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Travel guide
Olympic National Park
6 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: June to September
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Welcome
Olympic National Park, in a few days
A 3,700 km² park on the peninsula that closes off Puget Sound, west of Seattle, where in a single day you go from the glaciated summits of Mount Olympus to moss-draped rainforests and 117 km (73 miles) of wild coast bristling with rock stacks. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is explored via a 530 km loop road around mountains that no road crosses.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 1 thing
- D2 Day 2 1 thing
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- D5 Day 5 2 things
- D6 Day 6 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Hurricane Ridge · half a dayA winding road climbs from the sea to 1,598 metres, onto subalpine meadows facing glaciated Mount Olympus, with the Hurricane Hill trail and Olympic marmots grazing beside the paths.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles Harbor ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€170 a night
D2
Day 2
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Sol Duc Falls · half a dayA short trail through old-growth forest to falls where the river splits into several channels and plunges into a narrow gorge, with hot spring pools further down the valley.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles Harbor ↗€170 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lake Crescent free · half a dayA deep glacial lake of strikingly clear blue water between wooded mountains, with its 1915 lodge, kayak hire and a forest trail to the 27-metre Marymere Falls.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles Harbor ↗€170 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Hoh Rain Forest · half a dayOne of the world's rare temperate rainforests, soaked by up to 4 metres of rain a year, where maples vanish under hanging moss on the Hall of Mosses loop.
- Late afternoon · Ruby Beach free · about 1 hThe most photographed beach on the south coast, where a river meets the ocean among driftwood, facing Abbey Island and dark rock stacks silhouetted against the sunset.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles Harbor ↗€170 a night
D5
Day 5
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Rialto Beach free · about 2 hA grey pebble beach strewn with huge bleached driftwood facing tree-topped rock stacks, with a walk to the Hole-in-the-Wall arch and its tide pools at low tide.
- Afternoon · Cape Flattery · half a day including the driveThe north-western tip of the contiguous United States, on the Makah reservation, where a forest trail leads to platforms above cave-riddled cliffs facing Tatoosh Island and its lighthouse.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles Harbor ↗€170 a night
D6
Day 6
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lake Quinault free · half a dayA lake ringed by rainforest in the south-west of the peninsula, with its historic 1926 lodge, the world's largest Sitka spruce and a loop road where elk graze.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €160 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJune to September
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/olympic-national-park
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.