Oddly enough, Olympia is not a very good base for the Olympic Peninsula...most of the attractions are north and west, and Olympia is south and east. If you truly want to see Olympic NP, I would definitely recommend spending one of your nights in the Port Angeles/Lake Crescent area. If you left Olympia early enough, you could do Hurricane Ridge that afternoon, and the next day see the beaches near Forks/La Push and the Hoh. Even at that, you will have a longish drive from that area back to Olympia.

azzure....yeah I can see that no matter where is spend the night it's going to be a long drive back.

Mapquest says it's 3hrs. 50 min from Olympia to Lapush where I'm thinking of spending the night or somewhere in that vicinity ....that might work if we don't take to long at all the other spots along the way. It's to bad we have to rush but I'd rather see it this way than not at all.

I'm thinking that we just go at our own pace, see where we end up and spend the night there. Being that it'll be on a Tuesday night it might make it a bit easier to find a place to stay....I think.

I'm also thinking of maybe just going as far as La Push and then doubling back rather then driving south from La Push to Olympia and doing the actual "loop". Is there anything can't miss things to see south?

Clockwise is the way to go because you'll get the boring stuff out of the way first. Lake Crescent would be the ideal place to stay (we like the Marymere rooms). But, La Push would be a great place to stay--interesting native town with loads of local color. Other options are the not-very-thrilling little town of Forks or Port Angeles (where we like the Olympic Lodge, which has all the comforts).

In any event, please return to Olympia via 101 as it passes the west shore of Hood Canal--a beautiful drive any time of the year.

Forks/La Push is about the half way point so if you go that far, you may as well keep going the next day and complete the loop, plus the scenery is MUCH better on that half of the loop. It would be a shame not to complete the loop if you go that far, IMO.

There are some basic but decent places to stay in Forks...I like the Brightwater House B&B on the Sol Duc River just outside of town. Nothing fancy, that's for sure but clean and comfortable and the couple that runs it are very nice. I prefer their housekeeping cottages to the B&B rooms for more privacy.

I wouldn't recommend anything other than the newest cabins out in La Push.

I just read a favorable trip report on Tripadvisor about the Quillayuete River Cabins (I know I've butchered the spelling) out near Rialto Beach...I definitely want to check them out on my next trip out that way.

Just wanted to add, I personally wouldn't drive out that far without reservations somewhere since there are so few places to stay out there, but it depends on your tolerance for the possibility of having to drive and drive looking for something. Def do it early in the week next week if you're going to take the chance and not make reservations and have a list of places to call.

Have a wonderful trip but don't ask for my son's table at the Waterstreet as you'll find him chopping away at it in the kitchen. He might just be making your meal..
His name is Chris and he's a cook!

If the bottom first 1/2 is boring why not skip it and drive from olympia north to La Push, stay the night there somewhere and then drive back the same way....

It'd be brand new scenery if we were driving the opposite way! HA
do you like that idea...?

NWanderer...I agree. I'm not that brave. I'm going to start calling once I figure out where to stay...Quillayuete River cabins sounds interesting. Hope I can find it with this spelling!!

here's the website. I called and unfortunately they are booked tuesday night. It sounds wonderful!

http://www.qriverresort.com/rooms.html

I booked the Dew Drop Inn in Forks for one night. Many places were already booked so I was happy to find availability.

The folks on Trip advisor thought it was a pretty good place to stay. Not fancy but clean and close to the sights which is perf!