Olympic National Park is huge – it encompasses 1,400 square miles and includes a 70-mile stretch along the Pacific Coastline. We had less than 2 days to spend at Olympic, so as soon as we checked into our hotel, we headed right back out to explore. We stayed inside the Park at Lake Quinault Lodge and it was perfect. We had a 2 room suite so there was plenty of room to spread out and enjoy some space. The hotel was in the Lake Quinault area, which means that we were situated right in the middle of the Quinault Rain Forest. There was a great trail right outside of our door, so we set out to check out a Washington State rain forest… to be honest, we had no idea that was even a thing! Public Service Announcement: not all rain forests are tropical!
Can you believe it was raining in the rain forest?! This appropriately named forest was magnificent! It was so green and lush with moss covering absolutely everything. There were some amazingly tall and huge trees as well. There were streams and rivers to cross, waterfalls to chase and fallen logs to climb on. The trail was very well maintained, with an actual gravel path to follow. All in all, we hiked about 4.5 miles that afternoon. Since we had been in the car for about 3 hours that morning, it was the ideal way to spend the afternoon.
The trail ended and we were able to hike along the lake back to the hotel. It was very pretty, and we saw only one other person during our whole 4.5 mile hike. It was a great time of year to visit!
Here’s a picture of Lake Quinault Lodge from the lake side, isn’t it gorgeous? The inside felt very historic and cozy with a huge fireplace, adorable little bar and restaurant overlooking the lake.
The next morning we woke up with big plans to drive along the coast, then up to the other rainforest. The view from our room was spectacular!
We drove about 45 minutes north along the coast to Ruby Beach. We parked and walked about 5 minutes down the path to the beach which was loaded with huge logs and driftwood. Quite the contrast from Florida beaches! The boys had the best time skipping stones, building stone stacks, moving the logs, and climbing. Ruby Beach is very picturesque and provided about an hour of entertainment before we headed on our way.
After our stop at Ruby Beach, we hopped back in the car and headed north some more, then inland to the Hoh Rain Forest. This rain forest felt very similar to yesterday’s (Quinault Rain Forest), but we saw many more people on today’s hike. We also saw elk along the trail (but deeper in the forest, we didn’t get close). We hiked about 3 miles total into the Hoh Rain Forest. Bonus, it didn’t rain until the end of our hike!
After our hike we started heading back to Lake Quinault, but saw these elk just sitting right next to the road!
The National Park Visitor Center at Hoh Rain Forest was closed, but we found a great store on the road back to Lake Quinault and were able to grab some fun souvenirs. We highly recommend Peak 6 Adventure Store if you’re in the area, they have a great selection of t-shirts, hats, stuffed animals, clothing, and more.
We had to leave Olympic National Park bright and early the next morning to make our way to North Cascades National Park. We had a 6 hour drive ahead of us and a ferry to catch!
But we ended the day, March 16th, with a 4-leaf clover hunt! What a way to prepare for St. Patrick’s Day! We had so much fun searching!
We set our leprechaun traps and hit the sack, ready for another day of adventure tomorrow!
