Olympic National Park - Washington State

El Gato

I will be headed to Olympic National Park in April (17th - 21st).

Can anyone recommend must see, must do, must shoot locations?

I plan to spend a majority of the time on the western side of the park, along the coast and going inland as well.

Any recommendations of a good place to stay that would give me good access to the west/northwest parts of the park?

Thanks in advance for any local intel.

dseidman

El Gato wrote:

I will be headed to Olympic National Park in April (17th - 21st).

Can anyone recommend must see, must do, must shoot locations?

I plan to spend a majority of the time on the western side of the park, along the coast and going inland as well.

Any recommendations of a good place to stay that would give me good access to the west/northwest parts of the park?

Thanks in advance for any local intel.

I've lived in the Seattle area my whole life but have only been to ONP twice :cry. I definitely recommend that you get up to Hurricane Ridge to watch a sunrise (if the weather is clear enough). I'm thinking the roads should be fine for when you go (I don't usually keep up with conditions in the mountains), but here's a link I found so that you can make sure:
http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/hurricane-ridge-current-conditions.htm

As far as the west side of the park goes, you definitely need to check out the Hoh Rain Forest and visit Sol Duc Falls. I haven't been to the falls myself but from the pictures I've seen, it looks gorgeous. Also be sure to go to Shi Shi beach for some great coastal shots.

As I said above, I haven't really spent much time around the park so I apologize for not having much information. These are just a few locations that I know to be good. Hopefully someone else can pitch in with some more detailed ideas. Good luck!

El Gato

dseidman wrote:

I've lived in the Seattle area my whole life but have only been to ONP twice :cry. I definitely recommend that you get up to Hurricane Ridge to watch a sunrise (if the weather is clear enough). I'm thinking the roads should be fine for when you go (I don't usually keep up with conditions in the mountains), but here's a link I found so that you can make sure:
http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/hurricane-ridge-current-conditions.htm

As far as the west side of the park goes, you definitely need to check out the Hoh Rain Forest and visit Sol Duc Falls. I haven't been to the falls myself but from the pictures I've seen, it looks gorgeous. Also be sure to go to Shi Shi beach for some great coastal shots.

As I said above, I haven't really spent much time around the park so I apologize for not having much information. These are just a few locations that I know to be good. Hopefully someone else can pitch in with some more detailed ideas. Good luck!

Thanks Dseidman!! I appreciate the intel (and web link), and will check out your recommendations.

I have looked into info on Hoh Rain Forest and that is a for sure destination on this trip. Hadn't heard about Sol Duc falls but will certainly check it out, along with Shi Shi beach.

Again, thanks for taking time to provide me with some intel on ONP!

Ken Lapp

El Gato wrote:

I will be headed to Olympic National Park in April (17th - 21st).

Can anyone recommend must see, must do, must shoot locations?

I plan to spend a majority of the time on the western side of the park, along the coast and going inland as well.

Any recommendations of a good place to stay that would give me good access to the west/northwest parts of the park?

Thanks in advance for any local intel.

Here are a few choices, depending on how much time you have and what your interests are. List below is in order around the peninsula, starting at the NE area - Port Townsend;

Port Townsend & Fort Warden state park.
Dungeness Spit, near Sequim. 5 miles walk each way to the lighthouse at end of spit.
Hurricane Ridge, near Port Angeles. Great views of the Olympic Mountains. But, the road is not always open depending on how much snow there is. It still snows in April up there.
Lake Crescent, west of Port Angeles.
Cape Flattery, near Neah Bay. Spectacular views of the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
Hoh Rain Forest, near Forks. Bring an umbrella…

Ruby beach & the other beaches between Forks and Kalaloch.

Staying in the Forks area will give you good access to the northwest corner and the beaches area, and also real close to the Hoh rain forest.

Edited to add the following: We have stayed here a few times. The suites have full kitchens which allows saving on food and eating out.
http://www.olympicsuitesinn.com/


--Ken

El Gato

Thanks Ken!

