The Camper’s Complete Guide to Visiting Olympic National Park
Can’t decide whether to go to the beach, mountains, or forest for your next vacation?
How about a destination where you don’t have to choose?
Olympic National Park has it all. Located on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, this national park covers almost a million acres and a variety of ecosystems.
Sound like your kind of adventure? Here is a complete guide to Olympic National Park for the everyday adventurer.
Click on these links to navigate to a specific section in this guide:
Planning your trip to Olympic National Park
Camping in Olympic National Park
The first part of your Olympic National Park trip you’ll want to plan is your campground reservation. This park is one of the top ten most visited national parks, so reserve your campsite several months in advance (reservations can be made up to six months in advance).
Olympic National Park accepts reservations at Kalaloch, Mora, and Hoh Rain Forest campgrounds.
There are also two privately-run campgrounds: Log Cabin RV & Campground (located on Lake Crescent) and Sol Duc Hot Springs RV & Campground.
Note that Log Cabin RV & Campground only accepts reservations over the phone. All of the other campgrounds can be reserved at recreation.gov.
All other campgrounds in the park are first come, first serve.
Getting around
There are two sections to Olympic National Park: the main section in the center of the Olympic Peninsula, and a roughly 70-mile stretch of Washington’s coastline.
Highway 101 is essentially a loop around the park. This is the main road you’ll take to travel between the different sections of the park.
There are no shuttles or other forms of transportation provided by the park.
Check out the National Park service map and drive times between different sections of the park so you can get a sense of how many activities you can hit in your time in the park. (A more detailed map is available here.)
On top of the drive time, make sure to allow for additional time waiting in line to enter different sections of the park. We waited about 45 minutes to get through the Hoh Rain Forest entrance on a Saturday afternoon. Again, this is one of the most popular national parks; pack your patience and try to get around early to beat the crowds!
Other things to know
Olympic National Park charges an entrance fee. Once you paid the fee though, your receipt is valid to re-enter any place in the park for a week.
Visiting several national parks in one year? Consider purchasing an annual pass to all national parks and other federal recreation sites.
How to Get to Olympic National Park
The nearest major airport to Olympic National Park is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
From Seattle, there are two routes to drive to the park. The first option is to drive south through Tacoma and Olympia to access the southern end of the park. Alternatively, you can drive north from Seattle to Edmonds and take the Edmonds-Kingston ferry to access the northern end of the park.
Things to do in Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park is unique in the variety of ecosystems contained in one park. Each section of the park essentially covers a different type of environment.
This list of things to do in Olympic National Park is organized by area of the park, starting in the northeast corner and going counterclockwise.
Hurricane Ridge
View the Olympic Mountains from the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center
Hurricane Ridge has the best mountain views in Olympic National Park.
Even driving to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center alone is worth taking the drive up to this section of the park. Check out that view!
Take a hike
Think the mountain views at the visitor center are beautiful? Just wait until you see the views from even higher up!
Drive 1.5 miles past the visitor center to access the Hurricane Hill trail. This trail is a paved 3.5 miles roundtrip with 700 feet of elevation gain.
The end of this trail has epic panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards the San Juan Islands, Canada, and Mount Baker.
But you don’t need to wait until the end of the hike to see great views. I barely looked down at the trail ahead of me because I kept craning my neck to check out the mountains and wildflowers off to the side.
Another day hike in the Hurricane Ridge area of the park is Switchback trail. This section of trail is a steep 1.2 miles roundtrip but connects to other trails for a longer hike. The trailhead is on your right along Hurricane Hill Road before you reach the visitor center.
Attend an astronomy program
We saw plenty of stars sitting on the beach on a clear night. But you can level up your stargazing experience by attending a ranger-led astronomy program at Hurricane Ridge!
During this free program, telescopes will be provided to enable you to see all kinds of celestial bodies up close.
Find a park newspaper at one of the visitor centers to see exact dates and times the program is offered.
Lake Crescent
Explore Lake Crescent By Boat or SUP
Lake Crescent Lodge offers kayak, canoe, and stand-up paddleboard (SUP) rentals.
The Lodge also offers two-hour guided kayak tours three days a week. Learn more about the ecology and history of the lake on these tours.
Don’t want to paddle your own boat? The Lodge also provides guided boat tours Thursday through Sunday.
Go for a hike
One of the more popular hikes in Olympic National Park is Marymere Falls Trail. This trail, which is 1.8 miles roundtrip with 300 feet of elevation gain, leads to a 90-foot waterfall.
If you’re looking for a more intense hike, veer off to head up to Mount Storm King. This trail is really steep, gaining over 2000 feet of elevation in two miles (the hike is four miles roundtrip).
Note that this is a heavily trafficked trail with some narrow sections that can make it difficult to pass other groups and there are sections that require climbing up ropes. I’d recommend reading reviews on AllTrails and WTA trip reports to determine if this hike is right for you.
Have a picnic
Don’t have time to stay for a boat ride or a hike? Enjoy the views of Lake Crescent’s clear blue water from the shore over a picnic.
There are multiple picnic areas around the lake; check out a map here.
Hoh Rain Forest
Walk through a temperate rainforest
There are two trails that start near the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center that are good options to immerse yourself in the rainforest.
The Hall of Mosses and Spruce Nature Trails are both loops about one mile in length and relatively flat.
Both of these trails have signs explaining the ecology of the trail. We had fun learning from these signs and trying to identify the Sitka spruce, western hemlocks, and Douglas firs around us.
Take a longer hike
The third trail that begins at the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center is the Hoh River Trail. The entire trail is 37 miles roundtrip, but many people hike just the first few miles for a relatively flat day hike. One popular option is to hike to Five Mile Island for a roundtrip total of about ten miles.
Sol Duc
Take a trail to water views (waterfalls or lake)
The Sol Duc area is known in part for its resort complete with hot springs. I personally haven’t visited any of the resort’s amenities because I’m typically looking for a more outdoorsy experience.
Instead, I would recommend stopping in the Sol Duc section to take any of the area’s trails.
Check out Sol Duc Falls by taking the relatively easy trail at 1.6 miles roundtrip with 200 feet of elevation gain. Unlike most waterfall hikes, this trail leads you to the top of the falls for a different viewpoint than usual. The trailhead is located at the end of Sol Duc Road.
For a solid day hike, take the 5.2 mile roundtrip trail to Mink Lake. Remember to add bug spray to your list of things to bring on your hike because there are mosquitoes at the lake. Park in the back of the resort’s parking lot to find the trailhead.
The Pacific Coast
Tide pools
View sea stars, sea anemones, and other life that lives in Olympic National Park’s tidal zone while the tide is out.
Rangers lead programs on tide pools during the summer at Kalaloch’s Beach 4 and Mora’s Hole in the Wall. Beach 2, and Beach 3, and Ruby Beach are also great places to find tide pools on your own.
The best time to view tide pools is during minus tides, but you can also see tide pools during positive tides (up to +1.5). Tide charts are available at visitor centers and coastal ranger stations in the park, but you can also check NOAA’s tide predictions for the area to get a sense of timing ahead of time. The National Park Service recommends arriving 30 minutes before the lowest tide.
Read more about tips and tide pool etiquette and safety from the National Park Service.
See the Tree of Life
The Tree of Life is a large Sitka spruce that hangs between two coastal bluffs. The soil below it has eroded away, leaving visitors to wonder with awe how the tree stays hanging in the air, let alone stay alive.
The Tree of Life can be found on the beach along Kalaloch campground.
Need more help planning your trip? Check out my seven tips to plan a perfect national park trip!
As always, enjoy the outdoors responsibly. Leave no trace on all of your adventures.
