We’re just beginning to try to plan a trip to the area around Olympic National Park. Dates will be sometime between May 15 and Sept. 1. We hope to rent a house for about two weeks, and our son and his wife (who live in Seattle) and our daughter, who will fly in from the East coast, will join us at various times. Because of the variety of schedules involved, travel to and from Seattle and SeaTac will need to be fairly convenient. Since our son has lived in the area for less than six months, they don’t know the area well. Where would you stay? (We’re thinking Port Angeles might be reasonable.) What are your favorite areas of the park? What other day trips would you take in the area? Good restaurants? This community has given me some great suggestions for previous trips!
This is a good “base camp” for exploring the beaches and Hoh Rainforest:
A nice little guide that provides a 5 day exploring plan:
Thanks, BB! The pictures on the Forks website are stunning!
I don’t think that you will spend the entire 2 weeks on the Penninsula. You can make day trips to most local destinations from Seattle easily if you don’t mind driving. Mt Rainier National Park can be a one day trip, if planned well, and so can be Mt St Helens.
August is usually the best time to visit weather-wise, but make sure to make your lodging reservations early.
That was one of my favorite trips ever. Going strictly on memory there are three rainforests there. One of the three was much more wild/less visited and one more touristy. We stayed at a lodge at the one starting with a Q …Quinault a big old style resort like in dirty dancing. Not expensive and very old school…we had a murphy bed.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I know there are some regular Seattle posters–I hope some more of you have some suggestions.
You can easily find so much to do in Seattle. We only day tripped to the Olympic Peninsula years ago, it seems isolated. btw- make sure your son visits the Museum of History and Industry on South Lake Union. Ours told us about it- it is an excellent introduction to the area.
i would happily stay on the peninsula all summer.
When we have gone to Kalaloch, we’ve stayed in the cabins on the bluff.
You can hike in the rainforest. Go to historical sites like Cape Disappointment where we like to camp.
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5622
We also like to stay in Moclips at Pacific beach.
Here or at the Sandpiper.
http://www.oceancrestresort.com
So many places to eat, if you like seafood.
I’d also suggest a tour of the Elwha river restoration.
The dams have been removed and nature is reclaiming her land.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm
shyparentalunit - please take to heart what BB says about lodging at Mt. Rainier being booked months in advance. If you want to stay at one of the two lodges at Mt. Rainier, they book up waaaaay in advance. The next closest accommodations are pretty far away, so if you want convenience, do it early. That being said, ESPECIALLY if your trip ends up taking place in August, do not pass up the opportunity to see the wildflowers in peak at Rainier. It is absolutely awe-inspiring.
While an entirely different experience, Mt. St. Helens is also fascinating! They have one of the best visitor’s centers there of all the places we’ve been to across the country. Truly a remarkable place in its own way.
My family took a really terrific trip to the area several years back. Here was our itinerary, more or less:
2 days Seattle
4 days San Juan Islands
2 days Olympic Mountains part of ONP
2 days coast/rainforest part of ONP
2 days Mt. Rainier NP
It was all spectacular, and I would love to return to all of these places. We rented a house in the islands, stayed in some cabins near Port Angeles, I think, and the lodge starting with the Q, and the lodge in Rainier. I’ve since spent a couple of months in the San Juans, and that would be my first pick of all of these (views of the mountains and ocean at the same time!), but travel logistics are slightly more difficult what with the ferries. For ONP, I think my favorite was the coast, though we were there briefly, second favorite the mountains, probably last favorite was the rainforest. I think I expected a bit more from the rainforest. The drive from place to place was also fabulous, though Forks/Port Angeles had a lot of ridiculous Twilight-themed advertising when we were there-I think the first movie had just come out (one motel advertised “Twilight rooms”).
Wherever you go it will be great!
We had a great trip to Mt. Rainer. It was AWESOME! It did snow and then there was a lot of roadwork, so be sure to leave time in your schedule for road delays if you go there. There is a LOT of erosion and constant roadwork, from what we could see. We did stay at the Xterra lodging on Mt. Rainer and booked months in advance.
