My hubby and I are planning a trip to ONP in September. We have never done day-long hikes and am wondering what advice fellow Fodorites have. Also, besides convenience stores, are there any grocery stores in and around the area where we could stock up on stuff for lunches and snacks? I'm a hiking newbie, so any advice - even small - would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I've never been to ONP, but here is some general advice I've found useful. Wear layers - the temperature may change a lot during the course of the day, so a light weight rain layer as well as some warmer layers, let you adjust as the day changes.

Be sure to "test drive" your hiking boots/shoes before the trip to make sure they fit properly and give you the support you'll want.

If you're going on any sort of an isolated trail, be sure to let someone (desk clerk, ranger station) know where you'll be.

ONP??????

Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park in Washington State, nearest airport SeaTac.

As mentioned already, the ONP is a large and spread out area. There's various towns with stores for supplies.

As far as shoes, I also always travel with my gym/running sneakers (Brook or Nike Air). Since you mention you're new to this, & if you've never hiked in hiking boots before, they might be overkill for your needs on some days.

suze - thanks for the reply....my hubby and I did quite a bit of walking/hiking in Maine when we were there a few years ago and I have some great walking shoes that worked just fine for me. I don't plan on taking any hikes I know those shoes can't handle. They are Merrell and geared specifically towards all types of terrain.