View Full Version : Olympic National park
speedbump
05-09-2013, 20:19
Any suggestions of hikes in Olympic National Park in California ? Prefer Day hikes, but nothing to easy.
speedbump
05-09-2013, 20:28
Any suggestions of hikes in Olympic National Park in California ? Prefer Day hikes, but nothing too easy.
fiddlehead
05-09-2013, 21:11
I'll assume you mean Olympic NP in WA as I don't know of one in CA.
One of my favorite hikes in the US is the Rialto Beach trail, which is in the Olympic NP.
Really spectacular scenery, plus loads of wild animals including bald eagles, whales, deer, and even bear.
You must have a tide chart as you can get stuck @ some places at high tide if you don't.
I've also hiked up to Mt Olympus base camp (for climbers going to the top) and that was a beautiful hike also but not that close to the beach trail (which I've now done 4 times as it was THAT nice!)
Definitely take a camera. Once when I was there, REI was shooting their catalogue near Rialto beach (about 1 km north of the start)
Enjoy!
Spirit Walker
05-09-2013, 21:23
We did three different day hikes when we were there: one up in the alpine zone, one along the shore, and one in the rain forest. It was a long time ago, so I don't remember the names of the trails. I do remember that it was a very long drive around the park.
There is a trail in the Hoh rainforest that I enjoyed. I think the trail goes all the way through to Hurricane Ridge so you can go as far as you like and then return. We camped on the Elwa river and took a hike to some specimen tree. Also enjoyed a hike at Solduck and beach walking at ruby beach- great tidepool stuff at low tide. Its a beautiful area. Sorry no trail names come to mind , but you can't miss .
BigHodag
05-09-2013, 22:54
There are some nice hikes out of Heart of the Hills campground just above Port Angeles.
My favorite though was a tide pool walk with a naturalist out of the Kalaloch campground. We walked North up the beach at low tide. We saw tide pool sculpin and touched anemone colonies. Toss in some star fish and the family had a great time.
The Hoh rain forest trail is just down the highway, but stay on the marked trail in the Hoh.
Kalaloch campground fills early, but there used to be a rocky primitive overflow campground just a mile south. We had big rig RVs pull up around our Escort wagon and tent.
Feral Bill
05-09-2013, 22:57
Wrong state. Try WA.
Olympic NP is on my TOP 5 National Park List in the Lower 48 for hiking. WHY? it's actually three distinct different areas. As SW said there is beach hiking(some of the BEST in the U.S) which is abundant with wildlife(both in the water and on land), scenery, and uniqueness AND it's not crowded, EXTENSIVE temperate rain forest hiking, and alpine and sub alpine hiking. It's really a diverse hiking mecca IMO! The wild nature of O NP has largely been kept intact as it was when white people first visited it. The NPS has done an EXCELLENT JOB OF NOT OVERLY DEVELOPING THIS NP! Various Native Indian Cultures share the rights or have jurisdiction to parts of the park. The NPS works with the various tribes AND TOGETHER make sure it stays that way. PLEASE, if you visit O NP and the surrounding areas on the OP take extra steps to respect the peoples and places there!
I like the Rialto Beach to Shi Shi Beach(Makah Shi Shi TH) coastal hike(I'm salivating in my hiking juices even thinking about hiking it again!) with a side hike to Ozette Lake thrown in. This hike is one of my TOP 3 Coastal Hikes in the Lower 48! If you can be there when the salmon are spawning up to this lake it's really SPECIAL for the Lower 48. It's the way things used to be before so much wilderness was paved over or turned into #$@! shopping malls.
Alternatively another excellent coastal hike is done by going south instead of north from the LaPush/Third Beach TH, Second Beach area down to the
Oil City TH. NOTE: the mouth of the Quiloyute River is too deep to ford. I was told so yet tried and had to swim acorss.
For a different kind of hiking take the Hoh River or Bogaciel Trails( I hiked this once in late summer and saw only two other people!) up to the High Country Seven Lakes Basin area(spectacular!, but does see people). In this area you'll find Hoh and Heart Lakes. NICE places to camp. You could also head up the Mt Olympus Base Camp spur to Glacier Meadows(I've attempted to summit Mt Olympus twice. Both times the snow and ice were just too deep and extensive to summit without mountaineering gear(Both those times were in July!). This High Country area sees HEAVY SNOWFALL! Head over to Appleeton Junction and pick up the Sol Duc River Trail back to a paved road. Sol Duc River Trail has hot springs and can be a pleasant place for a soak. These trails up to the High Country have some of the deepest green thick wet jungle look you can experience in the Lower 48 in the U.S. IT'S THICK with plant life and some huge tress! It's the way things used to be!
