A sunny Olympic National Park

Wow. What a day at Olympic National park. I went on Dec 30th and man, was it a sunny, beautiful, snow filled day. My second time going to Olympic National Park and I firmly believe the national park is infinitely more beautiful when covered in snow. The clear skies and sun shining didn’t hurt either!

We drove up to hurricane ridge and hiked about 3 miles on the “groomed” trail. I say “groomed” because it’s been packed and made walkable from cross country skiers and snowshoers. Still a very good idea to wear thick boots and snow pants and jacket. With that being said, it’s probably a good idea to bring water and snacks as it’s a relatively and long hike due to snow conditions!

Throughout the whole thing, you get amazing views THE WHOLE TIME. There’s so many outlooks, ridges, and pockets that you can poke your head and your camera through to take some amazing pictures.

There’s also a ski and snowboard area (and you can apparently hike to a ridge to ski and snowboard!). Not sure if you need to pay/get a permit/whatever to ski and snowboard but it seemed like no one really checked and it was a pretty relaxed area. Definitely good idea to be properly TRAINED in avalanche conditions if you do want to go backcountry here, there were definitely some sketchy looking ridges that I didn’t even feel comfortable walking on top of.

All in all, it’s a great “day trip” from Seattle. About 3 hour drive with a beautiful ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. Highly recommend! Make sure to bring your snow gear and maybe a few hand warmers!