Visiting Olympic National Park
Rating: 7.5/10
Cost: $30 to enter + extra accommodation
Location: 3–4 hours drive from Seattle
Parking: Varies by spot, see below.
After 4 years in Seattle, Olympic National Park remained one of Washington’s landmarks which I hadn’t visited and I was keen to change that. That happened last weekend in June. The park has a lot to offer- beautiful sights, Twilight history. However if not planned properly, it can get draining, tiresome and difficult. Some of that happened thus making me to rate it much lower than it deserves. Part of it was the terrible weather leading to difficult roads and planning on my part which didn’t leave much breathing space.I went through the standard attractions- Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Forks, La Push/ Ruby Beach, Hoh Rainforest.
Logistics
Olympic National Park is a far 4.5 hour drive from Seattle, among the farthest places in Washington state. So doing it in at least 2 days is a minimum if going towards west-side of park. I tried to drive Saturday morning and departing on Sunday night. Usually this has worked fine for me. For this trip though, I wish I had spent an extra night (Friday night) so that I could do more on Saturday and was less exhausted. I booked accommodation in Forks at Far West Motel, which is the city where Twilight books are based and happens to be close to Hoh Rainforest. Even though Forks is rainiest town in contiguous US, thus not having many sunny days, it’s worth trying to look for a sunny day in Port Angeles/ Hurricane Ridge as the drive up the mountains can be scary in narrow roads with very poor visibility.
For eateries, I’d recommend to have at least one meal in Port Angeles as the food here is very good (we ate at Kokopelli Grill), and the rest of the park is mostly very small towns. Amongst other things internet reception is flaky, so it’s worth downloading offline maps for the park. For parking- Lake Crescent has a lot of regular parking spots blocked along the lake due to construction including the spot where Google declares “you have arrived”. It’s worth stopping by where you can. I parked at a grocery store, where I bought some supplies and could descend to a pier adjacent to the lake. Forks has abundant parking everywhere being a tiny town. Hoh Rainforest has a small parking lot, but there is overflow spots on the side of the road. Even though in summer, it doesn’t get dark till 9 pm it’s worth making sure to not drive in the dark down Hurricane Ridge or Hoh Road if possible as they’re narrow and curvy.
Here is a quick review of individual spots.
Hurricane Ridge / Lake Crescent
Considered the prime attraction of Olympic National Park, our experience was worst at Hurricane Ridge. Not because the place is bad, but poor weather conditions made driving really dangerous with curvy roads, near-zero visibility and occasional elks crossing the road. At least we saw some elks, though in unfavorable conditions. At the summit barely anything was visible either, mostly clouds. The visitor center had interesting exhibits, and we walked around an adjacent trail. For Lake Crescent, as I described it was hard to find a spot to just park. However we did get the opportunity finally, and standing in the pier I can appreciate the blue color of the lake. Being overcast definitely takes away from the beauty, and I can imagine it more colorful on a nice, sunny day.
Forks
Forks is a small town which no one would know except for Stephenie Meyer putting it on global entertainment map with her Twilight book series. The less-known part is the movies were not actually filmed here because of last-minute permission issues. Despite this, the city has tried to cash in on the success of the franchise with some stores selling artifacts as well as showcasing iconic things from the books such as Cullen house, Bella’s truck.
A good place to start is Forks Chamber of Commerce, which will provide a “Twilight map” of the city with iconic landmarks. As said, nothing is actually filmed here but based on the book. So you can see the “Forks High School”, Hospital, Bella’s house while. Make sure to stop by the sign “Welcome to Forks”. However the town is in dire need of maintenance as demonstrated by broken letters in this iconic sign. A place worth visiting is Rainforest Arts Center which has real costumes and props from the movie, and is free to enter with donations (I strongly suggest to donate to ail the struggling town).
La Push Beach
The beach is like a typical Washington beach, with rocks and logs lying around. However it is set on Pacific Ocean, so waves come crashing and it looks better than beaches near Seattle, but it’s no Hawaii. I looked at Ruby Beach from a vantage point along Hwy 101 and this does look majestic during sunset. La Push is again known for Twilight references, and on the drive to La Push one can see some interesting signs such as these.
Hoh Rainforest Center
The best attraction of Park is definitely Hoh Rainforest. There are 3 main trails- Hall of Mosses (0.8m), Spruce Trail (1.1m) and Hoh River Trail (18m).
All of them are accessible from next to visitor center. If you like greenery of mosses, the Hall of Mosses is very beautiful. It’s got the Japanese beauty of mosses in a rainforest setting, as super-tall trees whose top is invisible to the eye densely populate the forest. It’s a very peaceful walk, and it’s very easy to hike for an average healthy person. The roads are wide, there are no cliffs and it’s mostly flat. Same for Spruce Trail when it comes to ease of trail.
That trail also has a lot of mossy trees alongside spruce trees, but what sets it apart is the crystal-clear river which you can view in the middle of the trail. Hoh River Trail is in a different league, and only for veteran hikers. Most people who do that last hike camp overnight and at the end of it, it leads to the mountains.
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Summary
Olympic National Park can definitely be a very fulfilling experience, and I probably might return this same summer or next one. However it’s worth giving it sufficient time especially if you want to traverse the breadth of the park and planning for good weather conditions. The natural beauty as well as the Twilight props definitely make the park an excellent get away showcasing some of the best Washington has to offer. However the distances, long drives are something to be taken into consideration before making a plan.
