mama_mia

Planning trip (9 full days on the ground) to Olympic NP and Seattle for DH, my two adult sons and me. Can do either late May or August. We are interested in lots of day hikes of 5-8 miles length and seeing the rain forest. We had a great 7 day trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons this year and are hoping for similar memorable experience.

Would 7 days be too much in the park? Most itineraries seem to be 3-4 days max. Was thinking of splitting time between Lake Crescent, Kalaloch and Lake Quinalt - do these make sense as bases? Or perhaps Sol Duc instead of Quinalt?

Thanks.

Fodorite018

Since you like to hike, no, 7 days is not too much, but you could cut it back to 5 or so and have more time for Seattle and other areas. Either month works, but depending on how our winter is, some trails may still not be clear even by late May, so August would be a safer bet. August obviously has more visitors though, so you would want to nail down lodging early as there really aren't that many places to stay in the area.


You are on the right track as for where to stay overnight. Definitely keep Lake Quinault and skip Sol Duc though. Lake Quinault Lodge is wonderful!!! At Kalaloch, they have a lodge as well as cabins. We have only stayed in the cabins, and like those. We have had our young adult kids with us there, and the cabins work great for families. We get the ones with a bedroom, then another bed and a futon. You could also add a night in Port Angeles itself as that would put you closer to Hurricane Ridge, which is a must. HR is an area that has stunning views, and depending on our winter, might still be under snow in late May. A couple years ago we hiked there and the road from the main visitors center to Hurricane Hill was not open yet, so we had to park at the visitors center and then hoof it to the trailhead and the trail was still under quiet a bit of snow.

Definitely take your time in the park and around the beaches. The best areas are off the highway a ways, so you don't want to rush.

One hike that I really love is the Cape Alava loop over by Lake Ozette. IT is a 9 mile loop, 3 miles in, then 3 miles along the beach, and then 3 miles back in, so a triangle. Along the beach are petroglyphs which are fun to hunt for. You absolutely need to time this one with the tides, because if you go at the wrong time you will be in trouble!

Anyway, this should get you started

Gardyloo

I guess my response would be, "If you took fewer days in Olympic NP, where else could you spend them?"

I looked at your TR for your recent Yellowstone/Grand Teton trip, and it looked pretty active; you got around quite a lot. So applying that same style to the Pacific NW, I'd be tempted to take in more than just ONP, even though as you rightly surmise, there's a lot to see.

Just throwing out some ideas... With 9 days overall you could include some days in the San Juan Islands, or add Victoria and Vancouver Island as a side trip (ferry from Port Angeles.) Or Mt. St. Helens, or Mt. Rainier, or even the Columbia River Gorge.

Something ambitious like this: https://goo.gl/maps/W3C4hpAqNvw

Or with less driving but more boats like this: https://goo.gl/maps/i5qvvMY3dqz

Either of these would allow some decent time in Olympic NP, but would add a lot of variety to the trip, if you chose to use the days in a different manner.

Bobmrg

Let me add a thumbs-down for Sol Duc.

mama_mia

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping to cut down on the moving around this time, although it worked for us in Yellowstone.

Some good ideas that I will check out further, but at least I can go ahead and maybe scratch one with Sol Duc.

Fodorite018

The thing with ONP is that you really need to stay at several locations to be able to really see it well. It is really spread out, and there are no roads that go all the way through it. Think of it as a bicycle wheel with spokes.