Family Friendly Local Spots in Olympic Peninsula
Where do locals go in the Olympic Peninsula? I only knew about Olympic National Park before last summer and had no clue about any others.
Now I’m proud to call myself a local after 10 months stay in Washington, and Olympic Peninsula in particular.
Port Williams Beach
Don’t get me wrong. Olympic Peninsula is so big. We mostly explored the northern part, bordering the Vancouver Island in Canada along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
If you travel from the east (eg. Seattle, Olympia) to the Olympic Peninsula, most likely you’ll pass the following places that are locals’ and our favorite.
1. Olympic Discovery Trail
Over 130 mile long from Port Townsend to the Pacific coast. We’ve walked many sections in Sequim and Port Angeles (which only totals 26 miles), and are constantly discovering new routes.
Our favorite entry points are from Railroad Bridge Park and Robin Hill Farm Country Park in Sequim.
The former offers an overlook of Dungeness River with mountain back drop from a bridge (see below). We can also choose different scenes, such as river, prairie, or forest, as our backdrop for lunch picnic.
The latter is literally a maze of trails. There are so many routes. Some trails are foot trails, others for bikes, or horses. You can obviously hike on horse trails too, just be aware of dumps.
2. Port Williams Beach, Sequim
A complimentary scene for the above if we want a beach backdrop for lunch picnic. There are tons of driftwoods on the beach, perfect for kids who enjoy building their own “beach houses”.
Depending on the season and tide, you might end up tons of kelp and seaweed onshore, which might not look or smell pleasant.
Nevertheless, I personally really enjoyed the mountain backdrop as well as the peaceful beach. We came here many times for lunch picnic during the pandemic and it was never crowded.
3. Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend
We visited Port Townsend a number of times, mainly exploring two state parks - Fort Worden Historic State Park and Fort Flagler Historic State Park. Both were at the US / Canada water border and presented lovely mountain views in the far background.
We visited Fort Worden more often and really enjoyed the combination of experience it offers - history, beach and view.
There are RV areas and campgrounds, and summer was obviously busier. Nevertheless we never felt it was too crowded due to the space and open view.
4. Salt Creek Recreation Area
This is an RV park by the water and has some small trails for day hikers like us. It’s a great place to see birds and marine creatures, especially during low tide.
The park was empty in our winter visit, as opposed to many dozens of RVs in the summer and fall. We have visited Salt Creek Recreation Area for probably a dozen of times, and never got tired of it.
5. Dungeness Spit, Sequim
If ranked by popularity, this should be put on top. So technically it’s not just a local hidden gem. Nevertheless, we love it and go there often.
Dungeness Spit is the longest natural sand spit in the US, and is growing 15 feet per year.
If you have stamina, hike the 5 mile (that’s 10 mile back and forth) spit to see the lighthouse. So far it’s still a mission unaccomplished for us but we plan to do it one day.
You have many options to access to the spit. Most tourists would park the car directly at the closest trailhead to the spit, then hike in the woods for about 10 minutes before getting on the beach and taking however long a hike on the spit.
Alternatively, you can park your car earlier, right after you turn from Lotsgesell Road. Now we are talking about locals.
There are several trails you can take that are much less crowded. You will walk across the prairie, or in the woods along the water front, eventually get to the trailhead to the spit mentioned above.
The view was quite spectacular on your way back, as you will face the Olympic mountains. The best season is spring or summer, when the sky is much clearer.
Our 3 year old likes to hike, and we usually only choose the prairie section, the ocean front section, or the forest section to the Spit, but not a combination, just to enjoy different scenes every time.
Of course, if you visit the area for the first time, you most likely will go to Olympic National Park (see our favorites after dozens of trips there). But if you have more time, or would like to enjoy some quality time with less crowd, try some of the above.
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We took our first camping trip as a family to the Pacific coast in Washington, featuring our favorite photo spots of the Olympic National Park along the Pacific Ocean.