2 Days in Olympic National Park

A mountains-and-rainforest plan for families short on time.

By Chris Hayworth, Nestward

Olympic packs glacier-capped mountains, old-growth rain forest, and 70-plus miles of wild coast into nearly a million acres, and there's no single road through the middle. That's the catch with two days: you're driving the long way around on Highway 101, so the plan below splits the park into a mountain day and a forest-and-coast day to keep backtracking down. It's enough for a real taste, not the whole thing.

How Olympic works (read this first)

There is no central road. Highway 101 loops the peninsula, and each major area sits at the end of its own spur. That geography drives everything: you'll cover a lot of miles, so base yourself near Port Angeles, where the main visitor center and the road up to the high country both start. Entrance is $30 per vehicle, good for seven days. The park is open 24 hours, but the high-elevation roads and some facilities are seasonal. Hurricane Ridge road, in particular, can close in winter and on snowy mornings.

Day 1: Mountains and a giant lake

Start high while the weather's clear. Drive up to Hurricane Ridge from Port Angeles (about 40 minutes of switchbacks). On a good day you get the full sweep of the Olympic Mountains; on a bad day you get a cloud. Both are real possibilities, so check road status before you leave.

• Take a short hike near the visitor center. The paved paths and meadow loops at the top are stroller-and-kid friendly, with marmots and deer that mostly ignore you.
• Watch for elk and deer. Olympic's Roosevelt elk are the reason the park exists. Early morning and dusk are your best odds.
• Stop at Lake Crescent on the way back down. Walk the Moments in Time Trail at Barnes Point (a flat, easy half-mile through old-growth forest), then let the kids poke around the impossibly clear, deep-blue lake.
• See Madison Falls if you have daylight left. It's a five-minute paved walk to the falls off the Elwha road, a low-effort, high-reward stop.

Day 2: Rain forest and the coast

This is a driving day, so leave early. The Hoh Rain Forest is the headliner: one of the few temperate rain forests in the country, dripping with moss, with easy loop trails like the Hall of Mosses. It's a long spur off 101 (budget the better part of two hours each way from Port Angeles), and in peak season there's sometimes a wait to enter, so go first thing.

• Go to the beach in the afternoon. Rialto Beach near Forks has sea stacks, driftwood logs the size of cars, and crashing surf. It is not a swimming beach (the water is cold and the surf is serious), but it's a stunner.
• Go tidepooling if your timing lines up with low tide. Check a tide chart before you commit; the ocher sea stars and anemones only show at the lowest tides.
• Watch for salmon at Salmon Cascades along the Sol Duc road in fall, when fish leap upstream, a good detour if you're returning that way in autumn.

If two long drives in two days sounds like a lot with kids, it is. A reasonable trim: do the mountains and Lake Crescent on Day 1, then pick either the Hoh or the coast on Day 2 rather than cramming both.

Practical notes

• Weather is local. It can be sunny on the coast and snowing in the mountains the same afternoon. Pack layers and rain gear no matter the forecast.
• Gas and food. Fill up in Port Angeles or Forks. Services thin out fast on the spurs, and there's nothing at the trailheads.
• Junior Ranger. Pick up a booklet at the Port Angeles visitor center. It gives kids a mission for the long drives.
• Pets. Most trails are off-limits to dogs, but the park runs a BARK Ranger program and a few pet-friendly spots like Rialto's beach stretch and Madison Falls.