Even though I usually do try to stay in National Park lodging if I can, we have so many schedules we’re working around, and we will have people coming and going at different times, so this time we want to choose a home base, rent a house for two weeks, and make day trips. We visited Seattle for a few days a couple of months ago, and did a day trip to Mt. St. Helens–loved the visitor center there. I had forgotten about the Twilight connection around Forks. I usually seek out literary connections when I travel, but I WON’T be rereading the Twilight series!
We try to get out to ONP at least once per year. Like EK4, I like the idea of finding a home base on the peninsula and just hanging out there for two weeks. It is lightly populated, but few roads can mean traficky on weekends. These are my recommendations:
Hurricane Ridge - check the weather and pick a clear day. The view from up there is one of the best you will ever see.
Neah Bay/Makah Reservation - they have a small museum and a separate cultural center. Take the Cape Flattery trail out to the NW corner of the continental US, where the Pacific Ocean hits the Straits of Juan de Fuca.
Explore the coast - Rocky, windy and wild, with tide pools and an occasional sandy beach.
Rainforest rivers - The Hoh has a visitors’ center and ranger guided walks for an overview, plus a few crowded longer walks available. The “new” Elwha is near the top of my list to see next. Lots of other rivers have trails.
Port Townsend and Fort Worden - Port Townsend is an old fishing port turned into an artsy town. Nearby Fort Worden State Park, and maybe add in a walk out the Dungeness Spit.
Sol Duc hot springs - crowded, over $10, and kind of smelly but still worth a stop.
There are many, many more things to do and see. Get a guidebook and enjoy.
A couple of caveats:
Be prepared for rain, mud, bugs and animals. Don’t forget your 10 essentials if you are more than dragging distance from the car.
Watch for parking. Here in WA we have a National Parks pass, a State Parks pass, and a NW Forest pass.
GO TO PORT TOWNSEND!!!
Forks is not a great place to stay - most rooms are crappy and kind of overpriced. (DH stays there when he fishes). PT is a beautiful city scenery wise and has cute shopping and dining. Fort Warden is neat and you can walk out to the light house. On a clear day there are mountains in 4 directions.
If you will be making lots of trips to the airport, things are going to be a little more challenging. I was about to suggest a vacation rental by owner search in Olympia but then remembered traffic through Olympia and Tacoma and gave myself a big dope slap.
There are VRBO homes along the Sound just South of the airport. Beware - it seems the US Open golf tournament is in the South Sound area in June. Houses near there are advertising $3,000/night.
OP here–I thought I would provide a post-trip update in case anyone comes across this thread in the future. We’re back home after almost two weeks on the Olympic Peninsula. It was one of the most beautiful vacations I’ve taken. We rented a house in Sequim–right on the water. (Sequim is a small town with many retirees, and I can see why. It is in the rain shadow, and gets lots of sun. There’s lots to do, and is fairly convenient.) Day 1: Hurricane Ridge and Marymere Falls (near Crescent Lake). Day 2: Whale watching from Port Townsend (Puget Sound Express, owned by a friend of a friend, was outstanding.) Fort Worden State Park. Day 3: Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and kayaking at Crescent Lake. Day 4: Hoh Rainforest, Ruby Beach. Day 4: Hike in Olympic Nat’l Forest (Camp Handy). Day 5: Seattle. Seattle Underground Tour, Pike Place Market, Chihuly Museum, Ballard locks, visited our son and DIL’s new house in Ballard. Day 6: Ferry to Victoria, BC. Butchers Gardens, Inner Harbour, Emily Carr’s house. Day 7: Peony farm. A little stroll along the Olympic Discovery Trail. Day 8: Railroad Bridge Park and the Dungeness River Audubon Center. Purple Haze Lavender Farm. Day 9: Seattle with our son and DIL. New house = visit to Ikea. Day 10: Cape Flattery, Neah Bay and the Makah Museum. Day 10: local hiking, another lavender farm. Great weather every day (except high winds and waves on the ferry ride from Victoria). Memorable meals: Alderwood Bistro in Sequim, Silverwater Cafe in Port Townsend, Kokopelli Grill in Port Angeles, Nourish in Sequim. We did a LOT of driving. This is one of those areas where the distances may not sound too bad, but roads wind around, there are long waits for ferries, and it all adds up. We loved our trip, and I incorporated many of the suggestions from this thread–Thanks!
Thanks for reporting back. It’s always nice to hear how things turn out,