Olympic National Park is a Place Where Mountains, Forests, & Coastlines Compete for Your Heart.
Words & Photos Ashley Bowling
Imagine rainforests dripping with moss, beaches lined with driftwood, alpine ridges draped in clouds, sea life bobbing in the ocean with wild curiosity, hidden lakes, and waterfalls straight out of a fairy tale novel. For Austinites familiar with sun-baked trails, the Olympic Peninsula offers a chance to trade in cedar and sandy-colored views for a majestic alpine color wheel of green and blue hues too vast to capture in a photograph.
The park is a patchwork of worlds. In Hoh Rain Forest, everything glows in green. Moss drapes branches like velvet curtains, ferns stretch taller than your shoulders, and spruce lay quietly on a forest floor birthing new life. Walk the Hall of Mosses Trail and Spruce Nature Trail where the stillness feels thick, as if the forest has swallowed every other sound.
Drive west, and you’ll hit the coast. Rialto Beach is a moody sweep of sand where sea stacks rise like sculptures from the surf. At Ruby Beach, sunsets peek across crimson-streaked gray sand while tide pools reveal starfish and sea anemones.
Climbing higher, the view changes again. Hurricane Ridge delivers alpine meadows that bloom with wildflowers in summer and snowfields left over from winter. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Canada, and glance at deer grazing along the ridgeline.
With nearly a million acres to explore, Olympic can feel overwhelming. The trick is to slow down. Choose one day in the rainforest, one by the sea, and one above the treeline. Let each place sink in.
Where to Stay
Port Angeles makes a convenient base with its small-town cafés and easy access to park entrances. Lake Crescent Lodge boasts stunning views of pebble beaches on a lake that’s carved into the mountain range wrapped in clouds. On the west coast, Kalaloch Lodge perches on a bluff above the Pacific with individual cabins reminiscent of decades past. For something wilder, pitch a tent in one of the many campgrounds and let the misty rain be your lullaby.
Getting There
Fly nonstop from Austin to Seattle, and rent a car. ExplorPike’s Place, climb the Space Needle for aerial views of a city carved within Puget Sound, or watch how the ships pass from saltwater seas to freshwater lakes at Ballard Locks. Then catch the ferry to Bainbridge Island and drive the route that takes you to the park via Port Gamble, first for the glorious drive and second for a meal at Butcher & Baker. The roads wind, the scenery changes, and you’ll feel the city slipping away mile by mile.
A Bucket List Check
From Puget Sound or Port Angeles, you can hop on a Puget Sound Express boat tour to spot orcas, humpbacks, and porpoises. Summer offers the best odds, but bring layers; the wind and waters are chilly. There’s nothing like watching a black-and-white dorsal fin break the surface while an eagle soars above, a sweet and savory reminder that the wild continues far beyond the land.
The Hit List
Lavender ice cream at Welly’s, cocktails at Spruce, Klahhane Ridge (switchback) Trail off Hurricane Ridge drive, dinner at Lake Crescent Lodge, Marymere Falls off Lake Crescent, crepes and a Lavender Haze Latte at Pink Pony Cafe, Queso Flameado prepared table-side at Moctezuma’s, Sol Duc Falls and Sol Duc mineral hot springs, Spruce Nature Trail in Hoh Rainforest, sunset at Cape Flattery, Ruby Beach, stroll shops at Gig Harbor, Fried Chicken Sandwich at Butcher & Baker, wine and pasta at Via Rosa 1.
