About This Trip
Olympic National Park on Washington's Olympic Peninsula has four distinct regions: the Pacific coast, the temperate rainforest on the west side, the alpine high country and the drier forests of the east. This trip takes in three of them, about 165 miles from Port Angeles.
It starts with the 17-mile road from Port Angeles up to Hurricane Ridge, 5,242 feet up with views over the Olympic Mountains. The road is open all summer; in winter it is scheduled to open Friday through Sunday and on holiday Mondays, weather permitting, and every vehicle must carry chains. The ridge's day lodge burned down in May 2023.
From there US 101 heads west and then south to the Hoh, among the biggest temperate rainforests in the country, which gets about 140 inches of rain and snow a year, and on to the coast at Ruby Beach and Kalaloch.
Stops
Port Angeles, WA — Gateway
The trip's starting point on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, home to Peninsula College and the terminal for the MV Coho ferry across to Victoria, British Columbia.
Hurricane Ridge
Seventeen miles south of Port Angeles and 5,242 feet up, the ridge looks out over the Olympic Mountains in summer, and in winter a small family ski and snowboard area runs there. Its day lodge was lost to fire in May 2023, and the area reopened with limited entry a month later.
Hoh Rainforest — Hall of Mosses
About 140 inches of precipitation a year keep the Hoh green under Sitka spruce and western hemlock, some over 300 feet tall. The 0.8-mile Hall of Mosses loop passes through old growth and a grove of maples hung thick with club moss, and the year-round campground has 72 sites along the river.
Ruby Beach
The northernmost of the park's southern beaches, on US 101 about 27 miles south of Forks.
Kalaloch Lodge & Tidepools
Kalaloch is one of the busiest parts of the park. Offshore, wildlife refuges protect the islands along 135 miles of coast, where common murres and tufted puffins nest, and at Beach 4 low tide uncovers sea stars and anemones.
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Where to Stay
1 suggested overnight stop along the way, plus lodging at the start and finish of the route.
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Scenic byway on this drive
More places to stop and photos on each road's own page.