roadlesstraveled

My sister and her husband are planning a last minute trip to Olympic National Park in early August. They have previously been to Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria. The main focus of this trip is the park and the surrounding areas. I have done some quick research on the park on this board and through other sources but they have a few questions.

Will 6 days/5 nights be enough time to experience the highlights of the park? She wants to see Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Lake Ozette, Lake Quinault and the Hoh River Rain Forest. She will have a car and plans on driving throughout the park but she also like to take easy to moderate hikes.

If she is not able to obtain lodging in the park, is Port Angeles her best bet for nearby lodging for the northern portion of the park? Her primary concern with lodging is in reducing her travel time to and from the park. For this trip, she is not overly concerned with fine dining or cute B&Bs.

Also is Forks a good location for visiting the western portion of the park, with the idea of splitting her time between Port Angeles and Forks?

johnthedorf

Your trips are terrific choices. I'd drop Forks from your list however. Port Angeles would be a great place to bed down and get out for some good food. You'd even have time to explore the Dungeness Spit.

roadlesstraveled

Thanks johnthedorf, I had heard that Forks was a bit rundown. Her concern with staying in Port Angeles is the drive to the Hoh rainforest. I do not know the park size at all. Do you know how long it takes to drive from Port Angeles to the western side of the park. She is checking with the park today to see if there is any lodging availble in the park.

johnthedorf

I really don't remember how long the drive was. Whatever it was I didn't mind it since I was camping there with my kids. We are backpackers so I assume my pedal was to the metal! It is a very easy hike along the rainforest and river. No elevation gain to speak of.

happytrailstoyou

I suggest they spend the first night or two at Lake Quinault Lodge and the remaining nights in the ONP and Crescent Lake Lodge. These places both have beautiful natural settings and good restaurants.

Forks is like hundreds of other towns of 3,000 in the USA, except it gets more rain.

The motels in Forks are OK for those who consider a room nothing more than a place to crash or who want to keep housing costs to a minimum.

Forks has a good supermarket, and last summer I had a good Mexican meal in a restaurant that was housed in what appeared to have formerly been a gas station.

The Smokehouse--on the east end of town--is well established and popular with locals, but the last time I ate there I was disappointed. I think they thing to eat there is smoked fish.

npurpleh2

I suggest splitting time between a hotel in Port Angeles and the Kalaloch Lodge on the West/Pacific side of the park. It is certainly possible to stay in Port Angeles the entire time but it takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to get from one side of the park to the other and that doesn't include the time it takes to drive to the trailheads, etc after you get to the other side of the park.

If they split their time they will spend less time back tracking and more time enjoying the area. Kalaloch was very basic but relaxing. In Port Angeles we stayed at the Olympic Best Western which was surprisingly very nice.

Make sure they visit the site called "Beach #4". We found that site to be the best for tidal pools and watched whales out in the ocean from the top of easily climbable rocks on the beach there.

Also tell her to watch for marmots playing on the rocks on the Hurricane Ridge trail.

imfacen

We just did the drive from PA to Hoh today in about 2 hours. Forks is not lovely, but I might stay there if I was coming from the south and spending time at Quinalt and Hoh. I agree with the comment about the good (Thriftway) supermarket in Forks - I had a surprisingly good roasted chicken breast there for lunch. We drove from PA to Hoh, spent about 2 hours there, and then went to Rialto beach for a scenic beach walk (although trudging through the stones gets old after the first 45 minutes).