Ken Lapp wrote:

Here are a few choices, depending on how much time you have and what your interests are. List below is in order around the peninsula, starting at the NE area - Port Townsend;

Port Townsend & Fort Warden state park.
Dungeness Spit, near Sequim. 5 miles walk each way to the lighthouse at end of spit.
Hurricane Ridge, near Port Angeles. Great views of the Olympic Mountains. But, the road is not always open depending on how much snow there is. It still snows in April up there.
Lake Crescent, west of Port Angeles.
Cape Flattery, near Neah Bay. Spectacular views of the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
Hoh Rain Forest, near Forks. Bring an umbrella…

Ruby beach & the other beaches between Forks and Kalaloch.

Staying in the Forks area will give you good access to the northwest corner and the beaches area, and also real close to the Hoh rain forest.

Edited to add the following: We have stayed here a few times. The suites have full kitchens which allows saving on food and eating out.
http://www.olympicsuitesinn.com/


--Ken

Ken....

Thanks for sending this local intel. I appreciate it!

I'll have approx. five days to explore around the NW portions and beaches of ONP. Looking forward to sea shots and of course tramping through Hoh rain forest.

Thanks again for your assistance.

El Gato

Super recommendation - thanks Ken
Ken,

Just a quick note to say thanks again, your recommendation of the Olympic Suites and Inn in Forks [www.olympicsuitesinn.com] was spot on. Great facilities, clean, efficient, and very inexpensive.

I suspect the price may have been tied to the early, off-season visit, none-the-less, I would recommend the facitilty to anyone, even in high season (which I suspect may alter the rates some).

Very large suite, very clean, quite, full kitchen (although use of the stove, plates, flatware, will cost you $10/day extra, if you elect to cook and clean while on holiday!). If you grab your own food from town, the microwave in the kitchen is a big plus, and you don't need to pay the extra "kitchen fee."

The location in Forks made accessing all of the upper northwestern part of the Olympic peninsula and the western part of Olympic National Park very easy.

We got to Cape Flattery, Neah Bay, Third Beach, Rialto Beach, Hole-in-the-wall, Hoh Rain Forest, Sol Duc Falls, Lake Cresent, Marymere Falls, Madison Falls, Hurricane Ridge, and the Dungeness Spit.

Super photographic opportunities, and best added value...absoultely NO crowds. On most all of the trails, we were the only hikers, saw very few people which added to the silence and beauty of the locations.

We also scored PERFECT weather! Six days on the western Olympic Peninsula and NO RAIN!! Sunshine, broken clouds, and blue sky. As they say, timing is everything.

Thanks again Ken for your reply to my original post and for your local intel and accomodation recommendation!

Much appreciated!!

Ken Lapp

El Gato wrote:

Ken,

Just a quick note to say thanks again, your recommendation of the Olympic Suites and Inn in Forks [www.olympicsuitesinn.com] was spot on. Great facilities, clean, efficient, and very inexpensive.

I suspect the price may have been tied to the early, off-season visit, none-the-less, I would recommend the facitilty to anyone, even in high season (which I suspect may alter the rates some).

Very large suite, very clean, quite, full kitchen (although use of the stove, plates, flatware, will cost you $10/day extra, if you elect to cook and clean while on holiday!). If you grab your own food from town, the microwave in the kitchen is a big plus, and you don't need to pay the extra "kitchen fee."

The location in Forks made accessing all of the upper northwestern part of the Olympic peninsula and the western part of Olympic National Park very easy.

We got to Cape Flattery, Neah Bay, Third Beach, Rialto Beach, Hole-in-the-wall, Hoh Rain Forest, Sol Duc Falls, Lake Cresent, Marymere Falls, Madison Falls, Hurricane Ridge, and the Dungeness Spit.

Super photographic opportunities, and best added value...absoultely NO crowds. On most all of the trails, we were the only hikers, saw very few people which added to the silence and beauty of the locations.

We also scored PERFECT weather! Six days on the western Olympic Peninsula and NO RAIN!! Sunshine, broken clouds, and blue sky. As they say, timing is everything.

Thanks again Ken for your reply to my original post and for your local intel and accomodation recommendation!

Much appreciated!!

Your welcome! Wow! You really did get to see a lot! Glad you had nice weather for the trip.

Post photos of the trip when you can...:D

-Ken