Another aspect of O NP are the lakes! They can be accessed by trail or often by car. Throw some camping spots in along the lakes too. O NP really is a diverse place to hike AND it's nowhere near as crowded as say Yellowstone or Yosemite. The ferry ride across Puget sound at night is something you'll enjoy too.
I've entirely left out the east side(east of Mt Olympus) area of O NP. I don't know it well YET. But, there is some AWSOME and lesser used(uncrowded) trails on the east side too.
I've never had a car on the Olympic Peninsula. I always found the hitch hiking easy. There is some bus service on the OP too. Jefferson Transit goes from Port Angeles( I think the biggest town on the OP) to Forks and circumvents the entire OP including to many areas and THs in O NP. you can even get to O NP from SeaTac(Seattle AP) via the light coastal rail, buses, and/or ferries. I was ALMOST as scenically enthralled with getting to the OP as I was hiking in Olympic NP the first time I did it. It's rather inexpensive taking public transportation to O NP to boot!
Seattle is a GREAT CITY with a real international flair that has a WEALTH of worthy things to do. Check out the Seattle Flagship REI and Feathered Friends Sleeping bags and down gear Outfitter near each other in Seattle. Of Course, you should bring rain gear whenever in the Northwest on the coast! Get your joe on down by Pikes Pier overlooking the sound.
Olympic NP is on my TOP 5 National Park List in the Lower 48 for hiking. WHY? it's actually three distinct different areas. As SW said there is beach hiking(some of the BEST in the U.S) which is abundant with wildlife(both in the water and on land), scenery, and uniqueness AND it's not crowded, EXTENSIVE temperate rain forest hiking, and alpine and sub alpine hiking. It's really a diverse hiking mecca IMO! The wild nature of O NP has largely been kept intact as it was when white people first visited it. The NPS has done an EXCELLENT JOB OF NOT OVERLY DEVELOPING THIS NP! Various Native Indian Cultures share the rights or have jurisdiction to parts of the park. The NPS works with the various tribes AND TOGETHER make sure it stays that way. PLEASE, if you visit O NP and the surrounding areas on the OP take extra steps to respect the peoples and places there!
I like the Rialto Beach to Shi Shi Beach(Makah Shi Shi TH) coastal hike(I'm salivating in my hiking juices even thinking about hiking it again!) with a side hike to Ozette Lake thrown in. This hike is one of my TOP 3 Coastal Hikes in the Lower 48! If you can be there when the salmon are spawning up to this lake it's really SPECIAL for the Lower 48. It's the way things used to be before so much wilderness was paved over or turned into #$@! shopping malls.
Alternatively another excellent coastal hike is done by going south instead of north from the LaPush/Third Beach TH, Second Beach area down to the
Oil City TH. NOTE: the mouth of the Quiloyute River is too deep to ford. I was told so yet tried and had to swim acorss.
For a different kind of hiking take the Hoh River or Bogaciel Trails( I hiked this once in late summer and saw only two other people!) up to the High Country Seven Lakes Basin area(spectacular!, but does see people). In this area you'll find Hoh and Heart Lakes. NICE places to camp. You could also head up the Mt Olympus Base Camp spur to Glacier Meadows(I've attempted to summit Mt Olympus twice. Both times the snow and ice were just too deep and extensive to summit without mountaineering gear(Both those times were in July!). This High Country area sees HEAVY SNOWFALL! Head over to Appleeton Junction and pick up the Sol Duc River Trail back to a paved road. Sol Duc River Trail has hot springs and can be a pleasant place for a soak. These trails up to the High Country have some of the deepest green thick wet jungle look you can experience in the Lower 48 in the U.S. IT'S THICK with plant life and some huge tress! It's the way things used to be!
Another aspect of O NP are the lakes! They can be accessed by trail or often by car. Throw some camping spots in along the lakes too. O NP really is a diverse place to hike AND it's nowhere near as crowded as say Yellowstone or Yosemite. The ferry ride across Puget sound at night is something you'll enjoy too.
I've entirely left out the east side(east of Mt Olympus) area of O NP. I don't know it well YET. But, there is some AWSOME and lesser used(uncrowded) trails on the east side too.
