Olympic National Park And Our Favorites
Olympic National Park is a big reason we moved to Washington, in the middle of a pandemic.
We narrowed down a few states on the west coast. Among our key criteria, access to a national park or gorgeous nature scene while still within reasonable distance to an international airport is one of the most important.
Crescent Lake in sunset, Nov 2020
Over the last six months, we have visited Olympic National Park at least 2-3 dozens of times. We don’t do camping, nor travel in RV. Most of the following are day trips, although we did stay in Airbnb and hotels a few times to access to a few distant locations of the park.
The park has many entry points. Among the six we have taken within the last 6 months, here are our top favorite family friendly hikes. Our 3 yo completed most by himself.
➡️ Moment In Time Trail next to Crescent Lake (0.7 m)
This is our favorite area. I’d so much like to keep this secret spot to ourselves. When the parking lot at Crescent Lake Lodge and the nearby Marymere Falls are full, you can almost guarantee to find parking here. But this is not the main reason we like it.
You get the Crescent Lake view most of the time on this short loop trail. The view is gorgeous, yet few people came here (a bit hidden). So most of the time we had our picnic at the lake front with nobody around.
➡️ Sol Duc Falls nature trail (1.6 m).
This is one of my personal top favorite spots. Not because of the landscape photo opportunities for a gorgeous waterfall, but the variety of activities it offers in the nearby area.
If you come in the shoulder season such as October, make sure to stop at the Salmon Cascades on way to Sol Duc Falls. We had close distance viewing of salmon jumps in the cascades, and the scene will sure excite both kids and adults.
If you are interested in practicing low light photography such as in a forest, check out the manual camera setting tips in my 30 day photo tips online ebook.
➡️ Cirque Rim to sunrise view point from Hurricane Ridge entry (1.2 m)
The following photos were taken in July. Make sure to wear layers even in the summer, as you are on the mountain top.
You’ll see beautiful colors from flowers with snow mountain in the back drop. Depending on your luck, you’ll either see everything or not so much in the fog (see the first picture on the right). Either way, you’ll enjoy fresh air and a good exercise.
➡️ Hurricane Ridge ski and snowboarding area.
It’s not for hike, and is the same area as the above, but it looks totally different in the winter. It only opens on the weekend in the winter season and is one of the only entrances that open year round.
➡️ Hurricane Hill (3.2m).
We made several attempts but have never completed the whole trail. It’s still our work-in-progress hike. As our most visited location, it deserves a separate blog one day. Check out my tips on how to photograph people in strong sunlight.
➡️ Marymere Falls trail near Crescent Lake (1.7 m).
Be prepared, this spot is popular. It’s probably the second most popular spots (after Hurricane Ridge) in the northern part of Olympic National Park. Since its parking lot is not as big as the mountain top Hurricane Ridge, it is almost always full (except the winter). So if you want to hike the Marymere Falls, which is totally worth it, come early.
Here’s an article I wrote 8 years ago about how to photograph waterfalls.
➡️ Deer Ridge trail from the Deer Park entry (1.5 m)
A bit underrated but beautiful mountain top area.
The following are quick snapshots without tripod. Our visit was in the middle of wild fire crisis spread from California. Sadly and fortunately, the smog in the air developed a natural filter so I didn’t need any filters on my lens.
Check out my landscape photos in my gallery and my tips on tripod and filters.
➡️ Staircase Rapids trail from Staircase entry (2.1 m)
We went there on a July 4th weekend, and it was a bit too crowded (even in a pandemic). We are not big fan of crowd when traveling in the nature, so probably a bit biased to say this is not our favorite.
Nevertheless, it’s still a beautiful area given its vicinity to the nice Cushman Lake. If you want to avoid the park entrance fee, just hanging out in the lake area on a warm day can easily make your day.
➡️ Spruce nature & Hall of Mosses trail from Hoh Rain Forest entry (2.9 m)
Good for the summer dry season as this area gets 140 inches of rain throughout the year.
➡️ Madison Fall (0.1 M)
The trail from the parking lot is only 0.1 m, but the area beyond the fall has been closed all the time so there wasn’t much we could do there, other than a few picnics next to the Elwha River by the parking lot.
➡️ unnamed trail right next to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center
Before you take the 17m drive to the top of the mountain. Very underrated but nice forest view.
Our 3 yo on Moment In Time trail
We still haven’t explored the beach section on the west of the park yet (due to closure) but have visited the first 6 spots on the list repeatedly. [Update: see Our Favorite Beaches At Olympic National Park]
Other than the national park itself, there are plenty of other places, including beaches, rivers and forest around us (see our favorite Family Friendly Local Spots In Olympic Peninsula). We completely feel spoiled and grateful to call this area our home.
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A photo collection of the snow scenes at Zion National Park, and our toddler’s favorite winter activities.