Olympic National Park Washington travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Olympic National Park is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The park consists of three basic regions: the Pacific coastline, the Olympic Mountains, and the lush rainforest. The coastal part of the park is a rugged, sandy beach along with a strip of adjacent forest. The Hoh River has the Hoh people and at the town of La Push. Part of this long beach is covered with sand, whereas others parts with heavy rock and very large boulders. Bushy overgrowth, slippery footing, tides and misty rain forest weather all hinder foot travel.

The western area of the park is the rainforest including the Hoh Rain Forest and Quinault Rain Forest. The whole forest is dominated by dense coniferous timber, including Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Coast Douglas-fir and Western redcedar and mosses that coat the bark of these trees and even drip down from their branches in green, moist tendrils. This side of the park is also home of many species like the Roosevelt elk. Due to this importance, scientists have declared it to be a biological reserve, and study its unique species to better understand how plants and animals evolve.

There are several roads in the park, but none penetrate far into the interior. The park has a network of hiking and biking trails. An unusual feature is the opportunity for backpacking along the beach. The length of the coastline in the park is sufficient for multi-day trips, with the entire day spent walking along the beach. During winter, the popular viewpoint known as Hurricane Ridge offers alpine and Nordic skiing opportunities.

Other activities are backpacking, beach hiking, camping, fishing, flora gazing, horseback riding, mountaineering, photography, snowshoeing, star gazing and wildlife watching. A variety of ranger led programs are offered throughout the summer at a number of sites around the park. Olympic National Park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Most roads remain open year round, although several are subject to winter closure because of snow. Most visitors come to the park from July through September, December and January are the quietest months.