I've never had a car on the Olympic Peninsula. I always found the hitch hiking easy. There is some bus service on the OP too. Jefferson Transit goes from Port Angeles( I think the biggest town on the OP) to Forks and circumvents the entire OP including to many areas and THs in O NP. you can even get to O NP from SeaTac(Seattle AP) via the light coastal rail, buses, and/or ferries. I was ALMOST as scenically enthralled with getting to the OP as I was hiking in Olympic NP the first time I did it. It's rather inexpensive taking public transportation to O NP to boot!
Seattle is a GREAT CITY with a real international flair that has a WEALTH of worthy things to do. Check out the Seattle Flagship REI and Feathered Friends Sleeping bags and down gear Outfitter near each other in Seattle. Of Course, you should bring rain gear whenever in the Northwest on the coast! Get your joe on down by Pikes Pier overlooking the sound.
magic_game03
05-09-2013, 23:35
Oh yea, Olympic is awesome. Of course there are the hot springs, Hoh Rainforest, you have to stop and check out the coast (the sea life right on the shore is amazing), huge Lodge poles pine trees, Mount Olympus, lots of animals, that place just rocks. Warning it's a little back country over there, don't go wandering off onto anybody's private land ;)
...don't go wandering off onto anybody's private land.
That's wise advice.
I live in the ~Seattle area, but don't get to the Olympic NP very often --- it just takes longer to get there (and back) than I care to go for short trips. Hiking, or rather backpacking the coast is excellent, however. My wife and I did about a 40 mile trip up the coast from the mouth of the Hoh river to Cape Alava a couple years ago, and it was a pretty special trip. You don't do high daily mileage, in part because you're sometimes stopped by the current tide; you really have to plan everything around the tide table. Some really special experiences there, but I'd also say it's some of the more dangerous backpacking I've done insofar as you'll sometimes deal with pretty slippery rocks, and there can be a tendency to sort of push the limits of what you should get by with when the tide is coming in. I recall a river crossing or two in there too that were mildly hairy.
If that sort of thing seems interesting to you, I journaled this trip (as part of prep for the CDT) starting here:
http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=2bf6aae1d901647f88b3f3ce192c2a 31&entry_id=20762
There is indeed a lot to see in that park, and I hope to get back with some longer trips sometime. Unless I had lodgings to hang out in the area, however, I'm personally not keen on day hikes there.
Unless I had lodgings to hang out in the area, however, I'm personally not keen on day hikes there.
Twice I was prepared to stay at the Rainforest Hostel near Ruby beach/Kalaloch on the OP when I met folks living and vacationing on the OP who convinced me to stay in their homes. This could be an EXCELLENT base from which to do day hikes. The bus line goes past the hostel. The hostel is rustic but if you just need a bed out of the rain or to stash stuff this is a good place to do it. They have ridiculously low rates too. I'm fairly certain one could find a reasoably priced room in Port Angeles for a base to do hikes from too.
speedbump
05-11-2013, 15:53
thanks, yes I meant WA : ) ooops
QUOTE=fiddlehead;1470249]I'll assume you mean Olympic NP in WA as I don't know of one in CA.
One of my favorite hikes in the US is the Rialto Beach trail, which is in the Olympic NP.
Really spectacular scenery, plus loads of wild animals including bald eagles, whales, deer, and even bear.
You must have a tide chart as you can get stuck @ some places at high tide if you don't.
I've also hiked up to Mt Olympus base camp (for climbers going to the top) and that was a beautiful hike also but not that close to the beach trail (which I've now done 4 times as it was THAT nice!)
Definitely take a camera. Once when I was there, REI was shooting their catalogue near Rialto beach (about 1 km north of the start)
Enjoy![/QUOTE]
Shutterbug
05-14-2013, 18:37
Any suggestions of hikes in Olympic National Park in California ? Prefer Day hikes, but nothing to easy.
My favorite hike in the Olympics is the Ozette Loop Trail. My photo album from the hike is here --
https://plus.google.com/photos/112968072096587968801/albums?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1#photos/112968072096587968801/albums/5223689510574537233
Shutterbug
05-14-2013, 18:46
Any suggestions of hikes in Olympic National Park in California ? Prefer Day hikes, but nothing to easy.
You didn't say what time of the year you intend to hike. It makes a lot of difference. The coastal trails are already snow free. They are still muddy, but are beginning to dry out. All of the trials in the main part of the park still have snow cover and will until at least July.
I always enjoy your pics Shutterbug. One thing I would have liked to see is some time lapse photos of the same places as the tide came in. Two VERY different looks when it's at peak low tide when the tidal flats are exposed and you can sometimes walk out to the sea stacks compared with peak high tide when there are 5 ft waves hitting the beach and whales are just off the coast.