Olympic National Park 3 Day Itinerary

Although summer is rapidly coming to an end, it’s a popular time of year to visit our country’s incredible national parks. With my husband back out in Seattle again for training in June and July, we had to take advantage and make a short trip to the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Before heading out to explore the beautiful and diverse Olympic National Park (ONP), we spent a day and a half checking out the area in and around Seattle. We drove out to Hama Hama Oyster Saloon to enjoy a scenic lunch on the Hood Canal, ate our way through Pike Place Market (shout out to the mac n cheese from Beecher’s, the Greek inspired frozen yogurt gelato from Hellenika’s, and the Rainer cherries), and marveled at a majestic pod of orcas on a whale watching tour with the Puget Sound Express out of Edmonds. If we had more time I would have loved to check out more of the delicious restaurants and coffee shops the city is so famous for.

Olympic National Park has been on my travel bucket list for a long time. It truly has a little bit of everything with mountains, a rainforest, and coastal beaches. After a couple nights in Seattle, we took our rental car on the mid morning Bainbridge Ferry to head to the park. We paid for the ferry the day before online but didn’t have to make a reservation for a specific time slot and just showed up after having breakfast at our hotel. The ferry itself was just a short 35 minute ride. I highly recommend getting out of your car and heading to the upper deck to catch a view of downtown Seattle as you sail away. After disembarking the ferry, we made our way to Port Angeles which was about a 1.5 hour drive. Once there we stopped at the Olympic National Park visitor center to pick up our junior ranger booklet. I highly recommend doing this at ALL the national parks as something to keep the kiddos engaged and earn their very own junior ranger badge! After the visitor center we grabbed a quick lunch at the Fish and Crab Shack and then did a short hike at Marymere Falls which is an easy 1.8 miles round trip. This trail head also is where the longer more strenuous Mount Storm King hike begins which is 4 miles out and back with a little over 2,000 feet elevation gain. If we had more time, this is definitely a hike we would have liked to do for the breathtaking summit views but beware that there is a series of ropes, loose rocks, and steep inclines. Here you can also rent kayaks, canoes, or paddle boards to take out on Lake Crescent. That night we had pizza at Barhop Brewing and Artisan Pizza, ice cream at Welly’s Real Fruit Ice Cream, and stayed at the Red Lion Hotel in Port Angeles. If you time your trip right, this is also where you can enjoy dinner at Bella Italia where Bella and Edward ate in the first Twilight movie, but unfortunately it is closed on Sundays and Mondays so we missed out on this one (the mushroom ravioli comes highly recommended!). That evening we also grabbed pre-made sandwiches from Country Air Natural Foods Market to pack for our adventures on the following day.

The next morning we had breakfast at The Great Northern Coffee Bar (do not sleep on the Marty’s Mousse Cold Brew!) and then headed around the ONP loop to Sol Duc Falls where we did another easy 1.6 mile round trip hike. After that we drove to Rialto Beach along the coast where we ate our sandwiches on some pieces of gigantic drift wood followed by the world’s most ultimate game of “The Floor Is Lava” (seriously, so fun and our son was in heaven!). We purposely arrived to Rialto Beach just before low tide so that we could partake in the Hole in the Wall hike which is another 3.3 miles round trip along the beach with plenty of gorgeous drift wood to climb and rockweed to pop like bubble wrap along the way. You’ll have to do your own research to find out exactly when low tide occurs during your particular trip. That night we stayed at the Pacific Inn Motel in Forks which is also famous for it’s feature in the movie Twilight with plenty of nods to the film and memorabilia scattered throughout the little town.

On our final day, we grabbed breakfast at The In Place which is a little diner in Forks and then made our way to the moody and mesmerizing Hoh Rainforest. Here we did the easy 0.8 mile Hall of Moses loop trail and then stopped by the visitor center to turn in our son’s junior ranger booklet and get sworn in as a junior ranger (he also earned his ocean steward patch this trip). I’m so glad that we took the advice of other travel bloggers and arrived to the Hoh Rainforest early (about 8 AM) because the line of cars to get in as we left stretched for miles and was at a complete stand still. Sometimes my husband thinks I’m crazy for over planning like I do, but it’s times like these where he gets it and is grateful! On our 3 hour drive back to Seattle we made stops at Ruby Beach, Kalaloch Beach (#4 is a favorite for many locals and visitors), and the Tree of Life.

A few things to note, there are limited places to stay in Olympic National Park including the park lodges, local motels, and Airbnb’s so if you are traveling in the summer you should plan ahead as you may have trouble finding accommodations last minute. If you aren’t familiar with the weather of the PNW, it can get cool and will probably rain even in the milder summer months so pack layers and a rain jacket. Finally, ONP does require any entrance fee of $30 per vehicle which is good for 7 consecutive days. However, if you plan to visit more than 2 US national parks in a year consider getting the America the Beautiful National Park Pass which is $80 and is valid for 12 months from the time of purchase (although not all national parks require an entrance fee so you may want to do your own research ahead of time to make sure its worth it). I hope this peaked your interest to visit this incredible place and gave you some ideas to plan your own trip. Check out my Instagram or Facebook page for more pictures and videos of our travels!

Day 1

Take the Bainbridge Ferry from Seattle
Hike Marymere Falls or Mount Storm King
Rent kayaks at Lake Crescent
Stay in Port Angeles

Day 2

Hike Sol Duc Falls
Visit Rialto Beach and hike Hole in the Wall (at low tide)
Stay in Forks

Day 3

Visit the Hoh Rainforest and hike the Hall of Moses
Visit Ruby Beach, Kalaloch Beach (#4), and the Tree of Life
Drive back to Seattle

Olympic National Park 3 Day Itinerary

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