". The Courter property made for a pleasant stay; they specialized in supplying cut flowers to various businesses, and therefore had nice garden areas (many flowers in bloom); it also doubled as a wedding and events venue.
We spent our off day between these boondocking venues by exploring various spots in the area, such as the Dungeness Recreation Area (which featured some nice hiking trails) and also Fort Flagler (east of Port Townsend). I would highly recommend (if you are in the area) visiting Dungeness; the Fort Flagler visit was somewhat interesting but perhaps not worth a huge detour to visit it.
view from above Dungeness SpitWe headed next to visit Neah Bay (part of the Makah Indian Reservation); they have a really excellent museum displaying cultural artifacts and tribal history. Many of the artifacts were excavated from the Ozette village site, which had been partially buried by a landslide about 500 years ago. Items had been found in remarkably intact condition; not just simple tools. but also elaborately-constructed wood boxes, baskets and clothing. There was also a lot of information about the hunting tools and techniques of these people, and the importance of a good seal (or whale or otter) hunt to the well-bring of the ancient village. We found it well worth a 1-2 hour visit to see this collection.
We stayed that night at a campground in Neah Bay, and drove out the next morning to Cape Flattery ("the northwestern-most point in the contiguous United States", in case you wanted to know). This is still within the Makah Reservation boundary (not part of the National Park), but has a nice trail out to some great view points looking out on the rugged (and probably perpetually-foggy) coast:
Cape Flattery - getting close to the nice viewpointCape Flattery - misty viewsome cool cliff formationsLeaving Cape Flattery, we headed south to our final area of the National Park to visit, where we stayed at the Kalaloch campground. We visited various beaches here - Kalaloch beach #s 1 - 4, and Ruby Beach, and had some nice walks to see all the cool stuff here.
piled-up driftwood along the beach at KalalochI spotted a large gathering of sea birds (my favorite pelicans well-represented among them), but didn't want to approach so close for a photo that I'd scare them off. So here is my woefully grainy photo of them, after a bit of fiddling with it:
monochrome sea birdsEVERYONE who goes to this beach has to get a photo of this tree, but I at least tried to get mine from a different angle:
"Tree of Life" - Kalaloch Beachsome cool rock formations at Ruby Beachsandstone (and fog) along a beach at KalalochI'm ending my report here; nobody wants to hear about our drive back home (we still saw lots of stuff without rushing home too quickly); hopefully I didn't drone on too much.
Also (as promised earlier), I'll give a quick mention of our experience using the Harvest Host app for booking overnight camping stays. We joined a couple of years ago and have great stays at nearly all the spots we booked; there is a yearly fee, but there is no "per stay" fee charged for staying on a given property, other than that you (as a guest) are requested to buy a suggested minimum dollar amount of whatever goods or services that the "host" offers. We have stayed at museums (just need to pay the museum admission fee), farms, wineries, a distillery; basically we just buy stuff that we might buy anyway on our travels. My wife and I enjoy dispersed camping ( i.e. "stay free with ZERO obligation") as much as anyone, but that isn't always possible, so this is at least a safe way to stay somewhere where you have essentially been invited by the owner. Even staying on farms, we have often gotten at least a brief tour of the property, and learned something about their operation. A final benefit is that (in most cases), we have enjoyed as much (sometimes more) quiet and privacy as one would experience in a busy campground, so it's really a nice option to consider.
. So-so seats are kind of a deal-breaker for something you're gonna be driving for long distances.